ST. TERESA OF AVILA

I like to think of Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) as a diamond, many faceted and beautiful.

It is said that when she was a young girl, both she and her brother ran away to become martyrs in the conflict with the Moors. Their uncle saw them on the road and intervened in their plans. Teresa had deep spiritual desires, even as a young child.

Her relationship with God was deeply personal and it motivated what she did, who she wanted to be. There is a quote in several books that says one day Teresa was travelling along in a donkey cart and the cart got stuck in a mud puddle and Teresa fell out of the cart. She said she heard the voice of God in that moment saying: “This is how I treat my friends.” Teresa’s response was: “That’s why you don’t have many.” Only someone with a loving and trusting relationship could respond in this way.

Let us pray this prayer attributed to St. Teresa, in honour of her devotion to God:

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

St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!

Pat Carter, CSJ is a disciple, a teacher and an advocate for the poor. She has been a Sister of St. Joseph for more than half of her life and loves to use words to inspire faith and laughter. She is a cantor at her parish of St. Jerome’s in Sault Ste. Marie.