Teresa of Jesus: Aim for the essential | Pastoral letter from the Archbishop of Seville (10

On October 15 we celebrate the feast of Saint Teresa of Jesus, mystic, reformer of Carmel and doctor of the Church. The story of this woman is exciting and begins with the birth of a girl from Ávila, Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, who came into the world on March 28, 1515 and left on October 4, 1582 in Alba de Tormes. She has served as an inspiration to countless disciples of hers; suffice it to cite two examples from the 20th century: the philosopher and mystic Edith Stein, who took the name Teresa Benedicta de la Cruz when she became a cloistered Carmelite nun, and that of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, who took the name Teresa de Calcutta, given to the poorest.

Teresa enjoyed a comfortable childhood and youth, with the possibility of reading numerous chivalric novels, to which she was very fond, and which sparked her imagination in an unparalleled way. She also had access to books on spirituality, such as the Third Spiritual Alphabet by Francisco de Osuna, or numerous lives of saints. She herself will affirm after her that her childhood was spent among books and that is why she will strongly recommend that her convents have a good library, full of works that can feed the soul of the nuns. For Saint Teresa, pious reading was as necessary as food for the body.

His reform sought the renewal of the Church, returning to the founding origins of his order, to the original form, to the essence of religious life. He places the evangelical virtues as the foundation of the entire spiritual edifice: detachment from riches, charity in human relationships, humility as love of truth, determination as the fruit of Christian audacity, theological hope. Another nuclear aspect of his spirituality is the centrality of Christ. He teaches the importance of prayer, which is the best way to reach the perfection of charity and union with the Lord; he attaches great importance to meditation on the Lord’s Passion and to the Eucharist, which is the presence of Christ in the Church, the heart of the Liturgy and food for the believer’s life of faith. She was a woman, without a doubt, ahead of her time, because centuries later the Second Vatican Council would undertake this same task, valuing the study of the Bible, the doctrine of the Holy Fathers and the Sacred Tradition of the Church; thus giving a renewed impetus to Theology.

In addition to an immense legacy in which we can find some of the most beautiful works of spirituality, Saint Teresa left us with the concern to seek what is essential in our relationship with God. She has gone down in the history of spirituality as a great teacher of prayer. What is prayer for Teresa? Something both high and simple. “It is nothing other than mental prayer, in my opinion, but trying to be friends, often being alone with someone we know loves us” (Vida, VIII, 5). Teresa will wield the definitive argument to encourage those who are afraid to embark on the path of prayer: “For those who try to pray, the Lord Himself pays for them, because, for a little work, it is a pleasure for them to spend time with Him. works” (Life, VIII, 8).

In prayer, Santa Teresa found the forced door to Las Moradas. A place where, as she herself says, the most secret things happen between God and the soul. The place where we enter into communion with the Lord and abandon ourselves to his will, knowing that we are his, that we were born for him. May God grant that all of us, increasing our prayers, obtain as many graces as the Lord granted to Teresa of Jesus and discover in our lives that only God is enough. To all my fraternal embrace and my blessing.

+ Jose Angel Saiz Meneses

Archbishop of Seville

Theresa of Jesus. Aim for the essentials | Pastoral letter from the Archbishop of Seville (10-16-2022) 108.71KB

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Teresa of Jesus: Aim for the essential | Pastoral letter from the Archbishop of Seville (10-16-2022)