Teresa of Avila, co-founder of Discalced Carmelites

Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing make you afraid.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God you will want for nothing.
God alone suffices.

~ The bookmark of Teresa of Avila




Saturday is the feast day of Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus. . Saint Teresa was born in Avila, Spain, March 28, 1515. She died in Alba, October 4, 1582. She was a prominent Spanish mystic, Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, and writer.

In 1622, forty years after her death, she was canonized by Pope Gregory XV, and in 1970 named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI. Her books, which include her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, and her seminal work, El Castillo Interior (The Interior Castle), are an integral part of the Spanish Renaissance literature as well as Christian meditation practices as she entails in her other important work Camino de Perfección (The Way of Perfection).

She was the founder, with St. John of the Cross, of the Discalced Carmelites, or Barefoot Carmelites, in 1593.

The Discalced Carmelite order is now known by the initials "O.C.D." The secular branch of the order (the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, formerly known as the Third Order), has the initials "O.C.D.S." The Akron-Cleveland Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites of the Holy Family meets on the first Sunday of the month from 1 to 4 p.m. at St. Sebastian Church, 476 Mull Ave.

The portrait was done by French painter Francois Gerard in 1827