The first time I stumbled on Teresa of Avila, I was strolling through Rome. I visited the Cornaro Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. There I was… alone … in this tiny church, dimly lit, gazing at Bernini’s marble statue on a summer day! Bernini had a gift presenting marble suspended in mid-air. Critics of Bernini saw this statue as an exaggeration of eroticism in the spiritual life. The seventeenth century masterpiece draws you into Teresa’s inner life. The statue depicts the moment Teresa felt the fiery arrow pierce her soul, infusing her with God.

Such brilliant emotionalism moves the viewer to feel God’s love for Teresa. We feel the immensity of God’s love evading her very being.

A second moment with Teresa was a few years ago. We were on a pilgrimage and landed in Avila. We are pictured here right outside the great Spanish saint’s first convent.

Avila is a fortress city with high stone gates, ancient buildings, and a Spanish giant at the center. Teresa of Avila is known for many works, especially Interior Castle.

In the study of Teresa, it is imperative to note the importance of self-knowledge before entering one’s interior castle. Teresa points out that the castle is the soul. The castle is already in a person’s possession. A person has to have self-knowledge which is the desire of communion with God through prayer. Without prayer, a person cannot enter the interior castle. Prayer is the doorway into this castle. People can become so absorbed with external matters. They deal with the “insects and vermin that are in the walls surrounding the castle” (1.1.6). Teresa emphasizes this need to understand oneself and the longing to change and refocus one’s life on God. Otherwise, “they will be changed into statues of salt, unable to turn their heads to look at themselves …” (1.1.6).

The entrance into the first mansion is prayer. Prayer requires self-knowledge. Teresa emphasizes the importance of self-knowledge. If there is any room worth revisiting or dwelling in for a long time, it is self-knowledge (1.2.8). This room is important no matter how far the soul has progressed in the spiritual life. Self-knowledge takes much work. Teresa emphasizes that a soul must be vigilant. It should not forget the importance of understanding itself before Almighty God.

Prayer is speaking with awareness to God. Once we realize this about ourselves, we foster humility. Humility “is always at work. Without it, everything goes wrong” (1.2.8). Humility and self-knowledge help purge us from sin so we can journey to God. Humility allows us to address the all-holy God “by gazing at His grandeur, we get in touch with our own lowliness; by looking at His purity, we shall see our own filth; by pondering His humility, we shall see how far we are from being humble” (1.2.9).

Her great tome is a journey into the soul. In the inner chambers of our castle is the King who died for us. In the center of the castle is the King who defeated death and has prepared a place for us. Life is a journey of purging these sins and attachments to stand in his holy presence.

Here below is a copy of Saint Teresa’s famous prayer, translated in English which we can ponder throughout the day:

Let nothing disturb you, 
Let nothing frighten you, 
All things are passing away: 
God never changes. 
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing; 
God alone suffices.

Yes, God alone is enough. God alone satisfies every longing within me. If I cling to this truth, then nothing disturbs or shakes me at my core.