Flower Of Carmel Hermitage at 200 May St, Enola, PA 17025 US - St. Teresa of Jesus

Teresa of Jesus is probably better known around the world as Teresa of Avila, from the town in which she was born in the year 1515. She entered the Carmelite Order and grew in the spiritual life along the way of perfection. Considered by many to be a mystic, she shared in the spiritual renewal of the church of her day. She helped reform the Order of Friars and started new foundations herself. The many trials of Teresa's life gifted her with valuable lessons in contemplative prayer and perseverance. She imparted these lasting gifts to her daughters. How fortunate for the whole Church, that the Carmelites, realizing how much Teresa had to offer through her teachings and experience, begged her to write a book that would guide them in the way of perfection and union with God. Teresa loved the Church, believing that when one prays in the Holy Spirit the whole Church is praying. She asked her sisters to pray for Holy Mother Church and to make sacrifices on her behalf. On her death bed she was heard to say, "I am a Daughter of the Church," Her virtuous life in the way of perfection and teaching led her to the "Honors of the Altar" first as a Saint and later as a "Doctor of the Church." Teresian Reform... Over the centuries, as the Carmelite Friars [and later the Nuns] lived their lives in the rapidly changing world, some aspects of the original vision of those first hermits on Mt. Carmel was slowly lost. Many tried to reform the Order, to return it to its original focus of prayer and contemplation, but none were as successful as the great sixteenth century Spanish mystic, Saint Teresa of Jesus of Avila. She received great inspiration from gazing back at the 'holy fathers on Mt. Carmel, who in such great solitude and with such contemplation of the world sought this treasure [prayer and contemplation], this precious pearl.' Aided by Saint John of the Cross, together they shaped what was to become a new Order, whose reform was marked by a simpler habit and sandals (thus the new Order became known as Discalced Carmelites). The reformed Order rapidly spread across the globe, to encircle it today, wrapped in a rich tapestry of cultures. Prayer of St. Teresa of Jesus "Let nothing frighten you, Let nothing assail you; All things are passing, God alone is changeless; Whoever possesses God, lacks for nothing!" Spiritual Resources: The Way of Perfection (Saint Teresa Avila) by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux by John Clarke, O.C.D. Good Meditation Resources: Divine Intimacy by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D Drink of the Stream complied by Penny Hickey, O.C.D.S.

(Back)