Saint Teresa of Avila

Teresa was 21 years old when she enrolled at the Carmelite monastery of the Incarnation. She was born in the Castilian town of Avila in 1515. She was plagued by disease, uncertainties, and self-blame, but she eventually realized the value of prayer and introspection. Several visions and mystical experiences, such as having a heavenly love spear pierce her heart, furthered her spiritual enlightenment. She later established seventeen Carmelite monasteries around the country of Spain. However, Teresa always denied becoming a saint, writing in a letter, "There is no suggestion of that nonsense about my supposed sanctity." This open narrative is a literary masterpiece and one of the great accounts of a monastic life; it is also the most read prose classic in Spain, second only to Don Quixote.

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