On 15 October, the Church commemorates St Teresa of Ávila, Virgin and Doctor of the Church. Together with St John of the Cross, she worked tirelessly for the reform of the Carmelite Order, which led to the foundation of the Order of Discalced Carmelites.
Born in the Spanish city of Ávila in 1515, she must have carried within her the same warrior spirit as the women of that city. About two centuries earlier, when Ávila was threatened by attacks from the Moors, the city’s army went out to try to keep the enemy forces at bay. But the enemy was waiting for this opportunity to attack the city when there was no one left to defend it. Faced with this threat, Jimena Blázquez, the mayor’s wife, organised the women of the city who, dressed in armour, went up onto the city walls. In this way, they succeeded in deceiving the enemy, who believed that enough soldiers remained in the city to defend it.
This warrior strength can be seen both in the many writings she left behind and in her courage when confronting many obstacle in her holy determination to rekindle the spirit of Elijah within the Carmelite Order. Even her image of the interior castle complements the setting of the city of Ávila, which no one could easily conquer or capture.
Within this treasure of wisdom and prayer, one particular note found in her prayer book after her death in 1582 truly stands out. It reads:
Let nothing frighten you,
all things pass away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who has God
finds he lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
We can say that in these few verses we find gathered together the burning heart of this warrior woman, who recognised that, without the love of her Beloved, no battle can be fought. She came to show such strength and courage precisely because she knew how to place her security solely in the Lord, who alone is enough. This certainty echoes the powerful declaration made by Christ in his eschatological discourse: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mt 24:35).
In a letter to the Bishop of Ávila on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the beginning of the Teresian reform, Pope Benedict XVI offered an invitation which I believe applies to us too, because it is relevant in every age and in every circumstance:
Following in the footsteps of Teresa of Jesus, allow me to say to all who have their future before them: may you too, aspire to belong totally to Jesus, only to Jesus and always to Jesus. Do not be afraid to say to Our Lord, as she did, “I am yours; I was born for you, what do you want to do with me?” (Poem 2). And I ask him to obtain that you may also be able to respond to his call, illuminated by divine grace with “determined resolve” in order to offer “that little” which is in you, trusting in the fact that God never abandons those who leave everything for his glory (cf. Camino di perfección 21, 2; 1, 2).
Benedict XVI, Letter to the Bishop of Ávila on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the foundation of the Monastery of St Joseph in Ávila and the beginning of the Reform of Carmel (16 July 2012), par. 5.