Saint Teresa of Jesus (1515-1582)

Saint Teresa Of Jesus is the fountain of inspiration and orientation and the Mother Foundress of the Teresian Carmel. She was born in Avila to the family of Cepeda y Ahumada, on March 28, 1515. She became a Carmelite nun at the age of 20 in the Monastery of the Incarnation in the city where she was born. She remained there 27 years until August 24, 1562 when she inaugu- rated her own new Carmel. Through new and strong ecclesial expe- riences, she continued by order of the Superior General, Juan Bautista Rubeo, to found 17 foundations in Spain beginning in 1567. One year later, November 28, 1568, she organized with St. John of the Cross the beginning of the new life of the Discalced Carmelites in Duruelo, in the Province of Avila. At the age of 67 she died “a daughter of the Church” in the monastery of Alba de Tormes in the afternoon of October 4, 1582.

Her communities were to be “little colleges of Christ”, aspiring to live faithfully the evangelical counsels, founded on prayer “as a friendship with one whom we know loves us,” and a community of equals and friends, giving themselves completely for the good of the Church. The friars were to have the same contemplative heart and dedicate themselves generously to activity in the service of the Church.

St. Teresa of Jesus has her own place in the history of Christian mysticism and Spanish literature. She was beatified on April 24, 1614 and canonized on March 12, 1622. On September 18, 1965, Pope Paul VI named her “Principle Patron of Spanish Catholic Writers of Spain.” The same Pope declared her as the first woman Doctor of the Church on September 27, 1970.

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