Feast of St. Teresa of Avila, October 15th

Words of St. Teresa:

Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.

Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee; All things pass; god never changes.  Patience attains all that it strives for.  he who has God finds he lacks nothing; God alone suffices.

What great favor God does to those he places in the company of good people!

The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too.

To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that.

We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.

Pain is never permanent.

There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.

God has been very good to me, for I never dwell upon anything wrong which a person has done, so as to remember it afterwards. If I do remember it, I always see some other virtue in that person. 

When they say... that someone is a saint, it's bound to be nonsense.

 To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience. 

It is here, my daughters, that love is to be found - not hidden away in corners but in the midst of occasions of sin. And believe me, although we may more often fail and commit small lapses, our gain will be incomparably the greater. 


Facts Concering St. Teresa of Avila:

Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Born	March 28, 1515 Ávila, Crown of Castile (todaySpain)
Died	October 4, 1582 (aged 67)[1] Alba de Tormes, Salamanca, Spain
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church Lutheran Church[2][3] Anglican Communion
Beatified	April 24, 1614, Rome by Pope Paul V
Canonized	March 12, 1622, Rome by Pope Gregory XV
Major shrine	Convent of the Annunciation, Alba de Tormes, Spain
Feast	October 15
Attributes	habit of the Discalced Carmelites, Book and Quill, arrow-pierced heart
Patronage	bodily ills; headaches; chess; lacemakers; laceworkers; loss of parents; people in need of grace; people in religious orders; people ridiculed for their piety; Pozega,Croatia; sick people; sickness;Spain

* Compliments of Wikipedia

+ Here is an easy-to-read version of her life online.
+ And a more in-dept online version here.
+ But, the best way to get to know St. Teresa is to read her own words. Here's a short list of her writings:

The Book of Life (1562)

The Way of Perfection (1566)

Interior Castle/The Mansions (1580)

Foundations (completed 1582)

+  St. Teresa also wrote many meditations, prayers, and hymns for the benefit of the nuns of her Order. She wrote, as well, thousands of letters to the Carmelite friars and to the clerics and laity who were her benefactors. 450 of these letters are known to be still in existence.

+ You can find several of St. Teresa's works to read online, here.

Ways to Celebrate the Feast Day:

+ Some tasty ideas from Catholic Cuisine can be found here.

Coloring Pages:  

+ See below a lovely simple one, compliments of Charlotte at Waltzing Matilda, which can be downloaded here.

+ And then there's this one:

A little bit of a scary picture, depicting the demons tempting St. Teresa ....  But I bet this is the one my children will choose to color...

Dear St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!!