At the beginning of the month, we celebrated the feast day of Therese of Lisieux, Carmelite nun who lived in France in the late 19th century. She was named as a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II. Today, we celebrate another Carmelite nun who also has been named Doctor of the Church: Teresa of Avila from 16th century Spain. Teresa was born in Avila, Spain in 1515, two years before the actions of Augustinian monk Martin Luther that stated the events that led to the Protestant Reformation in the Church. She was born in the era of the Spanish Conquistadors, the Spanish Inquisition, and right after the Moors were expelled from Spain. It was an era of movement, change, and turmoil. Yet, with the Protestant Reformation threatening Catholicism, reform movements in the Church were not taken lightly. Teresa felt called by God to reform the Carmelite order, to get them back to the humble roots of monasticism that started this religious order that she felt had become distorted throughout the centuries. She and her companion John of the Cross founded monasteries based on their reform measures, with the Discalced Carmelites becoming its own religious order. Besides being an important reformer in the Church, Teresa is an important theologian and mystic in the history of Christianity. She is also an important figure in the history of Spain. There have been movements to name her as Spain’s patron saint, replacing St James. The Interior Castle was written in 1577 by Teresa as a guide for spiritual development through service and prayer. The Interior Castle was inspired by her vision of the soul as a diamond in the shape of a castle containing seven mansions, which she interpreted as the journey of faith through seven stages, ending with union with God. Teresa’s mysticism and her actions in living out her faith and in reforming the Carmelite order are an example to all of us as to how we can mix our prayer life and interior life with a life of service and action and living out our faith. What is interesting about Teresa of Avila is that in 1855 at the age of 40 she had a profound interior experience with Jesus that enacted a conversion within her. She identified greatly with St Mary Magdalene and St Augustine, two saints we strongly associate with repentance and conversion. As you can tell, me speaking about Teresa of Avila today, she is a saint with whom I have a very strong devotion. I have been to Avila on three different occasions and will possibly go to Avila again when I go to Spain in January.
Our first reading from the book of Wisdom speaks paying for the spirit of wisdom from God, of valuing wisdom beyond any other treasure we can have in the world, of passing on the wisdom that is learned to others. Certainly, we see in St Teresa a wise teacher in the faith who has a lot of wisdom and rich spiritual treasures to pass down to us in her teachings. The wisdom and teachings of St Teresa of Avila are a treasure not only for the members of the Carmelite order, but also for the entire Church and the entire world. We united our prayers with the prayers of St Teresa of Avila today.
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