St Therese Of Avila is the founder of the Discalced Carmelites. In 1970 she was declared a Doctor of the Church for her writing and teaching on prayer.She struggled much of her life. At first being undecided on whether to even enter the religious life or marry.In the convent she had worldly attachments,struggled with her prayer life,fell ill with malaria.The illness didn't help her prayer life -it became an excuse for her not to pray.She did suffer incredible illness.The malaria left her paralyzed for 3 yr and even after that she was never completely well. At the age of 43, she became determined to found a new convent that went back to the basics of a contemplative order.For this she was threatened by the Inquisition when the town filed legal proceedings against her. In the end,with God's grace,these shortcomings and attachments were overcome.At 51, she felt it was time to spread her reform movement.In 1582, she was invited to found a convent by an Archbishop but when she arrived in the middle of the pouring rain, he ordered her to leave. "And the weather so delightful too" was Teresa's comment. Though very ill, she was commanded to attend a noblewoman giving birth. By the time they got there, the baby had already arrived so, as Teresa said, "The saint won't be needed after all." Too ill to leave, she died on October 4 at the age of 67.
Her journey to God was long and difficult having to overcome with God's grace her worst failings. Though she wasn't sinning, she was very attached to her friends until God told her "No longer do I want you to converse with human beings but with angels." In an instant he gave her the freedom that she had been unable to achieve through years of effort. After that God always came first in her life. Read Full Biography here: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208 Therese of Avila was canonized in 1662. Her writings, including the classic The Interior Castle:Christian Classics Ethereal Library
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