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Voices Online Edition
VOICES - Vol. XX No. 1 - Eastertide 2005
VoicesYoung Writers Award
Saint Teresa of Avila
A Paragon of Faith and Virtue
by Alex Macey
Author's Statement: "I am
a freshman at Saint Thomas More Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina.
I wrote this essay for theology class. I have always been intrigued
and inspired by Saint Teresa of Avila, so I decided to learn
more about her for my essay. I think she is an ideal role model,
to which teens can relate".
[Details
about the Young Writers Award.]
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Although she is seldom mentioned, Saint Teresa of Avila is an
extremely influential model and teacher of the Church. Her writings
have been an inspiration to all devout Catholics, and she remains
to this day a role model for all who wish to foster a stronger
relationship with God.
Teresa was born in Avila, Spain, in 1515, of a noble family.
She was one of nine children, three of whom were from her father's
first marriage. This father was excessively strict and pious.
He frowned on his wife and his daughter's predilection to read
romance novels, which he found frivolous and silly. At age seven,
Teresa became interested in the concept of martyrdom, and attempted
to make herself a martyr by running away and joining the Moors.
When she was twelve, she suffered the loss of her mother. Despite
all her grief, though, Teresa was a very typical teenager. She
enjoyed flirting, gossiping, and taking part in various other
activities her father would not have accepted. In fact, she pushed
God aside and grew consumed with worldly pleasures.
When she was sixteen, Teresa was sent by her father to spend
a few months in a local Augustinian convent. Although initially
Teresa resented being separated from the social life she so loved,
this deep, spiritual existence eventually touched her to the
core of her being. Thus began her long decision. Would she devote
her life entirely to God by becoming a nun, or should she continue
the comfortable, shallow lifestyle she had previously fostered?
During this protracted decision, Teresa felt torn. She was not
interested in marrying, especially after witnessing the miserable
marriage experience of her mother. On the other hand, she thought
life as a nun would be dull. After all, she thrived on attention
and flattery. At first, such a lifestyle seemed unfitting. However,
after much time and prayer, Teresa decided to join the convent,
a decision she did not reach with ease. In her Selected Writings,
Teresa mentions that during her long hours of contemplation,
she was visited by the devil, who attempted to thwart her plans.
"I had many temptations in those days", she wrote.
However, tempted or not, Teresa eventually managed to overcome
Satan's taunts, and set off to begin her new spiritual life.
In 1534, she made her vows.
When we hear of Saint Teresa's great success, it seems hard to
believe that her convent life was initially quite difficult.
In vain, she tried to divide her life between prayer and the
secularity she once enjoyed, which clearly was not feasible.
After all, as a nun, she was obliged to give her entire self
to God, not just a fraction of it.
In 1539, Teresa suffered persistent bouts of malaria, which left
her permanently weakened. During this time, she gave up on prayer,
believing herself to be "too ill" to speak to God.
Her struggles in prayer continued until she was forty-one. Being
highly intelligent, she often found difficulty keeping her mind
focused while she prayed. It was as if her powerful intellect
was too strong to be held down. Through this struggle, though,
Teresa never ceased to persevere. Day by day, she began to pray
more effectively and sincerely, and God rewarded her with great
spiritual delights.
At this time, she began to experience God's peace and the joy
of being in His presence. She would later write: "O infinite
goodness of my God! ... how I long, when I think of this, to
be wholly consumed in love for Thee!" Teresa's prayer life
eventually grew so profound that she experienced the supernatural.
There have been accounts that she was visited by angels, demons,
and apparitions of Christ, and underwent real spiritual ecstasies.
In her later years, Teresa accomplished her greatest works. In
1562, she began her reform of the Carmelite order by establishing
convents in Avila, Toledo, Valladolid, Salamanca, and Alba. In
addition, she founded the order of the Discalced - or barefoot
- Carmelites. Teresa was an intelligent woman as well as a talented
writer, yet all her works were published posthumously. A few
of these include her spiritual biography, The Way of Perfection,
a description of the contemplative life in The Foundations, and
an account of her endeavors with the Discalced Carmelites in
The Interior Castle.
Throughout her various works, Teresa taught the importance of
having a virtuous life, saying it was the key to a happy, wholesome
life. She also taught that God is our greatest friend, and must
be involved in every aspect of our lives. Teresa herself was
extremely close to God.
Once, when she was traveling, her cart tipped, spilling her into
a muddy stream. Soaked and irritated, Teresa looked to heaven
and cried, "God, if this is the way you treat your friends,
no wonder you have so few of them!" This proves that to
her, God was not merely a distant ruler, but an everyday friend.
In fact, a poem found on her desk after her death reads, "Be
not perplexed, be not afraid, everything passes, God does not
change.... He who has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices".
Teresa died in 1582, joyful that she was leaving the earth as
a daughter of the Church. She was canonized in 1622, and to this
day, Catholics honor her on her feast day, October 15.
Saint Teresa's writings, teachings, and works have been a tremendous
inspiration to many Catholics, including me. Just as Teresa was
when she first made her vows, I am an adolescent who is trying
to develop a greater, deeper love for God, as well as a stronger
faith. I find Teresa's perseverance quite inspiring; though she
was highly secular and consumed by worldly pleasures, she learned
the importance of complete devotion to God. She also experienced
difficulty in prayer, yet she persevered. She was an ordinary
woman who, through prayer and her own efforts as a teacher and
writer, rose to greatness, and her intelligence, talent and spirit
has led her to become universally admired and venerated with
a privileged place among the Church's saints. To me and other
young Catholics, she is a paragon of faith, virtue, and spiritual
strength. From her, we all can learn how to deepen our own faith
and, most importantly, develop a stronger, lasting friendship
with God.
