St. Teresa, one of the towering figures of all Christian history, was the daughter of a wealthy Spanish merchant. Though she became a nun at twenty, her vocation initially had little to do with the love of God. The Carmelite convent in Avila was quite lax—more a boardinghouse for wealthy maidens than a house of prayer. At the age of thirty-nine, however, Teresa experienced a powerful conversion. Filled with loathing for her spiritual mediocrity, she determined to devote herself more seriously to prayer—and more, to establish a new reformed Carmelite community. Her campaign of reform became the foundation for the Discalced (shoeless) Carmelites—a reference to their strict poverty. Given that she was a woman and a reformer who based her authority on private visions, Teresa’s activities entailed considerable risk. In fact, they resulted in an investigation by the Inquisition. Nevertheless, she surmounted all obstacles, including sickness, hunger, and poverty, sustained by an extraordinarily intense communion with God.  

Teresa could be at turns charming, irreverent, and impossible, depending on the circumstances and the provocation. But there was little doubt that her courage and wisdom were rooted in a special relationship with God. A mystic, reformer, founder of seventeen convents, and author of four books, she was one of the outstanding masters of Christian prayer. She died in 1582 and was canonized forty years later. In 1970 she was the first woman named a Doctor of the Church.  

“Christ has no body now but mine. He prays in me, works in me, looks through my eyes, speaks through my words, works through my hands, walks with my feet and loves with me here.”

—St. Teresa of Avila