Lived 1515 - 1582
Saint Teresa of Ávila was a prominent Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation. She was born in Gotarrendura, in the province of Avila, Spain. Her baptismal name was given as Teresa Sanchez de Cepeda y Ahumada. Teresa’s writings, produced for didactic purposes, stand among the most remarkable in the mystical literature of the Roman Catholic Church. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered to be a founder of the Discalced Carmelites along with John of the Cross. In 1622 she was canonized by Pope Gregory XV, and on 27 September 1970 was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI.
The Life of Teresa of Jesus
(242 pages)The “Autobiography”, written before 1567, under the direction of her confessor, Pedro Ibáñez.
The Interior Castle
(200 pages)The Way of Perfection
(130 pages)El Camino de Perfección (trans.: The Way of Perfection) is a method for making progress in the contemplative life written by St. Teresa of Ávila for the sisters of her reformed convent of the Carmelite Order (Discalced).