October 15th marks the feast day of the first female Doctor of the Church, a mystic, and a profound reformer. In an age of turmoil, when the Church struggled under internal challenges and spiritual stagnation, a quiet yet fierce voice rose from within the walls of a Carmelite convent in Ávila, Spain.
This voice belonged to extraordinary woman, St. Teresa of Ávila a woman of courageous faith and tenacity. Born in 1515, she would go on to ignite a spiritual renewal that still burns in the hearts of millions today. Teresa’s life was no stranger to hardship. From debilitating illness to constant opposition, she endured suffering not as a burden, but as a means of drawing closer to God.
She began her spiritual journey in a convent weighed down by worldly comforts and loose discipline. Teresa was stirred by a vision of renewal – a return to simplicity, silence, and deep contemplative prayer. Despite the opposition, Teresa founded the Discalced Carmelite Reform. She travelled across Spain to establish convents founded in humility, and radical intimacy with God. It was because of her strong relationship with God she faced the inevitable ridicule, rejection, and exhaustion.
This strong dynamic relationship with God was expressed in her writings – The Interior Castle, The Way of Perfection. These aren’t dreary theological treatises; on the contrary they are maps of the soul’s journey toward divine love. She taught that prayer is not a duty, but a relationship – a sacred friendship with Christ that transforms the heart.
Teresa accepted her humanity, and it was this that gave greater strength to her spiritual writings and reform. Her spirituality was not detached from life but deeply embedded in it. She knew the struggle of distraction, the weight of doubt, and the sting of suffering. Yet she taught us to press on, trusting in the God who dwells within.
In 1970, she was declared a Doctor of the Church – one of the first women ever to receive this honour. I wonder why it took so long?
St. Teresa of Ávila calls each of us today to build that strong intimacy with God and remember; Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, everything passes; God does not change.
by Virginia Ryan