Teresa of Avila

I recently read the biography Teresa of Avila written by Marcelle Auclair and I was blown away.

St. Teresa was completely feminine in her sensibilities* but so steeped in holiness that she was blessed with being able to experience ecstasy, a state of perfect union with God, when she prayed in silent contemplation.

Due to my grandmother's faith in the effectiveness of the prayers of Carmelite nuns, I have, from a very young age, always been aware of this cloistered order and grew up visiting the sisters regularly during festive occasions.

But given the austerity of the lifestyle, I came to the conclusion very early on in life that the person who founded this order must have been a formidable and dour woman who did not know how to have fun.

I had to alter this long-held impression upon closer study of this amazing woman.

Yes, she was formidable in how she utilized all her God-given talents to the best of her ability to reform and rejuvenate the Carmelite order, but she also sounds like a woman I would want to associate with and to emulate, for she was joyful, cheerful, funny, charming, witty, kind, wise, pragmatic, creative, humble and so imbued with common sense that she understood exactly what was needed to realize and maintain the spiritual aspirations of those who were called to live in her cloistered communities.

She was very big on self-knowledge, moderation, humility and silent prayer. Despite her gruelling schedule, she found time to write in order to better help her nuns practise the disciplines of "mental prayer" for she understood too well the distractions of noise.

"For speaking distracts; silence and action concentrate our mind and give it strength..."

What also inspires me greatly is that St. Teresa came to be this woman of deep and constant prayer, eschewing worldly comforts only when she was in her mid-forties. Although she ran away from home at the age of seven to be a martyr and she later entered a convent in her youth, she was far from becoming this great mystic and saint who is today recognized as a Doctor of the Church.

Auclair writes: "Teresa did become a saint by sheer force of willing it and with the grace of God. It is this process of achieving sanctity, this slow and costly transformation, which makes her life an unparalleled example for us."

She is truly a great role model even today, for her determination to rise above all of life's challenges steered her through persecution, privation, obstacles, lifelong illness and loss. Her ability to find her centre in God was singular.

And despite the outward signs she received of God's favour, all the miracles that happened during her lifetime, she never let it go to her head or saw herself as above anyone else.

She held on fast to love, humility, obedience and work and even in her latter years, retained a child-like innocence and simplicity, rare in a person who had already accomplished so much, moving mountains along the way.

When my heart is full of disquiet, I go back to this poem she wrote and sing the Taizé** version which always brings me back to what is important in life:

Let nothing trouble you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things pass away,
God alone is unchanging.
Patience obtains everything.
The one who possesses God lacks nothing,
God alone suffices.

And with this simple act, my fears are quelled.

"All is nothing. God is all."

* Mother Teresa of Jesus, as she was known, loved beautiful things, music, dancing and cleanliness. She had a great eye for detail and a great mind for organization, and she could spin, sew, cook and keep a household sparkling and running like clockwork.

** http://www.giamusic.com/searchPDFS/G5580.pdf