Born into a noble family from Avila in Castile, she entered the Carmel at the age of 20. She realizes that the religious practices of this Order have deteriorated and she wants to reform it to bring it back to the primitive Rule, despite much resistance. She founded many convents in Spain. She lives very strong mystical experiences and meets Saint John of the Cross, himself a mystic. She left us writings of high spirituality, in particular"The inner castle of the soul"which is an extraordinary method of prayer and oration which ranks it among the best guides to contemplative prayer. Paul VI proclaimed her Doctor of the Church in 1970.
Teresa de Ahumada, born in Avila (Spain), had an education and a worldly life before reading the Franciscan spiritual authors who taught her meditation and prayer. She entered the Carmel of her native town at the age of twenty, and fought against her resistance to God's call."At the age of thirty-nine, during Lent 1554, Thérèse reached the peak of this struggle against her own weaknesses". Then her interior evolution"led her towards the idea of reforming the Carmelite order. Supported by her bishop, she founded the first reformed Carmel in 1562 in Avila", followed by seventeen new foundations."His encounter with Saint John of the Cross, who in 1568 had established the first convent of Discalced Carmelites near Avila, was fundamental. Teresa of Avila, who died in 1582, was beatified by Paul V in 1614 and canonized in 1622 by Gregory XV Paul VI granted him the title of Doctor of the Church in 1970.
