The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself by Teresa of Ávila

In a period of spiritual growth and deep meditation, Teresa received the gift of visions and distinct commands from Our Lord, and her heart was pierced with divine love. Some dozen foundations followed in rapid succession all over Spain. In 1562, at the age of forty-seven, she began the reform of the Carmelite Order with the founding of the first convent of strict observance in Avila. During many years of trials and suffering, her perseverance in prayer and meditation on the Holy Bible prepared her soul for a loving, eager response to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. God called her to be a saint early in her religious life, but she did not respond fully to this first call. Her father relented and she was professed the following year. When she was twenty, she left his house without his knowledge, to join the Carmelite Convent of Avila. She decided to become a nun, but was unable to obtain her father's consent. Teresa was a very talented young woman and at eighteen, a striking Spanish beauty. When Teresa was 14, her mother died, causing the girl a profound grief that prompted her to embrace a deeper devotion to the Virgin Mary as her spiritual mother. John of the Cross, of the Discalced Carmelites. Teresa of Jesus, was a prominent Spanish mystic and was born in Avila, Spain in 1515. Teresa was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and the foundress, with St.

The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself by Teresa of Ávila