Saint Teresa of Avila

Teresa of Avila, lovingly referred to as Teresa la Grande, is a radical sign in our Church. She is so grand, yet so simple in her walk toward the Lord. We believe the reason we shied away from her for so many years is that we were intimidated by her biographers. We were afraid she was high above us, intellectually and spiritually.

We tried to bypass her Shrines at Avila and Alba de Tormes. But the more we attempted to go round her, the more she drew us to her. We planned a pilgrimage to the Shrines of Europe. A beautiful lady, Sister Jane, was celebrating her 25th anniversary as a Religious. She and another Sister also celebrating her 25th anniversary, were given the money to go with us. When we met Sister Jane, she bowled us over with her excitement. We were going to the Holy Land, Rome, Assisi, Siena, Lourdes, Fatima, and as an aside, Avila. When she heard Avila, she almost went into ecstasy. This was her greatest dream, to walk where Teresa, had walked. Because of her, we too became excited.

Teresa touched us again on that pilgrimage, in Lourdes. We were honored to meet up with our Archbishop, the late Timothy Cardinal Manning. He was on a private pilgrimage of Lourdes and the Holy Land (Ireland), with another Priest. He asked us our itinerary. When we neglected to mention Alba de Tormes, he looked us in the eye, and suggested, no, commanded, "If you don’t visit any other Shrine, you must go to Alba de Tormes." Cardinal Manning had the ability to burrow through to your soul with his eyes and his voice.

The Shrines were beautiful. The tribute given this great Saint by the Church was awe-inspiring. But we got to know Teresa through her Carmelite Priests, at the Shrines. At her birthplace in Avila, a young Priest explained who Teresa was and is. In Alba de Tormes, Fray Hernandez, spoke of her with such simplicity and love, we hungered to learn more.

We knew it couldn’t be our design, to write about Teresa, instead of a Saint we judged easier. As we studied her life and her spirituality, we discovered a woman for all seasons. Rather than a Saint, too spiritual and too deep to understand, we found a woman, with practical, good common sense, someone not superior to the simple mind nor too simple for the superior mind. We found a warm, loving mother with an ear and a heart always open to her sisters.

Popes, over the centuries, have extolled St. Teresa and her writings. Pope St. Pius X said one need go no farther than her books to discover how to live a truly holy life; that in her works she very clearly directs one, from the very ordinary, everyday living of the Christian life, to the highest peaks of holiness. Very simply, she teaches that true progress in prayer is achieved by the faithful fulfilling of our daily duties with Christ as the center, and the living out of our belief in a holy and obedient manner.