The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila: First Level (Grammar Stage)

What are the central events in the writer’s life?

I know that I should have written only the most important events for this inquiry, but to refresh my memory, and really…there are a lot of important events in Teresa’s life that is so valuable, I finally rambled over this quite a long post. :)

• Teresa’s soul was aroused since childhood, thanks to the parents’ good virtues. (age 7)
• Lost her virtues through bad company – entered an Augustinian convent in spite of her bitter aversion. (age 14)
• Returned to good virtues – had serious illness; poor health – out from the convent to stay with her sister. (age 16+)
• Finally took the habit at the Convent of Incarnation, 3^rd November 1536. (age 21)
• Feeling great joy for serving God – her health worsens – went to another town for treatment.
• Suffered the inability of meditating, always needed books to pray – been misguided by her confessor. (age 23)
• Asked God to send illness and patience to endure it. God granted it, the treatment worsen her illness, she endured great pain with great patience, almost died.
• Teresa was paralyzed for almost three years, but endured it with great joy.
• She regretted her sins, took St. Joseph as her patron, and through him, God granted her prayers.
• Teresa fell again in sin from amusements and vanity, having too much freedom in the convent.
• She had a friendship with a woman – one day Christ appeared before her looking severe and warned her that the friendship displeased Him. She disobeyed still; then had a vision of a strange toad which she believed to be another God’s warning.
• For some times she stopped communing with God (meditation).
• Her father died from illness.
• Guided by her father’s confessor, Teresa began to pray again – still led two lives: divine and worldly ones.
• However, during those follies, Teresa felt that God veiled her sins from public because He must have known how Teresa longed to serve Him.
• Teresa was tormented when God granted graces to her despite of her sins.
• Teresa saw in her mind an image of Christ terribly wounded; it moved her deeply; that she called up that image in meditations which helped her a lot.
• Teresa had difficulties to stay in meditation because her thoughts were wondering; she needed an actual image to induce mental recollection in mind.
• She began reading St. Augustine’s Confessions; it helped her to incline more to spiritual graces and stayed away from things that did her harm.
• Teresa wrote the contents of this book to her confessors, but warned him to only publish till chapter 10, and left the rest in secret.
• She taught us how to do mental prayer (meditation) in 4 stages, and how to hinder the devils from taunting us. The higher the stage, the more intimate we would be to God.
• 5 or 6 years stretched along from Teresa’s first to third stages of prayer.
• People accused her of making innovations in prayer – Teresa was disturbed by it – abandoned again her prayer.
• Father Barron, a Dominican Friar, woke her up from sins – she realized how God is never tired of forgiving sinners like her.
• Whenever Teresa had an ecstasy from her 4^th stage of prayer (when God enraptured her), her body would be lifted from the ground. Along with the raptures, Teresa experienced distress from terrible loneliness – she longed to die, to be united to God – her body also suffered great pain – she accepted all happily as the way of Cross.
• After 20 years of prayer and avoiding sins, Teresa was afraid that she might be deceived by the devil. She then sought spiritual directors to guide her.
• To one of her five teachers from the Society of Jesus she confided that despite of her sins, God granted her much favours – the teachers concluded that it was from evil spirit, not God – they instructed her to resist herself from the raptures.

Cuzco School: The Second Conversion of Saint Teresa. ca. 1694

• Teresa used to keep her earthly friendship, however one day God told her in her ecstasy that He wanted her to converse not to men, but with angels – on this, she gave up her friendship and everything for God.
• Two years after Teresa was instructed to resist God’s favours, she sensed Christ’s presence at her side, though she couldn’t see him; so real the experience, it convinced Teresa that it was not the devil – her new confessor confirmed, he was Peter of Alcantara (later on a Fransiscan saint).
• Teresa often had the ‘vision’ from God (she could see Him—parts of His body or His whole body).
• People doubted that a sinner like Teresa could have such favours from God – her confessors were also unwilling to take her confession.
• St. Teresa kept welcoming the visions, though her confessors told her to stop it.
• But God reassured her by giving a token of jeweled cross and advice to deal with her opposition.
• Now the raptures began to bring great pain to Teresa’s soul like being pierced by an arrow, but at the same time the pain felt sweet—it is a combination of pleasure and pain, which disturbed Teresa.
• She was visited by Friar Peter of Alcantara who understood her experience and comforted that it came from God.
• Teresa was tormented several times by the devils, which is permitted by God. During these times Teresa was greatly tormented and only relieved after sprinkling holy water to the devils – it happened because she wanted to save another soul, so she asked God to switch the devils to her soul instead – the other soul was saved at last.
• One day Teresa had a vision of hell, she experienced its torment for a few seconds but that terrified her forever.
• She thought of what kind of penance she ought to do to avoid hell.
• God commanded her, in a vision, to found a convent of St. Joseph’s and He promised to watch over it.
• The plan was opposed by many people but God encouraged Teresa to go on – He inspired the oppositions that at the end they were willingly to help the realization.
• The Provincial suddenly changed his mind, and so the project was cancelled – Teresa was persecuted once more by her colleagues.
• God commanded her to obey her superiors – she was sure that the project will be realized nonetheless.
• The present Rector of The Society of Jesus was succeeded by a more spiritual one – under whom the project was resumed.
• God supported Teresa with encouragement and the means of building the convent, including money which she didn’t have any.
• St. Joseph and St. Clare appeared to her when she was distressed of doing everything alone – They promised to help her. St. Mary has even asked Her Son to help her; which He did.
• Teresa was able to save souls of clerics as well as her relatives by the help from God in visions.
• God insisted that the convent should be built on the principle of poverty.
• Finally Teresa was sent by God in secrecy at a perfect time to finalize the sanction and authority of the convent foundation, against her superiors’ knowledge.
• The convent of St. Joseph was founded on 1562.
• It was under greater enclosure and the new nuns were taken without dowry under the rule of poverty.
• Only four hours after that, the devils put her into spiritual battle again, planting the idea that she must have been wrong to disobey her Provincial – again God helped her and convinced her to lead the nuns.
• People who at first opposed her, began to give their consent.
• In the new convent, Teresa’s virtues much progressed – she often got visions from Saints and souls of dead ones being transported to Heaven, or being torn by the devils, according to their deeds while on earth.
• God gave her a vision to encourage her that He won’t ever abandon her at trials – also a vision of Heaven with its Throne and Angels.
• When she doubted (again!) whether the vision was from God, He rebuked her in an apparition.
• Teresa also had a vision of Virgin Mary’s assumption.
• Finally Teresa was strictly enclosed in her convent, completely out of the world and devoted her life solely to God.

Give your book your own title and subtitle

A God’s Servant’s Story: In Which St. Teresa of Avila Becomes One of His Most Faithful Servants Despite Of Her Sins and Weaknesses.

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