The Life and Teachings of St. Teresa of Avila

In preparation for the celebration of the 500 years birth anniversary of St. Teresa of Avila on March 28, 2015.

Humility: The Mother of all Virtues

St. Teresa’s most outstanding virtue is the virtue of humility. St. Teresa considers humility as the mother of all virtues from which other virtues are born such as the virtues of detachment, obedience and service, to name a few. St. Teresa discovered this not just from a process of reasoning but more importantly from her own life’s experiences.

In chapter 2 of her autobiography, Teresa recounted what was perhaps the most troubled period of her life. Like most other teenagers in her time and in our time she allowed an adventurous and rebellious spirit to grow in her. She allowed her thoughts, her desires and her actions to be influenced by what she read in the books on chivalry similar to the books on romances in our modern day. She became vain and adorned herself to make herself look even more beautiful than she already was and she wanted her friends to take notice of it. It was a time in her life, she relates, that she lost the virtues that she had when she was a child. And her friends, instead of being of help in preserving her virtues, were the very ones who were leading her astray. She allowed herself to fancy a boy and thought of marriage. She claims in her book, that the only reason why she retained her modesty was because she feared the thought of losing honor and hurting her father and family by bringing shame to the family.

When Teresa looked back to this particular time in her life which she considered was the time that she was most sinful and wicked, she blamed no one but herself, she made up no excuses, no justification for her actions. She alone was responsible for her actions and she alone was to be blamed.

It is perhaps the awareness and recognition of her weaknesses, her sinfulness, her wickedness, her unworthiness, and her very humanity that humbled Teresa and made her realize that the only way she could rise above all these was by constantly begging for God’s mercy and doing His will.

Teresa carried this awareness of her unworthiness of God’s love and graces in her consciousness throughout the rest of her life. So that, even when she was already receiving favors from God with her locutions and levitations and being called “La Santa” by the people wherever she went, she remained humble to the very core of her being.

Perhaps, this was also the reason why she surmounted all the trials and human suffering she went through in her life. The reason why she weathered all the persecutions and humiliation thrown upon her. And in the deep recesses of her heart she accepted all these without bitterness but instead with peace and joy within her thankful that she was given the opportunity to share in the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ.

According to Teresa it is the practice of Humility that will help one to grow in her/his mental prayer, and it is mental prayer that will help one to grow in his/her practice of Humility.

Teresa counsels us with these words:

“Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and comforts, the more needs and desires it finds.”
“What a great favor God does to those He places in the company of good people!”