Teresa made her solemn profession as a Carmelite nun, and for the next twenty years she lived at the convent. But in the busy convent, she found meditation and prayer difficult.
Her attitude toward her own life and toward God changed in 1555, when she was praying before a statue of the wounded Christ. She began to meditate upon Christ's sufferings. At thirty-nine years of age, Teresa discovered the price Christ paid for love, and began to want to return that love as best she could. She began to realize that the environment of the convent of the Incarnation kept her from a serious life of prayer. She began to dream of a small, poor, and fervent Carmelite monastery where the nuns could support one another in their common love of God. The Carmelite reform began.
With four companions who shared her views, Teresa founded the Carmel of San José (Saint Joseph), and the Order of Discalced Carmelites was on its way. The word discalced means "shoeless."
Teresa founded sixteen monasteries of women. To do this, she traveled long journeys by donkey through every kind of terrain and weather. She became known to the people of Spain as "the roving nun." Teresa had always enjoyed people, and many came to her or wrote to her for her advice. On feast days, she played the tambourine so that the nuns could sing and dance. Teresa wrote several books. Her teachings were based on her own lived experience, and were rooted in the Scriptures, especially the Gospels.
Like Saint Teresa of Avila, in our prayer, work, travel, and everyday lives, we can explore within and find our way to God. Download a primary activity in English or Spanish to celebrate the feast day of St Teresa of Avila.
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François Gérard [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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