LYCOS RETRIEVER 
St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582): Spain
built 230 days ago
Teresa of Avila was born in Spain during the years when Martin Luther was beginning the Reformation in Germany (February 18). The young Teresa wasn’t that interested in religion. She preferred romance novels and beautiful clothes. At the age of 21 she decided to enter the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation, which was like a club for young women. The richest nuns received special treatment, and the place was filled with visitors, gossip, games and good food. Teresa enjoyed the distractions.
Source:
Born in Avila, Spain, on March 28, 1515, St. Teresa was the daughter of a Toledo merchant and his second wife, who died when Teresa was 15, one of ten children. Shortly after this event, Teresa was entrusted to the care of the Augustinian nuns. After reading the letters of St. Jerome, Teresa resolved to enter a religious life. In 1535, she joined the Carmelite Order. She spent a number of relatively average years in the convent, punctuated by a severe illness that left her legs paralyzed for three years, but then experienced a vision of "the sorely wounded Christ" that changed her life forever.
Source:
Forms of Teresa do not appear in languages outside Iberia until the end of the 16th century, when the fame of Saint Teresa of Avila spread the name widely in Europe. [10] Teresa of Avila died in 1582, was beatified in 1614, and was canonized in 1622. [11] She ... wrote several books, which were published in the late 16th century. [12] The spread of the name to central Europe was probably also influenced by the close ties between Spain and Austria beginning in the 16th century, when the royalty of Spain and of Austria were close kin.
Source:
Teresa was a constant amazement to the other people in her convent in the city of Avila in Spain. She was a mystic, a person with a gift for deep prayer. According to stories told about her, sometimes she would sink into union with God so intense that she actually rose off the floor and floated in the air. This would happen unexpectedly, for instance, when she was helping with the dishes. But she was ... romantic and enthusiastic. She would grab a set of castanets and dance around the room when things seemed dull during recreation time.
Source:
At age 21, St. Teresa entered the Carmelite convent of the Incarnation in her hometown, Avila, Spain. It was not a rigorous religious community — any visitor was admitted at any reasonable hour, and nuns from well-to-do families brought their servants with them. Teresa had a suite of rooms — a bedroom, a private oratory, a guest room and even her own private kitchen. The nuns were decidedly worldly, but they did keep up the routine of daily Mass, the Divine Office, fasts and confession at least twice a month, but there was no contemplative life at Incarnation.
Source:
In Spain, the Catholic Reformation had a major female voice in St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582). As a young woman she entered the Carmelite convent at Avila. There, later in life, she began to experience visions and ecstasies, and these in turn led her to propose a reform of the Carmelite order according to its original, more austere rule. Although there was powerful opposition to Teresa, support from Pope Paul IV and from King Philip II enabled her to establish many convents for her "discalced" (barefoot) Carmelite nuns. Of her most important writings, two are autobiographical. The Life describes her visions and discusses the centrality of prayer, and Foundations describe the establishment of her convents.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Spain