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FEAST OF THE DAY

Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada was born in Avila, in
what is now Spain, on March 28, 1515. She was the third child of a
noble Don Alonso Sanchez de Cepeda and his second wife, Doña
Beatriz, who died when Teresa was 14. Her father was a saintly and
literate man, and her mother was a pious and loving. After the death
of her mother she was sent to school under the Augustinian nuns in
Avila but left after 18 months due to illness. She remained with her
father and an uncle after leaving school, and they continued her
education.

Her uncle introduced her to the writings of St. Jerome, which instilled
in her the desire for the religious life, although she considered it a
safe route rather than a true calling. At first, when Teresa expressed
her desire to enter the convent, her father did not give her his
consent, so she left home in 1535 without telling him and entered the
Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation at Avila. On seeing this
determination her father relented, but leaving her family on those
terms was a heart-rending experience for Teresa, which she later
compared to death.

A year after taking her vows Teresa became very ill, and due to inept
medical treatment she was incapacitated for a lengthy period and
never fully recovered her health. It was during this period of illness
that she began practicing mental prayer. She was granted many
'interior locutions and visions', in which none of the 5 exterior senses
are involved. She considered herself unworthy of such favors but
God would increase his work in her when she resisted. Word of her
visions spread through Avila and troubled the people living there,
and attracted the attention of the Dominicans and Jesuits, including
St. Francis Borgia, who determined her veracity and counseled her
spiritually.

Teresa wrote an account of her experiences in an autobiography and
in her book "The Interior Castle". She also founded 12 reform
minded communities Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Primitive Rule
and four male communities, with some assistance from St. John of
the Cross. She recounted the story of these in her "Book of
Foundations". She faced strong opposition throughout in this work
but with the help of Phillip II the Discalced Carmelite province was
approved and canonically established on June 22, 1580.

Shortly afterward on Oct. 4, 1582 she passed away. Due to the
reform of the calendar the following day was reckoned as October
15. Her body was transferred to Avila, but later conveyed to Alba,
where it is still preserved incorrupt. Her heart, showing the marks of
Transverberation, or piercing of her heart, is exposed there as well.
She was beatified in 1614, and canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory
XV and in 1970, was the first woman to be declared a doctor of the
Church. St. Teresa is a patron saint of Spain.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Unless you strive after virtues and practice them, you will never grow
to be more than dwarfs. -St. Theresa of Avila

TODAY IN HISTORY

1790 Mother Bernardina and Frances Dickinson found a convent of
Discalced Carmelites. It was the first Catholic convent founded in the
United States.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

Transverberation is a word that means piercing. The experience of
Teresa's transverberation is described in the twenty-ninth chapter of
her autobiography.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for all people buying a home.