Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Teresa of Avila

 Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Teresa of Avila 10/15/2023

St. Teresa of Ávila was the first of only four women to have been named doctor of the church. Her ascetic doctrine and Carmelite reforms shaped Roman Catholic contemplative life, and her writings on the Christian soul's journey to God are considered masterpieces.

In The Interior Castle Saint Teresa wrote that: "The Lord represented himself to her, just after she had received Communion, in the form of shining splendour, beauty, and majesty, as he was after his resurrection, and told her that now it was time that she consider as her own what belonged to him and that he would take

As a mystic, Teresa was bombarded with supernatural experiences and visions. Jesus once said to her in a vision, “I would create the universe again just to hear you say that you love me”

St. Teresa of Avila is the patron saint of those who suffer from headaches and migraines, those who are ill, people ridiculed for their religious faith, and Spain. It is unclear why St. Teresa was chosen as the patron saint of those with headaches, since there are no records that she herself was afflicted with them.

Teresa's most famous miracle was the healing of her injured nephew. She performed a miracle after part of a building had fallen on the boy, crushing him and apparently killing him. He was brought to Teresa, and she prayed for him and held him in her arms. A few minutes later, he came back to life.

Teresa lived in an age of exploration as well as political, social, and religious upheaval. It was the 16th century, a time of turmoil and reform. She was born before the Protestant Reformation and died almost 20 years after the closing of the Council of Trent.