Saints

St. Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Avila is a doctor of the church and a very important one. She was born as Teresa Ali Fatim Corella Sanchez de Capeda y Ahumada in Avila, Spain. Her father wanted his children to be good people who he was extremely strict. Terese's mother loved romance but hid the novels she read from her husband because he disapproved them. Teresa loved romance novels and her father told her never to lie but her mother told her to never tell her father so she was afraid that whatever she did, it would be something wrong. 

When Teresa was 7 years old, she and her older brother ran away to go to the Moors and beg them to out of the love of God to cut their heads off. They got to the road from the city but their uncle came after them and brought them back. 

She was convinced she was a horrible sinner and as a teenager only care about boys, clothes, flirting, and rebelling. She was sent to a convent at age 16 because her parents felt she was too crazy and Teresa hated the change and being forcefully in a place without what she cared about but came to love it. 

Teresa became a nun and started practicing mental prayer but felt she wasn't getting any results. She still ended up causing trouble and was frustrated because she had thought being a nun would keep her safe from it. A lot of women would go to a convent if they didn't have any place yet and would stay to cut down their expenses which made it difficult for Teresa. Nuns arranged their veils with jewelry and there were parlors and parties with young men. 

Teresa was very beautiful and kept falling into flattery, vanity, and gossip which she tried to avoid at her best. Teresa contracted malaria, had a seizure, and woke up for days later with a grave ready for her because everyone was almost positive that she died from it. She continued suffering from it, being paralyzed for three years. Because of this she fell out of prayer and at 41 was convinced by a priest to continue praying. She tried but kept getting distracted from it. 

Teresa wrote about analyzing mystical experiences and never saw her talents and abilities to do this as a rewards but as a way to chastise her. She realized that the more she loved, the easier it was to not offend God. 

Teresa had received visions and her friends were concerned so they decided it was the devil deluding her. The Jesuit sent to analyze her said that the experiences weren't the devil tempting her but God Himself. Her friends nevertheless made fun of her, hurting Teresa deeply because of how attached she was to them. When Jesus told her, "Teresa, that's how I treat my friends" Teresa responded, "No wonder you have so few friends."

Teresa decided to reform the Carmelite order because she was determined to be a good friend to Jesus. Her friends turned against her and threatened her with inquisition and even when she was able to have her own convent, she wasn't able to live full of peace. She was forced to write a book about her life so she could be condemned. The inquisition however, liked what they read so she was cleared. For the rest of her life, people would denounce Teresa to the inquisition but she continued to live what God wanted her to do. 

Teresa wrote  a lot with St. John of the Cross (Chapter 6) and the two were extremely good friends. St. John of the Cross is like the male version of St. Teresa of Avila and I'll talk about him soon.

My middle name is Teresa and she's my patron saint. Comment down below who your patron saint is! If you weren't named after a saint, feel free to comment who you pick as a saint to look up to and who you feel incredibly close to! :) 

Feast Day: October 15

Patron Saint of: Headache sufferers, Spanish-Catholic Writers

Canonization Date: March 12, 1622 by Pope Gregory XV.

For More Information on St. Teresa of Avila:

https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208                             <<I took a lot from this site btw