15 October 2011: Memorial -- St Theresa of Jesus (St Theresa of Avila)

Virgin and Doctor of the Church

In her autobiography, is a statement worthy of our attention: her endless struggle against the impulse of grace, which pressed her to give up her very frequent and intimate conversations with lay persons.
“God called me on the one hand, and the world drew me away on the other. My soul was always troubled. I passed twenty years in this struggle. My falls were numerous, and I rose again but slowly.
“One day, by order of my confessor, I earnestly asked God that he would make his own will known to me. I had an ecstasy, distinctly heard these words: ‘I will that for the future you converse only with the angels’.”
The light of grace to Theresa, she gave up forever her old friends; and longed only for crosses and labors for the love of Jesus. Henceforth, she made immense progress in perfection. God poured his choicest gifts upon her. The wonder of her name and writings remains to this day.
The saint obtained what she was always asking for: ‘To suffer for Thee, my God, or to die’. She had continual bodily suffering, and for a long time an object of persecution from without. Treated as extravagant, a visionary, a hypocrite; even as one possessed, and a heretic. Her sufferings were equalled only by her deep humility and unshaken patience.
After the example of St Theresa, let us try to make sacrifices; willingly accept the crosses God pleases to send us. We shall certainly obtain a large share in his liberal gifts.
The ancient and illustrious order of Carmel, due to troubles of the times, had lost much of its primitive spirit. God inspired St Theresa to revive it. Among the greatest marvels of her life is her success in causing a very severe reform to be accepted by women and men who recognized her as their mother.
She had to overcome obstacles on all sides; endure many troubles, labors, and mortifications during the last twenty years of her life which were consecrated to this difficult work. Her large heart and confidence in God, together with a wonderful skill in managing business, carried her through it all.
She had the consolation of seeing firmly established seventeen convents of women and fifteen of men, which she had founded. After her death, the number greatly increased. To this day we see the order of Carmel flourishing, producing men and women distinguished by their virtues, talents, and success in the sacred ministry.
Let us bless God for what he effected in St Theresa and by her in others. Let us pray that we also may do some great thing for God, or at least sanctify ourselves.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, p662

St Theresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church
Theresa of Jesus is the stream which points back to the spring; the splendor which leads to the light, Christ, the “Master of Wisdom”, the “Living Book”, in whom she learned her truths. He is “the light of heaven”, the Spirit of Wisdom, which she invoked that he might speak in her name and guide her pen. The ‘first woman doctor of the universal Church’, she made herself a living word with God, she called to friendship with Christ, she opened up new paths of fidelity and service to Holy Mother Church.
I know she reached the hearts of bishops and priests so as to renew desires for Wisdom and Holiness in them, to be “light to the Church”. She exhorted the religious “to follow the evangelical counsels with all perfection” so as “to be servants of love”.
She lit up the experience of Christian laypeople with her doctrine of prayer and charity, the universal way of sanctity. For, like the Christian life, prayer does not consist “in thinking much, but in loving much” and “all by their nature are capable of loving”.
Her voice has resounded beyond the Catholic Church; aroused response at the ecumenical level and given rise to bridges of dialogue with treasures of spirituality of other religious cultures. I am happy above all, to know that the young has enthusiastically accepted St Theresa’s word.
Among the holy women of the Church’s history, Theresa of Jesus is undoubtedly the one who responded to Christ with greatest fervor of heart. Christ Jesus, Redeemer of mankind, was Theresa’s model.
Ref: Cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, 1984, p360

Meditations on the Litany of Loreto
‘Cause of our joy’ -- The dawn is a cause of joy after the darkness and gloom of night.
A holy Father says, ‘in Mary’s birth, the dawn appeared’, which, before the coming of Jesus Christ, had been for 4,000 years immersed in the darkness of sin. The dawn precedes the sun. Mary was the precursor of the Incarnate Word, the Sun of justice, the Redeemer, who, by his death, delivered us from eternal death.
Mary was the beginning of our joy; also its completion; for St Bernard says, ‘Jesus Christ deposited the whole price of our redemption in the hands of Mary; that every grace which we receive, we may receive it from her’.
O Mother of God, my joy and hope; you deny your graces to no one, and obtain all you will from God.
Ref: “The Glories of Mary”. In “Documentation Service”, V:323

The Eucharist
“The other sacraments, as well as every ministry of the Church and every work of the apostolate, are tied together with the Eucharist and are directed toward it. The most Blessed Eucharist contains the entire spiritual boon of the Church, ie, Christ Himself, our Pasch and living Bread, by the action of the Holy Spirit through His very flesh vital and vitalizing, giving life to men who are thus invited and encouraged to offer themselves, their labors and all created things, together with him.
"In this light, the Eucharist shows itself as the source and apex of the whole work of preaching the Gospel. Those under instruction are introduced by stages to a sharing in the Eucharist, and the faithful, already marked with the seal of Baptism and Confirmation, are through reception of the Eucharist fully joined to the Body of Christ. ...”
Ref: Second Vatican Council, “Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests”, n.5. In “The Vatican II Weekday Missal”, 1975, p1494

• Dedication of Our Lady of Terouenne, in the year 1133, by Milo, its thirteenth bishop. — Jacob Meyerus, lib. ii., Annal. Flandriae. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of Terouenne (1133). (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Terouenne (France). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Blessing of Our Lady of France. (Baillet-en-France, 1988). (www/mariedenazareth.com)