St. Teresa of Avila was a Spanish mystic born in 1515 in Avila, Spain. She was an
influential author and the founder of the religious order to the Discalced
(barefoot) Carmelites. She
is also known as Teresa of Jesus.
St. Teresa
joined the Carmelite order in 1535. She spent a number of years in the convent,
punctuated by a severe illness that left her legs paralyzed for three years. She
then experienced a vision of "the sorely wounded Christ" that changed
her life forever.
Since that
vision, St. Teresa moved into a period of increasingly ecstatic experiences in
which she came to focus more and more sharply on Christ's passion. With these
visions as her impetus, she set herself to the reformation of her order,
beginning with her attempt to master herself and her adherence to the rule.
Gathering a group of supporters, Teresa endeavored to create a more primitive
type of Carmelite.
From 1560
until her death, Teresa struggled to establish and broaden the movement of Discalced
or barefoot Carmelites. In 1567, she met St. John of the Cross, who she
enlisted to extend her reform into the male side of the Carmelite Order. St.
Teresa died in 1582.
St.
Teresa's writings, all published posthumously, are valued as unique
contributions to mystical and devotional literature and as masterpieces of
Spanish prose.
Teresa
was canonized in 1622. In 1970, she was proclaimed a Doctor of Church, the first
woman to be named so. Her feast day is October 15. She is the patron saint of
headache sufferers.
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