Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Teresa de Ahumada was born in Ávila in 1515 and in 1535 entered the Carmelite convent of the Incarnation there, a large community with a relaxed rule. Nearly twenty years later, praying before an image of the wounded Christ, she resolved to live wholly for God. In 1562 she founded the small convent of St Joseph in Ávila under a stricter rule, then, despite opposition, sixteen more; with John of the Cross she extended the reform to the friars, the Discalced Carmelites. Her Life and The Interior Castle are classics of Spanish prose. She died at Alba de Tormes on the night of 4 October 1582, the very night Spain adopted the Gregorian calendar, so the next day was 15 October. In 1970 she was the first woman declared a Doctor of the Church.