Teresa of Ávila

Teresa of Ávila,[a] OCD (Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda

Saint
Dávila y Ahumada; 28 March 1515 – 4 or 15 October
1582),[b] also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Teresa of Ávila
OCD
Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and
religious reformer.

Active during the Counter-Reformation, Teresa

became the central figure of a movement of spiritual
and monastic renewal, reforming the Carmelite Orders
of both women and men.[2] The movement was later
joined by the younger Carmelite friar and mystic Saint
John of the Cross, with whom she established the
Discalced Carmelites. A formal papal decree adopting
the split from the old order was issued in 1580.[web 3]

Her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, and her

books The Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection
are prominent works on Christian mysticism and
Christian meditation practice. In her autobiography, Saint Teresa of Ávila by Eduardo Balaca
written as a defense of her ecstatic mystical
Virgin, Doctor of the Church
experiences, she discerns four stages in the ascent of
the soul to God: mental prayer and meditation; the Born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda
prayer of quiet; absorption-in-God; ecstatic Dávila y Ahumada
28 March 1515
consciousness. The Interior Castle, written as a
Ávila or Gotarrendura, Crown
spiritual guide for her Carmelite sisters, uses the
of Castile
illustration of seven mansions within the castle of the
soul to describe the different states one's soul can be in Died 4 October 1582 (aged 67)
during life. Alba de Tormes, Crown of
Castile
Forty years after her death, in 1622, Teresa was Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
canonized by Pope Gregory XV. On 27 September
Anglican Communion[web 1][1]
1970 Pope Paul VI proclaimed Teresa the first female
Doctor of the Church in recognition of her centuries- Lutheranism[web 2]
long spiritual legacy to Catholicism.[3][web 4] Beatified 24 April 1614, Rome by Pope
Paul V
Canonized 12 March 1622, Rome by Pope
Biography Gregory XV
Major shrine Convent of the Annunciation,
Alba de Tormes, Spain
Early life
Feast 15 October
Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda Dávila y Ahumada was Attributes Carmelite religious habit,
born on 28 March 1515.[4] Her birthplace was either biretta, quill, dove (as an
Ávila or Gotarrendura.[5] Her paternal grandfather, attribute of the Holy Spirit),
Juan Sánchez de Toledo, was a marrano or converso, a heart with a christogram
Jew forced to convert to Christianity or emigrate. Patronage Spain, sick people, people in
When Teresa's father was a child, Juan was condemned religious orders, chess, people
by the Spanish Inquisition for allegedly returning to ridiculed for their piety,
Judaism, but he was later able to assume a Catholic lacemakers, Požega, Croatia,
identity.[6] Her father, Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda, was Talisay City, Cebu, Philippines,
a successful wool merchant and one of the wealthiest Malalag, Davao del Sur,
men in Ávila. He bought a knighthood and assimilated Philippines, Carles, Iloilo,
successfully into Christian society. Philippines
Controversy Her reforms met with
determined opposition and
interest from the Spanish
Inquisition, but no charges
were laid against her. Her order
split as a result.

Theology career
Notable work Camino de Perfección
El Castillo Interior
Theological work
Era Catholic Reformation
Tradition or Christian mysticism
movement
Young Teresa of Ávila and brother Main Theology
run away from home to travel to interests
Africa by Arnold van Westerhout
Notable ideas Mental prayer, Prayer of Quiet

Previously married to Catalina del Peso y Henao, with whom he

had three children, in 1509, Sánchez de Cepeda married Teresa's mother, Beatriz de Ahumada y Cuevas,
in Gotarrendura.[7] A brother, Lorenzo de Cepeda y Ahumada, was the father of Teresa de Ahumada.[8]

Teresa's mother brought her up as a dedicated Christian. Fascinated by accounts of the lives of the saints,
she ran away from home at age seven, with her brother Rodrigo, to seek martyrdom in the fight against
the Moors. Her uncle brought them home, when he spotted them just outside the town walls.[9]
When Teresa was eleven years old, her mother died, leaving her grief-stricken. This prompted her to
embrace a deeper devotion to the Virgin Mary as her spiritual mother. Teresa was also enamored of
popular fiction, which at the time consisted primarily of medieval tales of knighthood and works about
fashion, gardens and flowers.[10][web 5] Teresa was sent to the Augustinian nuns' school in Ávila.[11]

Religious life

Ascetic and mystical practice

After completing her education, she initially resisted the idea of a religious vocation, but after a stay with
her uncle and other relatives, she relented. In 1534, aged 20,[12] much to the disappointment of her pious
and austere father, she decided to enter the local easy-going Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation,
significantly built on top of land that had been used previously as a burial ground for Jews. She took up
religious reading on contemplative prayer, especially Osuna's Abecedario espiritual ("Third Spiritual
Alphabet," 1527), a guide on examination of conscience and "spiritual self-concentration and inner
contemplation, known in mystical nomenclature as oratio recollectionis".[13] She also dipped into other
mystical ascetical works such as the Tractatus de oratione et meditatione of Peter of Alcantara.[13]

Her zeal for mortification caused her to become ill again and she spent almost a year in bed, causing huge
worry to her community and family. She nearly died but she recovered, attributing her recovery to the
miraculous intercession of Saint Joseph. She began to experience bouts of religious ecstasy.[7] She
reported that, during her illness, she had progressed from the lowest stage of "recollection", to the
"devotions of silence" and even to the "devotions of ecstasy", in which was one of perceived in "perfect
union with God" (see § Mysticism). She said she frequently experienced the rich "blessing of tears"
during this final stage. As the Catholic distinction between mortal and venial sin became clear to her, she
came to understand the awful horror of sin and the inherent nature of original sin.

Around the same time, she received a copy of the full Spanish translation of Augustine of Hippo's
autobiographical work Confessions, which helped her resolve and to tend to her own bouts of religious
scruples. The text helped her realize that holiness was indeed possible and she found solace in the idea
that such a great saint was once an inveterate sinner. In her autobiography, she wrote that she "was very
fond of St. Augustine [...] for he was a sinner too".[14]

Transverberation
Around 1556, friends suggested that her newfound knowledge could be of diabolical rather than divine
origin. She had begun to inflict mortifications of the flesh upon herself. But her confessor, the Jesuit
Francis Borgia, reassured her of the divine inspiration of her thoughts. On St. Peter's Day in 1559, Teresa
became firmly convinced that Jesus Christ had presented himself to her in bodily form, though invisible.
These visions lasted almost uninterruptedly for more than two years. In another vision, the famous
transverberation, a seraph drove the fiery point of a golden lance repeatedly through her heart, causing
her an ineffable spiritual and bodily pain:

I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the point there seemed to be a little fire. He
appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he
drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of
 God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of
this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it ...[c]

The account of this vision was the inspiration for one of Bernini's most famous works, the Ecstasy of
Saint Teresa at Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. Although based in part on Teresa's description of her
mystical transverberation in her autobiography, Bernini's depiction of the event is considered by some to
be highly eroticized, especially when compared to the entire preceding artistic Teresian tradition.[d]

The memory of this episode served as an inspiration throughout the rest of her life, and motivated her
lifelong imitation of the life and suffering of Jesus, epitomized in the adage often associated with her:
"Lord, either let me suffer or let me die"[15]

Teresa, who became a celebrity in her town dispensing wisdom from behind the convent grille, was
known for her raptures, which sometimes involved levitation. It was a source of embarrassment to her
and she bade her sisters hold her down when this occurred. Subsequently, historians, neurologists and
psychiatrists like Peter Fenwick and Javier Álvarez-Rodríguez, among others, have taken an interest in
her symptomatology. The fact that she wrote down virtually everything that happened to her during her
religious life means that an invaluable and exceedingly rare medical record from the 16th century has
been preserved. Examination of this record has led to the speculative conclusion that she may have
suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy.[16][17]

Monastic reformer
Over time, Teresa found herself increasingly at odds with the spiritual malaise prevailing in her convent
of the Incarnation. Among the 150 nuns living there, the observance of cloister, designed to protect and
strengthen spiritual practice and prayer, became so lax that it appeared to lose its purpose. The daily
invasion of visitors, many of high social and political rank, disturbed the atmosphere with frivolous
concerns and vacuous conversation. Such intrusions in the solitude essential to develop and sustain
contemplative prayer so grieved Teresa that she longed to intervene.[web 6]

The incentive to take the practical steps inspired by her inward motivation was supported by the
Franciscan priest, Peter of Alcantara, who met her early in 1560 and became her spiritual adviser. She
resolved to found a "reformed" Carmelite convent, correcting the laxity which she had found at the
Incarnation convent and elsewhere besides. Doña Guiomar of Ulloa, a friend, was granted permission for
the project.[18]

The abject poverty of the new convent, established in 1562 and named St. Joseph's (San José), at first
caused a scandal among the citizens and authorities of Ávila, and the small house with its chapel was in
peril of suppression. However, powerful patrons, including the local bishop, coupled with the impression
of well ordered subsistence and purpose, turned animosity into approval.[18]

In March 1563, after Teresa had moved to the new convent house, she received papal sanction for her
primary principles of absolute poverty and renunciation of ownership of property, which she proceeded to
formulate into a "constitution". Her plan was the revival of the earlier, stricter monastic rules,
supplemented by new regulations including the three disciplines of ceremonial flagellation prescribed for
the Divine Office every week, and the discalceation of the religious. For the first five years, Teresa
remained in seclusion, mostly engaged in prayer and writing.

Extended travels
In 1567, Teresa received a patent from the Carmelite General,
Rubeo de Ravenna, to establish further houses of the new order.
This process required many visitations and long journeys across
nearly all the provinces of Spain. She left a record of the arduous
project in her Libro de las Fundaciones. Between 1567 and 1571,
reformed convents were established at Medina del Campo,
Malagón, Valladolid, Toledo, Pastrana, Salamanca, and Alba de
Tormes.

Church window at the Convent of St As part of the original patent, Teresa was given permission to set
Teresa up two houses for men who wished to adopt the reforms. She
convinced two Carmelite friars, John of the Cross and Anthony of
Jesus to help with this. They founded the first monastery of
Discalced Carmelite brothers in November 1568 at Duruelo. Another friend of Teresa, Jerónimo Gracián,
the Carmelite visitator of the older observance of Andalusia and apostolic commissioner, and later
provincial of the Teresian order, gave her powerful support in founding monasteries at Segovia (1571),
Beas de Segura (1574), Seville (1575), and Caravaca de la Cruz (Murcia, 1576). Meanwhile, John of the
Cross promoted the inner life of the movement through his power as a teacher and preacher.[19]

Opposition to reforms
In 1576, unreformed members of the Carmelite order began to persecute Teresa, her supporters and her
reforms. Following a number of resolutions adopted at the general chapter at Piacenza, the governing
body of the order forbade all further founding of reformed convents. The general chapter instructed her to
go into "voluntary" retirement at one of her institutions.[19] She obeyed and chose St. Joseph's at Toledo.
Meanwhile, her friends and associates were subjected to further attacks.[19]

Several years later, her appeals by letter to King Philip II of Spain secured relief. As a result, in 1579, the
cases before the inquisition against her, Gracián and others, were dropped.[19] This allowed the reform to
resume. An edict from Pope Gregory XIII allowed the appointment of a special provincial for the newer
branch of the Carmelite religious, and a royal decree created a "protective" board of four assessors for the
reform.[19]

During the last three years of her life, Teresa founded convents at Villanueva de la Jara in northern
Andalusia (1580), Palencia (1580), Soria (1581), Burgos, and Granada (1582). In total, seventeen
convents, all but one founded by her, and as many men's monasteries, were owed to her reforms over
twenty years.[20]

Last days
Her final illness overtook her on one of her journeys from Burgos to Alba de Tormes. She died in 1582,
just as Catholic Europe was making the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, which required
the excision of the dates of 5–14 October from the calendar. She died either before midnight of 4 October
or early in the morning of 15 October, which is celebrated as her feast day. According to the liturgical
calendar then in use, she died on the 15th. Her last words were: "My Lord, it is time to move on. Well
then, may your will be done. O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is
time to meet one another."[21]

After death

Holy relics
She was buried at the Convento de la Anunciación in
Alba de Tormes. Nine months after her death the coffin
was opened and her body was found to be intact but the
clothing had rotted. Before the body was re-interred one
of her hands was cut off, wrapped in a scarf and sent to
Ávila. Gracián cut the little finger off the hand and –
according to his own account – kept it with him until it Avila, Saint Theresa's statue
was taken by the occupying Ottoman Turks, from whom
he had to redeem it with a few rings and 20 reales. The
body was exhumed again on 25 November 1585 to be moved to Ávila and found to be incorrupt. An arm
was removed and left in Alba de Tormes at the nuns' request, to compensate for losing the main relic of
Teresa, but the rest of the body was reburied in the Discalced Carmelite chapter house in Ávila. The
removal was done without the approval of the Duke of Alba de Tormes and he brought the body back in
1586, with Pope Sixtus V ordering that it remain in Alba de Tormes on pain of excommunication. A
grander tomb on the original site was raised in 1598 and the body was moved to a new chapel in 1616.

The body still remains there, except for the following parts:

Rome – right foot and part of the upper jaw

Lisbon – hand
Ronda, Spain – left eye and left hand (the latter was kept by Francisco Franco until his
death, after Francoist troops captured it from Republican troops during the Spanish Civil
War)
Museum of the Church of the Annunciation, Alba de Tormes – left arm and heart
Church of Our Lady of Loreto, Paris, France – one finger
Sanlúcar de Barrameda – one finger
On August 28, 2024, it was made the canonical recognition of Teresa's body. The postulator general of the
Order of Discalced Carmelites, Father Marco Chiesa, announced that those present at the scene were able
to see that "it is in the same condition as when it was last opened in 1914."[22][23]

Canonization
In 1622, forty years after her death, she was canonized by Pope Gregory XV. The Cortes exalted her to
patroness of Spain in 1627. The University of Salamanca had granted her the title Doctor ecclesiae (Latin
for "Doctor of the Church") with a diploma in her lifetime, but that title is distinct from the papal honour
 of Doctor of the Church,
which is always conferred
posthumously. The latter
was finally bestowed upon
her by Pope Paul VI on 27
September 1970,[3] along
with Catherine of
Siena, [24] making them the
first women to be awarded
the distinction. Teresa is
revered as the Doctor of
Prayer. The mysticism in
her works exerted a
formative influence upon
many theologians of the Statue of Saint Teresa of Ávila in
following centuries, such Mafra National Palace, Mafra
as Francis of Sales,
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Fénelon, and the Port-
Bernini, Basilica of Santa Maria della Royalists. In 1670, her coffin was plated in silver.
Vittoria, Rome
Teresa of Avila is honored in the Church of England and in the
Episcopal Church on 15 October.[web 7][1]

Patron saint
In 1626, at the request of Philip IV of Spain, the Castilian parliament[e] elected Teresa "without lacking
one vote" as copatron saint of Castile.[25] This status was affirmed by Pope Urban VIII in a brief issued
on 21 July 1627 in which he stated:

For these reasons [the king's and Cortes's elections] and for the great devotion which they have
for Teresa, they elected her for patron and advocate of these kingdoms in the last Cortes of the
aforementioned kingdoms ... And because ... the representatives in the Cortes desired it so
greatly that their vote be firm and perpetual, we grant it our patronage and the approval of the
Holy Apostolic See.

— Rowe 2011, pp. 77–78

More broadly, the 1620s, the entirety of Spain (Castile and beyond) debated who should be the country's
patron saint; the choices were either the current patron, James Matamoros, or a pairing of him and the
newly canonised Saint Teresa of Ávila. Teresa's promoters said Spain faced newer challenges, especially
the threat of Protestantism and societal decline at home, thus needing a more contemporary patron who
understood those issues and could guide the Spanish nation. Santiago's supporters (Santiaguistas) fought
back and eventually won the argument, but Teresa of Ávila remained far more popular at the local
level.[26] James the Great kept the title of patron saint for the Spanish people, and the most Blessed Virgin
Mary under the title Immaculate Conception as the sole patroness for the entire Spanish Kingdom.

Legacy regarding the Infant Jesus of Prague

The Spanish nuns who established Carmel in France brought a devotion to
the Infant Jesus with them, and it became widespread in France.[27][web 8]

Though there are no written historical accounts establishing that Teresa of

Ávila ever owned the famous Infant Jesus of Prague statue, according to
tradition, such a statue is said to have been in her possession and Teresa is
reputed to have given it to a noblewoman travelling to
Prague.[28][web 9][web 10][web 11] The age of the statue dates to
approximately the same time as Teresa. It has been thought that Teresa
carried a portable statue of the Child Jesus wherever she went; the idea
circulated by the early 1700s.[29]
"It is love alone that gives
worth to all things."

Writings

Autobiography
The autobiography La Vida de la Santa Madre Teresa de Jesús (The Life
of the Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus) was written at Avila between 1562
and 1565, but published posthumously.[30] Editions include:

The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus ... Written by herself. Translated

from the Spanish by D. Lewis, 1870. London: Burns, Oates, &
Co
Teresa of Ávila, by Rubens.
The Autobiography, written before 1567, under the direction of This is the portrait of Teresa
her confessor, Fr. Pedro Ibáñez, 1882 that is probably the most
The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by herself. J. M. Cohen, 1957. true to her appearance. It is
Penguin Classics a copy of an original 1576
Life of St. Teresa of Jesus. Translated by Benedict Zimmerman, painting of her when she
1997. Tan Books, ISBN 978-0-89555-603-5 was 61.
The Life of Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography of Teresa of
Avila. Translated by E. Allison Peers, 1991. Doubleday,
ISBN 978-0-385-01109-9
The Book of Her Life, translated, with notes, by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD and Otilio
Rodriguez, OCD, 2008. Introduction by Jodi Bilinkoff. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett
Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0-87220-907-7
The Book of My Life. Mirabai Starr, 2008. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications,
ISBN 978-1-59030-573-7

The Way of Perfection

The Way of Perfection (Spanish: Camino de Perfección) was published in 1566. Teresa called this a
"living book" and in it set out to teach her nuns how to progress through prayer and Christian meditation.
She discusses the rationale for being a Carmelite, and the rest deals with the purpose of and approaches to
spiritual life. The title was inspired by the devotional book The Imitation of Christ (1418) which had
become a favourite expression of Teresa much before she wrote this work, as it appeared at several places
in her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus. Like her other books, The Way of Perfection was
written on the advice of her counsellors to describe her experiences in prayer during the period when the
Reformation was spreading through Europe. Herein she describes ways of attaining spiritual perfection
through prayer and its four stages, as in meditation, quiet, repose of soul and finally perfect union with
God, which she equates with rapture.

Editions

The Way of Perfection. Translated and Edited by E. Allison Peers, Doubleday, 1991.
ISBN 978-0-385-06539-9
The Way of Perfection, TAN Books, 1997. ISBN 978-0-89555-602-8
Way of Perfection, London, 2012. limovia.net ISBN 978-1-78336-025-3
El Camino de Perfección (The Way of Perfection), written also before 1567, at the direction
of her confessor.

Interior Castle
The Interior Castle, or The Mansions, (Spanish: El Castillo Interior or Las Moradas) was written in
1577, and published in 1588.[31][32] It contained the basis for what she felt should be the ideal journey of
faith, comparing the contemplative soul to a castle with seven successive interior courts, or chambers,
analogous to the seven mansions. The work was inspired by her vision of the soul as a diamond in the
shape of a castle containing seven mansions, which she interpreted as the journey of faith through seven
stages, ending with union with God.[33] Fray Diego, one of Teresa's former confessors wrote that God
revealed to Teresa:

... a most beautiful crystal globe, made in the shape of a castle, and containing seven mansions,
in the seventh and innermost of which was the King of Glory, in the greatest splendour,
illumining and beautifying them all. The nearer one got to the centre, the stronger was the light;
outside the palace limits everything was foul, dark and infested with toads, vipers and other
venomous creatures."[34]

Christia Mercer, Columbia University philosophy professor, claims that the seventeenth-century
Frenchman René Descartes lifted some of his most influential ideas from Teresa of Ávila, who, fifty years
before Descartes, wrote popular books about the role of philosophical reflection in intellectual growth.[35]
She describes a number of striking similarities between Descartes's seminal work Meditations on First
Philosophy and Teresa's Interior Castle.[web 12]

Translations
The first English translation was published in 1675.
Fr. John Dalton (1852). John Dalton’s translation of The Interior Castle contains an
interesting preface and translations of other letters by St. Teresa.
Benedictines of Stanbrook, edited by Fr. Zimmerman (1921). The translation of The Interior
Castle by the Benedictines of Stanbrook also has an excellent introduction and includes
many cross-references to other works by St. Teresa.
E. Allison Peers (1946). E. Allison Peers’ translation of The Interior Castle is another popular
public domain version translated by a professor and scholar of Hispanic studies.
Fr. Kieran Kavanaugh (1979). This translation also stays true to the text and contains many
useful cross-references. An updated study edition (https://www.amazon.com/Interior-Castle-
Revised-Translated-Kavanaugh/dp/1939272807/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3RWD78VXQBYCC
 &keywords=the+interior+castle&qid=1643942725&s=books&sprefix=the+interior+castle%2
Cstripbooks%2C191&sr=1-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXV) contains
comprehensive notes, reflection questions and a glossary.
The Interior Castle – The Mansions, TAN Books, 1997. ISBN 978-0-89555-604-2
Mirabai Starr (2004). Described as "free of religious dogma, this modern translation renders
St. Teresa's work a beautiful and practical set of teachings for seekers of all faiths in need of
spiritual guidance". Starr’s interpretive version of The Interior Castle (https://www.amazon.co
m/Interior-Castle-Teresa-Avila/dp/1594480052/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3RWD78VXQBYCC&keywo
rds=the+interior+castle&qid=1643942816&s=books&sprefix=the+interior+castle%2Cstripbo
oks%2C191&sr=1-1) eliminates Teresa’s use of words such as "sin", which results in a
translation which is more paraphrased than accurate translation and departs significantly
from the original's meaning.
The Interior Castle – Modern update of the spiritual guide by Teresa of Avila. by M.B.
Anderson, Root Classics (publisher), 2022. ISBN 978-1-956314-01-4.[f]

In popular culture
St. Teresa's mystical experiences have inspired several authors in modern times, but not necessarily from
Teresa's Christian theological perspective.

She is mentioned in Elizabeth Goudge's play, The Brontës of Haworth (in Three Plays,
Duckworth, London, 1939), as one of the authors included by Emily Brontë when she and
her sister Charlotte are packing to go to Brussels. In the play, Emily is depicted as very
interested in mysticism, and is also packing a book by Saint John of the Cross, and another
by John Ruysbroeck (John of Ruusbroec or Jan van Ruusbroec: 1293/94-1381: a Medieval
mystic from the Low Countries).
The 2006 book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert recognizes St. Teresa as "that most
mystical of Catholic figures" and alludes to St. Teresa's Interior Castle as the "mansions of
her being" and her journey as one of "divine meditative bliss".[36]
The 2007 book by American spiritual author Caroline Myss Entering the Castle was inspired
by St. Teresa's Interior Castle, but still has a New Age approach to mysticism.[37][38]
St. Teresa also inspired American author R. A. Lafferty in his novel Fourth Mansions (1969),
which was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1970.
Brooke Fraser's song "Orphans, Kingdoms" was inspired by St. Teresa's Interior Castle.
Jean Stafford's short story 'The Interior Castle' relates the intense preoccupation of an
accident victim with her own brain, which she sees variously as a jewel, a flower, a light in a
glass and a set of envelopes within envelopes.
Jeffrey Eugenides' 2011 novel The Marriage Plot refers to St. Teresa's Interior Castle when
recounting the religious experience of Mitchell Grammaticus, one of the main characters of
the book.
Teen Daze's [39] 2012 release The Inner Mansions refers to St. Teresa's Interior Castle in
the album's title as well as in the first track. "... have mercy on yourselves! If you realize your
pitiable condition, how can you refrain from trying to remove the darkness from the crystal of
your souls? Remember, if death should take you now, you would never again enjoy the light
of this Sun".[40] This line appears dubbed over the musical introduction to "New Life".[41]
 In Mark Williamson's ONE: a memoir (2018), the metaphor of the Interior Castle is used to
describe an inner world of introspective reflection on past events, a set of "memory loci"
based on the ancient system of recall for rhetorical purposes.

Other
Relaciones (Relationships), an extension of the autobiography giving her inner and outer
experiences in epistolary form.
Her rare poems (Todas las poesías, Munster, 1854) are distinguished for tenderness of
feeling and rhythm of thought.
The Complete Poetry of St. Teresa of Avila. A Bilingual Edition – Edición y traducción de Eric
W. Vogt. New Orleans University Press of the South, 1996. Second edition, 2015. xl, 116 p.
ISBN 978-1-937030-52-0
"Meditations on Song of Songs", 1567, written nominally for her daughters at the convent of
Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Conceptos del Amor ("Concepts of Love") and
Exclamaciones.
Las Cartas (Saragossa, 1671), or her correspondence, of which there are 342 extant letters
and 87 fragments of others. The first edition of Teresa's letters was published in 1658 with
the comment of Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, Roman Catholic bishop of Osma and an
opponent to the Company of Jesus.[42]
The Complete Works of St Teresa of Jesus, in five volumes, translated and edited by E.
Allison Peers, including 2 volumes of correspondence. London: Sheed and Ward, 1982.

Mysticism
The ultimate preoccupation of Teresa's mystical thought,
as consistently reflected in her writings, is the ascent of The prayer Nada te turbe (Let nothing
the soul to God. Aumann notes that, "the grades of prayer disturb you) is attributed to Teresa,
described in The Life do not correspond to the division of having been found within her
prayer commonly given in the manuals of spiritual life", breviary:[web 13]
due to the fact that "St. Teresa did not write a systematic
theology of prayer".[44] According to Zimmerman, "In all Let nothing disturb you.
her writings on this subject she deals with her personal Let nothing make you afraid.
experiences [...] there is no vestige in her writings of any All things are passing.
influence of the Areopagite, the Patristic, or the Scholastic God alone never changes.
Mystical schools, as represented among others, by the Patience gains all things.
German Dominican Mystics. She is intensely personal, her If you have God you will
system going exactly as far as her experiences, but not a want for nothing.
step further."[45] God alone suffices.[43]

Teresa describes in the Interior Castle that the treasure of —

heaven lies buried within our hearts, and that there is an Teresa of Ávila
interior part of the heart which is the centre of the soul.[15]

Four stages as described in the autobiography

In her autobiography she describes four stages,[46] in which she uses the image of watering one's garden
as a metaphor for mystical prayer:[g]

The first, Devotion of the Heart, consists of mental prayer and meditation. It means the
withdrawal of the soul from without, penitence and especially the devout meditation on the
passion of Christ (Autobiography 11.20).
The second, Devotion of Peace, is where human will is surrendered to God. This occurs by
virtue of an uplifted awareness granted by God, while other faculties, such as memory,
reason, and imagination, are not yet safe from worldly distraction. Although a partial
distraction can happen, due to outer activity such as repetition of prayers or writing down
spiritual things, the prevailing state is one of quietude (Autobiography 14.1).
The third, Devotion of Union, concerns the absorption-in-God. It is not only a heightened,
but essentially, an ecstatic state. At this level, reason is also surrendered to God, and only
the memory and imagination are left to ramble. This state is characterized by a blissful
peace, a sweet slumber of at least the higher soul faculties, that is a consciousness of being
enraptured by the love of God.
The fourth, Devotion of Ecstasy, is where the consciousness of being in the body
disappears. Sensory faculties cease to operate. Memory and imagination also become
absorbed in God, as though intoxicated. Body and spirit dwell in the throes of exquisite pain,
alternating between a fearful fiery glow, in complete unconscious helplessness, and periods
of apparent strangulation. Sometimes such ecstatic transports literally cause the body to be
lifted into space.[47] This state may last as long as half an hour and tends to be followed by
relaxation of a few hours of swoon-like weakness, attended by the absence of all faculties
while in union with God. The subject awakens from this trance state in tears. It may be
regarded as the culmination of mystical experience. Indeed, Teresa was said to have been
observed levitating during Mass on more than one occasion.[47]

The seven mansions of the Interior castle

The Interior Castle is divided into seven mansions (also called dwelling places), each level describing a
step to get closer to God. In her work, Teresa already assumed entrance into the first mansions by prayer
and meditation.

The purgative stage, involving active prayer and asceticism:[web 14]

The first mansion begin with a soul's state of grace, but the souls are surrounded by sin and
only starting to seek God's grace through humility in order to achieve perfection.
The second mansions are also called the Mansion of the Practice of Prayer because the
soul seeks to advance through the castle by daily thoughts of God, humble recognition of
God's work in the soul and ultimately daily prayer.
The third mansions are the Mansions of Exemplary Life characterized through divine grace
and a love for God that is so great that the soul has an aversion to both mortal and venial
sin and a desire to do works of charitable service to man for the ultimate glory of God. The
prayer of acquired recollection belongs to the third mansion.[48]
The illuminative stage, the beginning of mystical or contemplative or supernatural prayer:[web 14]

The fourth mansions are a departure from the soul actively acquiring what it gains as God
increases his role. In this mansion, the soul begins to experience two types of supernatural
prayer, namely the Prayer of Supernatural (or passive) Recollection and The Prayer of
Quiet;[web 14]
 The fifth mansion is The Prayer of Union, in which the soul prepares itself to receive gifts
from God;
Unitive stage:[web 14]

The sixth mansion is the betrothal (engagement) of the soul with God can be compared to
lovers. The soul spends increasing amounts of time torn between favors from God and from
outside afflictions.
The seventh mansion is the spiritual marriage with God, in which the soul achieves clarity in
prayer

Nine grades of prayer

Overview
The first four grades of Teresa's classifications of prayer belong to the ascetical stage of spiritual life.
These are vocal prayer, meditational or mental prayer, affective prayer, and acquired or natural
recollection.[49][50][web 15]

According to Augustin Poulain and Robert Thouless, Teresa described four degrees or stages of mystical
union, namely the prayer of quiet, full or semi-ecstatic union, ecstatic union or ecstasy, and transforming
or deifying union, or spiritual marriage (properly) of the soul with God.[49][51] While Augustin Poulain
and Robert Thouless do not mention the Prayer of Supernatural (or passive) Recollection as a separate
stage,[49][51] Aumann discerns infused contemplation as a separate stage in the fourth mansion of the
Interior Castle.[50][web 15] Together, these "five grades are infused prayer and belong to the mystical
phase of spiritual life".[50][web 15]

Thomas Merton disagrees on a fine-cut distinction between acquired contemplation and the prayer of
quiet, noticing the Carmelite tendency of systematization, whereas Teresa herself was just describing her
personal experiences.[52] Commenting on Teresa's writings and the scholarly discussions on the precise
stages, Thomas Merton comments: "with all these divisions and distinctions, comings and goings and
varieties of terms, one tends to become impatient with the saint".[53]

Aumann synthesizes Teresa's writings into nine grades of prayer:[50][54][web 15]

 Threefold
The Life Interior Castle Nine grades
classification

1. vocal prayer

First mansions 2. mental prayer or prayer of meditation

Devotion of the
Ascetic 3. affective prayer
Heart
Second and third 4. prayer of simplicity, or acquired
mansions contemplation or recollection

Devotion of 5. infused contemplation or recollection

Illuminative Fourth mansions
Peace 6. prayer of quiet

Devotion of
Fifth mansions 7. prayer of (simple) union
Union
Unitive
Devotion of Sixth mansions 8. prayer of conforming or ecstatic union
Ecstasy Seventh mansions 9. prayer of transforming union.

Ordinary prayer or ascetical stage

Mental or meditational prayer

Mental prayer is a form of prayer "performed without aid of any particular formula."[55] It is
distinguished from vocal prayers, "prayers performed by means of a given formula",[55] Prayer is mental
when the thoughts and affections of the soul are not expressed in a previously determined formula.[web 16]
According to Teresa of Ávila, mental prayer is meditational prayer, in which the person is like a gardener,
who, with much labour, draws the water up from the depths of the well to water the plants and
flowers.[56][57] According to Teresa of Avila, mental prayer can proceed by using vocal prayers in order to
improve dialogue with God.[58] According to Lehodey, mental prayer can be divided into meditation,
more active in reflections, and contemplation, more quiet and gazeful.[59]

Natural or acquired contemplation – prayer of simplicity

For Teresa of Avila, in natural or acquired contemplation, also called the prayer of simplicity[h] there is
one dominant thought or sentiment which recurs constantly and easily (although with little or no
development) amid many other thoughts, beneficial or otherwise. The prayer of simplicity often has a
tendency to simplify itself even in respect to its object, leading one to think chiefly of God and of his
presence, but in a confused manner.[49]

In the words of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, acquired contemplation "consists in seeing at a simple
glance the truths which could previously be discovered only through prolonged discourse": reasoning is
largely replaced by intuition and affections and resolutions, though not absent, are only slightly varied
and expressed in a few words. Similarly, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, in his 30-day retreat or Spiritual
Exercises beginning in the "second week" with its focus on the life of Jesus, describes less reflection and
more simple contemplation on the events of Jesus' life. These contemplations consist mainly in a simple
gaze and include an "application of the senses" to the events,[61]: 121 to further one's empathy for Jesus'
values, "to love him more and to follow him more closely".[61]: 104
Definitions similar to that of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori are given by Adolphe Tanquerey ("a
simple gaze on God and divine things proceeding from love and tending thereto") and Saint Francis de
Sales ("a loving, simple and permanent attentiveness of the mind to divine things").[62]

Natural or acquired contemplation has been compared to the attitude of a mother watching over the cradle
of her child: she thinks lovingly of the child without reflection and amid interruptions. The Catechism of
the Catholic Church states:

What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: 'Contemplative [sic][i] prayer [oración
mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time
frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.' Contemplative prayer seeks him
'whom my soul loves'. It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is
always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of
him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on
the Lord himself.[66]

Infused or higher contemplation – mystical union

According to Hardon, infused contemplation is "A supernatural gift by which a person's mind and will
become totally centered on God. Under this influence the intellect receives special insights into things of
the spirit, and the affections are extraordinarily animated with divine love. Infused contemplation
assumes the free co-operation of the human will."[67] According to Poulain, it is a form of mystical union
with God, a union characterized by the fact that it is God, and God only, who manifests Himself.[49]
According to Poulain, mystical grace may also manifest as visions of the humanity of Christ or an angel
or revelations of a future event, and include miraculous bodily phenomena sometimes observed in
ecstatics.[49]

In Teresa's mysticism, infused contemplation is described as a "divinely originated, general, non-

conceptual, loving awareness of God".[68] According to Dubay:

It is a wordless awareness and love that we of ourselves cannot initiate or prolong. The
beginnings of this contemplation are brief and frequently interrupted by distractions. The reality
is so unimposing that one who lacks instruction can fail to appreciate what exactly is taking
place. Initial infused prayer is so ordinary and unspectacular in the early stages that many fail to
recognize it for what it is. Yet with generous people, that is, with those who try to live the
whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life, it is common.[68]

According to Thomas Dubay, infused contemplation is the normal, ordinary development of discursive
prayer (mental prayer, meditative prayer), which it gradually replaces.[68] Dubay considers infused
contemplation as common only among "those who try to live the whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who
engage in an earnest prayer life". Other writers view contemplative prayer in its infused supernatural
form as far from common. John Baptist Scaramelli, reacting in the 17th century against quietism, taught
that asceticism and mysticism are two distinct paths to perfection, the former being the normal, ordinary
end of the Christian life, and the latter something extraordinary and very rare.[69] Jordan Aumann
considered that this idea of the two paths was "an innovation in spiritual theology and a departure from
the traditional Catholic teaching".[70] And Jacques Maritain proposed that one should not say that every
mystic necessarily enjoys habitual infused contemplation in the mystical state, since the gifts of the Holy
Spirit are not limited to intellectual operations.[71]

The Prayer of Quiet

For Teresa of Avila, the Prayer of Quiet is a state in which the soul experiences an extraordinary peace
and rest, accompanied by delight or pleasure in contemplating God as present.[72][73][web 17][74]
According to Poulain, "Mystical union will be called spiritual quiet when the Divine action is still too
weak to prevent distractions: in a word, when the imagination still retains a certain liberty".[49] According
to Poulain, in incomplete mystical union, or the prayer of quiet or supernatural recollection, the action of
God is not strong enough to prevent distractions, and the imagination still retains a certain liberty.[49]

Full or semi-ecstatic union

According to Poulain, "Mystical union will be called [...] full union when its strength is so great that the
soul is fully occupied with the Divine object, whilst, on the other hand, the senses continue to act (under
these conditions, by making a greater or less effort, one can cease from prayer".[49]

Ecstatic union
According to Poulain, "Mystical union will be called [...] ecstasy when communications with the external
world are severed or nearly so (in this event one can no longer make voluntary movement nor energy
from the state at will)."[49]

Transforming union
The transforming union differs from the other three specifically and not merely in intensity. According to
Poulain, "It consists in the habitual consciousness of a mysterious grace which all shall possess in heaven:
the anticipation of the Divine nature. The soul is conscious of the Divine assistance in its superior
supernatural operations, those of the intellect and the will. Spiritual marriage differs from spiritual
espousals inasmuch as the first of these states is permanent and the second only transitory."[49]

Portrayals
Portrayals of Teresa include the following:

Literature
Simone de Beauvoir singles out Teresa as a woman who truly lived life for herself (and
perhaps the only woman to do so) in her book The Second Sex.[75]
She is mentioned prominently in Kathryn Harrison's novel Poison.[76] The main character,
Francisca De Luarca, is fascinated by her life.
Don DeLillo in End Zone depicted Teresa as a saint who eats from a human skull to remind
herself of final things.
R. A. Lafferty was strongly inspired by El Castillo Interior when he wrote his novel Fourth
Mansions. Quotations from St. Teresa's work are frequently used as chapter headings.[77]
 Pierre Klossowski prominently features Saint Teresa of Ávila in
his metaphysical novel The Baphomet.[78]
George Eliot compared Dorothea Brooke to St. Teresa in
Middlemarch (1871–1872) and wrote briefly about the life and
works of St. Teresa in the "Prelude" to the novel.[79]
Thomas Hardy took Saint Teresa as the inspiration for much of
the characterisation of the heroine Tess (Teresa) Durbeyfield, in
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), most notably the scene in
which she lies in a field and senses her soul ecstatically above
her.[80]
The contemporary poet Jorie Graham features Saint Teresa in
the poem Breakdancing in her volume The End of Beauty.[81] Detail of St. Theresa, 1827,
Bárbara Mujica's novel Sister Teresa, while not strictly by French painter François
hagiographical, is based upon Teresa's life.[web 18] Gérard
Timothy Findley's 1999 novel Pilgrim features Saint Teresa as a
minor character.[82]
Vita Sackville-West wrote a double biography
contrasting the two Carmelites Teresa of Avila and
Thérèse of Lisieux, The Eagle and the Dove, re-issued
in 2018.[83]

Painting and sculpture

Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt as
Saint Teresa of Ávila's Vision of the Holy Spirit is a
Thérèse in La Vierge d'Avila by
1612–1614 painting by Peter Paul Rubens and is
exhibited in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Catulle Mendès (1906)
Rotterdam,[84] and Rubens' c. 1614 painting of the same
subject is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Another Rubens portrait of Teresa, from 1615, is now in the collection of the
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.[web 19]
Saint Teresa was the inspiration for one of Bernini's most famous sculptures, The Ecstasy of
St. Teresa (mid-17th century) in Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome.[85][web 20]
St. Teresa was painted in 1819–20 by François Gérard, a French neoclassical
painter.[web 21]
St Theresa of Avila is a 1754-1755 painting by Joseph-Marie Vien and is exhibited in the
New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Iconography
Theresa is usually shown in the habit of the Discalced Carmelites, and writing in a book with a quill pen.
Sometimes there is a dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit.[86]

Drama and film

Hugh Ross Williamson wrote a play, Teresa of Avila, about her life, which premiered in
London in 1961.
Performance artist Linda Montano has cited Teresa of Ávila as one of the most important
influences on her work and since her return to Catholicism in the 2000s has done
performances of her life.[87]
 Teresa de Jesús (1984), directed by Josefina Molina and starring Concha Velasco, is a
Spanish made-for-TV mini-series. In it, Teresa is portrayed as the determined foundress of
new Carmelite houses while protecting the infant Jesus statue on her many arduous
journeys. The devotion to the Child Jesus spread quickly in Spain, possibly due to her
mystical reputation, and then to other places, including France.[web 22]
Nigel Wingrove's 1989 short film Visions of Ecstasy was based on Teresa of Ávila. The film
features fantasised sexualised scenes of Teresa with the body of Jesus on the cross. It is
the only work to be refused certification by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) on
the grounds of blasphemy.[web 23]
Dževad Karahasan. The Delighted Angel drama about Teresa of Ávila and Rabija al-Adavija,
Vienna-Salzburg-Klagenfurt, ARBOS 1995.
Paz Vega stars as Teresa in Teresa, el cuerpo de Cristo, a 2007 Spanish biopic directed by
Ray Loriga.[88]
St. Teresa also features prominently in the 2009 Ron Howard film, Angels and Demons,
where the Bernini sculpture, "The Ecstasy of St. Teresa", is an important clue in helping
Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) find an anti-matter bomb that is hidden in and set to destroy
the Vatican.
Marian Álvarez portrays Teresa in the 2015 television film of the same name directed by
Jorge Dorado and made for the 500th anniversary of her birth.[web 24]
Blanca Portillo, Greta Fernández, and Ainet Jounou portray Teresa in the 2023 film of the
same name directed by Paula Ortiz.[89]

Music
Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed two motets for the feast of Saint Teresa: Flores, flores
o Gallia for two voices, two flutes and continuo (H.374), c. 1680 and the other, for three
voices and continuo (H.342), in 1686–87.
She is a principal character of the opera Four Saints in Three Acts by the composer Virgil
Thomson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein.[90][91]
Saint Teresa is the subject of the song "Theresa's Sound-World" by Sonic Youth off the 1992
album Dirty, lyrics by Thurston Moore.[92]
"Saint Teresa" is a track on Joan Osborne's Relish album, nominated for a Grammy Award
in 1996.[web 25]
References to Saint Theresa and her visions appear in several songs across multiple
albums by the Hold Steady, including "Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night",[93] "The Sweet
Part of the City",[94] and "Our Whole Lives"[95]

See also
Asín on mystical analogies in Saint Teresa of Avila and Islam
Book of the First Monks
Byzantine Discalced Carmelites
Carmelite Rule of St. Albert
Constitutions of the Carmelite Order
Mount Carmel#Canaanites
Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites
Saints and levitation
Saint Teresa of Ávila, patron saint archive
 Spanish Renaissance literature
Teresa de Jesús, 1984 Spanish language mini-series
St. Teresa's Church (Hong Kong)

Notes
a. /ˈɑːvɪlə/
b. At some hour of the night between 4 October and 15 October 1582, the night of the
transition in Spain from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
c. Teresa wrote that it must be a cherub (Deben ser los que llaman cherubines), but Fr.
Domingo Báñez wrote in the margin that it seemed more like a seraph (mas parece de los
que se llaman seraphis), an identification that most editors have followed. Santa Teresa de
Ávila. "Libro de su vida". Escritos de Santa Teresa.
d. For the creation of the work and an analysis of its transgression of religious decorum, see
Franco Mormando's article, "Did Bernini's 'Ecstasy of St. Teresa' Cross a 17th-century Line
of Decorum?," Word and Image, 39:4, 2023: 351–83 doi:10.1080/02666286.2023.2180931
(https://doi.org/10.1080%2F02666286.2023.2180931).
e. Rowe 2011, p. 47 refers to the Castilian Cortes as the "Castilian parliament"
f. Learn more about what was modified in the modern update of The Interior Castle (https://ww
w.rootclassics.com/theinteriorcastle).
g. See: The Autobiography Chs. 10–22
h. Catholic Dictionary: Prayer of simplicity: "Meditation replaced by a purer, more intimate
prayer consisting in a simple regard or loving thought on God, or on one of his attributes, or
on some mystery of the Christian faith. Reasoning is put aside and the soul peacefully
attends to the operations of the Spirit with sentiments of love."[60]
i. Mental prayer, "oración mental", is not contemplative prayer.[63][64][65]

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Further reading
Carolyn A. Greene. Castles in the Sand fiction with cited sources about Teresa of Avila
Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9791315-4-7
Jean Abiven. 15 Days of Prayer with Saint Teresa of Avila, New City Press, 2011. ISBN 978-
1-56548-366-8
Gould Levine, Linda; Engelson Marson, Ellen; Feiman Waldman, Gloria, eds. (1993).
Spanish Women Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Source Book (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=RGcbAQAAIAAJ). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-31326-823-
6.
Bárbara Mujica, Teresa de Ávila: Lettered Woman, (Nashville, Vanderbilt University Press,
2009).
E. Rhodes, "Teresa de Jesus's Book and the Reform of the Religious Man in Sixteenth
Century Spain," in Laurence Lux-Sterritt and Carmen Mangion (eds), Gender, Catholicism
and Spirituality: Women and the Roman Catholic Church in Britain and Europe, 1200–1900
(Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011),
John Thomas, "Ecstasy, art & the body. St. Teresa of Avila's 'Transverberation', and its
depiction in the sculpture of Gianlorenzo Bernini" in John Thomas, Happiness, Truth & Holy
Images. Essays of Popular Theology and Religion & Art (Wolverhampton, Twin Books,
2019), pp. 12–16.
John Thomas, "Architectural image and via mystica. St. Teresa's Las Moradas", in John
Thomas, Happiness, Truth & Holy Images. Essays of Popular Theology and Religion & Art
(Wolverhampton, Twin Books, 2019), pp. 39–48.
Du Boulay, Shirley (2004). Teresa of Avila: An Extraordinary Life (https://archive.org/details/t
eresaofavila00shir). Katonah, New York: BlueBridge. ISBN 978-0-974-24052-7.

External links
"Works of St. Teresa of Avila (Online)" (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/teresa). Christian Classics
Ethereal Library.
Teresa 500: Videos of a conference (https://carmelitesnottinghill.org.uk/twickenham-confere
nce-videos/) held at Roehampton University in 2015 on the 500th anniversary of Teresa's
birth
"St. Teresa, Virgin" (http://www.bartleby.com/210/10/151.html), Butler's Lives of the Saints
 Founder Statue in St Peter's Basilica (http://www.stpetersbasilica.info/Statues/Founders/The
resaofJesus/Theresa%20of%20Jesus.htm)
Biography Online: Saint Teresa of Avila (http://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/st_teresa_a
vila.html)
Patron Saints: Saint Teresa of Avila (https://web.archive.org/web/20081006012749/http://sai
nts.sqpn.com/saintt01.htm)
Books written by Saint Teresa of Avila, including Saint John of the Cross (http://www.carmelit
e-seremban.org/Spirituality/books)
Works by Teresa of Ávila (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2651) at Project
Gutenberg
Works by or about Teresa of Ávila (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%22Teresa+of
+Ávila%22+OR+%22Teresa+of+Avila%22+OR+%22Saint+Teresa%22+OR+%22St.+Teres
a%22+OR+%22Teresa+Sánchez%22+OR+%22Teresa+Sanchez%22%29) at the Internet
Archive
Works by Teresa of Ávila (https://librivox.org/author/1562) at LibriVox (public domain
audiobooks)
Basilica of Saint Teresa in Alba de Tormes (http://www.labasilicateresiana.com) Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20071128160702/http://www.labasilicateresiana.com/) 28
November 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
Alba de Tormes, sepulcro de Santa Teresa – Tomb of Saint Teresa (https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=SLERVDyWTPA) on YouTube (in Spanish)
Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of The Order of Our Lady of Carmel (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ter
esa/life)
Way of Perfection (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/teresa/way)
Interior Castle or The Mansions (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/teresa/castle2)
Convent of St Teresa in Avila (https://web.archive.org/web/20051018071718/http://www.sacr
ed-destinations.com/spain/avila-convent-of-st-teresa.htm)
Poems of Saint Teresa (http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/christian/te
resa_of_avila/prayers_and_works/)
Santa Teresa: an Appreciation, 1900, by Alexander Whyte, from Project Gutenberg
Colonnade Statue St Peter's Square (http://www.stpetersbasilica.info/Exterior/Colonnades/S
aints/St%20Theresa-56/StTheresa.htm)

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