Vatican City, Feb 2, 2011 / 13:57 pm
The experience of the 16th-century Doctor of the Church, St. Teresa of Avila, still shows people that time in prayer opens “the way to life,” loving God and his Church, and showing genuine charity on earth, said the Pope during the general audience.
On Feb. 2, Pope Benedict XVI added another installment to his now long-running series of general audience teachings examining the spirituality of female saints and mystics. He focused his message this time on a saint with whom his predecessor had a very close spiritual connection.
Born in 1515, Teresa de Ahumada entered the Carmelite convent in her hometown of Avila at 20 years old. She learned the basis for a life of prayer and meditation in her adolescence and struggled through years of weakness due to physical ailments. At the pinnacle of her difficulties, she reached maturity in her interior life.
Despite her conditions, nearing the age of 40, she was inspired to bring about reform in the Carmelite order.