Saint Teresa of Avila

October 15
Saint Teresa of Jesus
Mystic, Virgin
Doctor of the Church
Doctor of Prayer
1515-1582

"Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ looks compassion into the world.
Yours are the feet
with which Christ walks to do good.
Yours are the hands
with which Christ blesses the world."

 

Born in Avila, Spain in 1515, Saint Teresa at seven years of age ran away from home to Africa in the hope of being martyred by the Moors, but thankfully was brought back by her uncle. She had much more to accomplish for her Heavenly Groom, Jesus. At the age of eighteen she joined the Carmelite Order.

 

Saint Teresa’s life revolved around prayer thus she was given the title Doctor of the Church as Doctor of Prayer.
 

“Anyone who has not begun to pray, I beg, for the love of the Lord, not to miss so great a blessing. There is no place here for fear, but only desire…..I hope in the mercy of God, whom no one has ever taken for a Friend without being rewarded; and mental prayer, in my view, is nothing but a friendly way of dealing, in which we often find ourselves talking in private with Him whom we know loves us.”
(Vol. I of Life of the Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus)

Saint Teresa’s prayer life became so deep, that in 1559 she experienced the mystical grace of Transverberation, or a piercing of her heart by a “dart of love”. In 1726, Pope Benedict XIII appointed a festival and office for Transverberation.

Gianlorenzo Bernini depicts the Ecstasy of St. Teresa in marble (shown to the left) in the Santa Maria della Vittoria, in Rome.

This statue illustrates the remarkable mystic experience related by St. Teresa herself in Chapter XXIX, part 13 of her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus.

"Beside me on the left appeared an angel in bodily form…He was not tall but short, and very beautiful; and his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest ranks of angels, who seem to be all on fire…In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated my entrails. When he pulled it out I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease, nor is one’s soul content with anything but God. This is not a physical but a spiritual pain, through the body has some share in it."

After the Transverberation, Teresa’s raptures became more and more frequent and she would see Christ in the Eucharist during Mass. After she was given many more spiritual gifts she was also given a vision of Hell.

“I experienced a fire in the soul that I don’t know how I could describe. The bodily pains were so unbearable that though I had suffered excruciating ones in this life and according to what doctors say, the worst that can be suffered on earth for all my nerves were shrunken when I was paralyzed, plus many other sufferings of many kinds that I endured and even some as I said, caused by the devil, these were all nothing in comparison with the ones I experienced there. I saw furthermore that they would go on without end and without ever ceasing. This, however, was nothing next to the soul’s agonizing: a constriction, suffocation, an affliction so keenly felt and with such a despairing and tormenting unhappiness that I don’t know how to word it strongly enough. To say the experience is as though the soul were continually being wrested from the body would be insufficient, for it would make you think somebody else is taking away the life, whereas here it is the soul itself that tears itself in pieces. The fact is that I don’t know how to give a sufficiently powerful description of that interior fire and that despair, coming in addition to such extreme torments and pains. I didn’t see who inflicted them on me, but, as it seemed to me, I felt myself burning and crumbling; and I repeat the worst was that interior fire and despair."

"Being in such an unwholesome place, so unable to hope for any consolation, I found it impossible either to sit down or to lie down, nor was there any room, even though they put me in this kind of hole made in the wall. Those walls, which were terrifying to see, closed in on themselves and suffocated everything. There was not light, but all was enveloped in the blackest darkness. I don’t understand how this could be, that everything painful to see was visible, but I understood it to be a great favor, and that the Lord wanted me to see with my own eyes the place from which His Mercy had saved me…And so I don’t remember any times since that I have had trouble or pain, without thinking that everything that can be suffered here is nothing…From then on I had the greatest sorrow for the many souls that condemn themselves to hell.” (The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Volume 1, Chapter 32: paragraphs: 1,2,3. Published by Institute of Carmelite Studies Publications, Washington, D.C)

Though she had no ambitions on being a great writer, nor did she ever write during her lifetime for publication, St. Theresa has major written works -some are The Life of Teresa of Jesus, The Relations, The Way of Perfection, The Interior Castle and The Foundations. Since her death, there have been over 2,015 editions of her books written in over 22 languages.

Saint Teresa’s work of reforming the Carmelites began relatively late in her life; she made 21 foundations in her last 20 years, from the time she was 47 to her death at the age of 67.

Though St. Teresa suffered from heart trouble and upset stomach for decades and in her twenties she was paralyzed for three years, in her fifties she traversed across Spain by foot or mule forming 17 convents for nuns and along with Saint John of the Cross four monasteries for the Reformed or Discalced Friars.

After founding her last convent at age 67 she set back out for Avila the place of her birth and where she was still Prioress. On September 29, 1582, St. Theresa went to bed never to rise again. She would often repeat the words: “Lord, I am a daughter of the Church. My Lord, it is time to be going. Very well, Your will be done.”

Her body was buried in a wooden coffin. After nine months it was exhumed and to everyone’s amazement, though her clothes were decaying, her body was incorrupt.

While the Carmelite nuns placed her in new clothes a delightful perfume spread throughout the monastery. Later, her heart was removed to be enclosed in a reliquary. When this was being done they saw the wound from the angel’s dart. This is still visible today at the Carmelite Monastery of Alba de Tormes in Spain.

A bookmark found in one of St. Theresa’s books after her death read.

Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing.
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God.
God alone suffices.

In 1970 Pope Paul VI named Teresa the first woman Doctor of the Church.

 

Quotes of Saint Teresa of Avila
"It is love alone that gives worth to all things."

“Accustom yourself continually
to make many acts of love,
for they enkindle and melt the soul.”

"We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness, we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble."

"There are more tears shed over
answered prayers than over unanswered prayers."

"I would never want any prayer that
would not make the virtues grow within me."

"You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him."
"One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer. "

"Suffering is a great favor. Remember that everything soon comes to an end . . . and take courage. Think of how our gain is eternal."

"Pain is never permanent."

"Truth suffers, but never dies."

"I am afraid that if we begin to put our trust
in human help, some of our Divine help will fail us."

"We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us."

"Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and there is only one Glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing. "   Saint Teresa of Jesus
Pray for Us

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This is dedicated to Ray Momboisse, husband of my blessed mother-in-law, Mary Jane, (God rest her soul). Together they are the parents of my precious husband Mike, who is the father of God’s generous gifts to Mike and I, our children, Robin and Richard. Ray or Pear as we love to call him has enjoyed Eucharist after years in the desert.

Not only does this fall mark the 30 reunion of Mike and my college graduation, (Go Broncos) but this December marks the 30th anniversary of the death of the Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, 1895-1979. Why do I bring up Archbishop Fulton Sheen? Because this entry is dedicated to Pear.

Pear used to watch Bishop Sheen on television Sunday nights. This was a time when a Catholic priest was actually embraced and listened to for his values and morals. Bishop Sheen received an Emmy award for his television show Life is Worth Living which was shown on a small network, a show poised as a throwaway program, slotted against a very popular comedian, Milton Berle.

This was, as some would say, a more innocent time, hardly worth reminding the world of. But for the sake of those that might still want to be reminded of this more innocent and moral time here are a few moments with Archbishop Fulton Sheen. By the way Mr. Berle was genuinely innocent, wholesome and entertaining also. Those were the days!!

What's My Line?

Archbishop Fulton J Sheen - Wasting Your Life Part 1 - 3

October 11 A Monkey's Prayer

October 11

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel According to Mark

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.” He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said. “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” (Mark 10:17-27)

A Monkey’s Prayer

In some parts of the world monkey is still hunted for food. In these parts of the world a hunter waits patiently watching a hollowed out coconut shell he has tethered to a tree. The hunter has placed this shell along a monkey trail over a pile of roasted peanuts. In the coconut shell the hunter has carefully formed a small hole just large enough for a monkey hand to fit through. Soon the hunter’s patience is rewarded; a monkey traveling along the trail is attracted to the coconut shell by the deliciously tempting aroma coming from inside the trap. The monkey, considered a rather intelligent animal, slips his hand through the hole carefully feeling for what his senses tell him will be an appetizing treat. The monkey grabs his reward, a handful of roasted peanuts and attempts to pull his fist from the coconut. The closed fist of the monkey will not fit through the hole the hunter devised. The only way for the monkey to escape capture would be to open his fist, drop his treasure, slip his hand back out and scurry away to eat another day. As the monkey ponders his choice, the hunter captures him with a net. Trapped, the monkey, if he was inclined to pray might say, “Dear God please save me, and please let me have these roasted peanuts as my reward.”

Life is full of choices, some more important than others. Each choice comes with a consequence. The choices we make in life are derived from the personal values we possess. Values determine our way of being, living and acting. In the gospel the rich man was invited to make a choice. If he is to have eternal life Jesus asks him to sell all that he has and follow him. The rich man is sad because he has many possessions. The gospel doesn’t tell us the end of the story. The story ends leaving us to contemplate what we would do in this circumstance.

As I pondered this question for myself and what Fr. Julito said in his sermon regarding this gospel it was clear to me that God wasn’t saying that we cannot have wealth, or what is necessary to live, but he was saying not to become too attached to it. Having riches may give us a temporary sense of security, leading us to “hold on” to “false” treasures, when at times the better choice would be to “let go” and truly find our reward. Let go and trust God’s path for our life.

Everything that I have gathered in my life, all of it is truly a gift. I am aware from whom that gift comes and to whom it belongs. It is my prayer that when called upon to let go of the things that I feel I cannot live without I will. I have already seen this in one aspect and been richly rewarded by opening my fist. No one can out do or out give God.

“Save me oh Lord,

give me the grace to open my hand

and my heart when you call.

Forgive me my trespasses

as I forgive those who trespass against me.

And lead me not into temptation,

but deliver me from evil. Amen”