15 October • yesterday
• tomorrow
Memorial of Saint Teresa of Avila, virgin and doctor


Saint Teresa of Avila

Also known as

• Teresa de Avila
• Teresa of Jesus
• Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada
• The Roving Nun
• Theresa of Avila

Additional Memorial

27 August (Transverberation of her Heart)

Profile

Born to the Spanish nobility, the daughter of Don Alonso Sanchez de Cepeda and Doña Beatriz. She grew up reading the lives of the saints, and playing at "hermit" in the garden. Crippled by disease in her youth, which led to her being well educated at home, she was cured after prayer to Saint Joseph. Her mother died when Teresa was 12, and she prayed to Our Lady to be her replacement. Her father opposed her entry to religious life, so she left home without telling anyone, and entered a Carmelite house at 17. Seeing her conviction to her call, her father and family consented.

Soon after taking her vows, Teresa became gravely ill, and her condition was aggravated by the inadequate medical help she received; she never fully recovered her health. She began receiving visions, and was examined by Dominicans and Jesuits, including Saint Francis Borgia, who pronounced the visions to be holy and true.

She considered her original house too lax in its rule, so she founded a reformed convent of Saint John of Avila. Teresa founded several houses, often against fierce opposition from local authorities. Mystical writer. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on 27 September 1970 by Pope Paul VI.

Born

28 March 1515 at Avila, Castile, Spain as Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada

Died

• 4 October 1582 at Alba de Tormes of natural causes in the arms of her secretary and close friend Blessed Anne of Saint Bartholomew
• body incorrupt
• relics preserved at Alba
• her heart shows signs of Transverberation (piercing of the heart), and is displayed, too

Canonized

12 March 1622 by Pope Gregory XV

Patronage

• sick people; against bodily ills or sickness
• against headaches
• against the death of parents
• lace makers or lace workers
• people in need of grace
• people in religious orders
• people ridiculed for their piety
• World Youth Day 2011
• Amos, Canada, diocese of
• Avellaneda-Lanús, Argentina, diocese of
• Berzano di Tortona, Italy
• Pozega, Croatia
• Spain

Representation

• nun wearing the habit of a Discalced Carmelite
• Carmelite nun with her heart pierced by an arrow held by an angel
• Carmelite nun holding a pierced heart, book and crucifix
• Carmelite nun with book and quill
• Carmelite nun receiving a message from a dove

Video

YouTube PlayList

EBooks to Download

Interior Castle, by Saint Teresa
Saint Teresa of Avila, by David Lewis
The Life of Saint Teresa, by Mother Frances Alice Monica Forbes
The Life of Saint Teresa of Jesus, by Herself
The Way of Perfection, by Saint Teresa of Avila

Readings

God, deliver me from sullen saints. - Saint Teresa of Avila

Know that even when you are in the kitchen, our Lord moves amidst the pots and pans. - Saint Teresa of Avila

Oh my Lord! How true it is that whoever works for you is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love you if we understand its value. - Saint Teresa of Avila

If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that is we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight. All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example. What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favors, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For is at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort. - Saint Teresa of Avila

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-teresa-of-avila/


Saint Magdalena of Nagasaki

Also known as

Maddalena

Profile

Her parents were martyred when Magdalena was about nine years old. She became an Augustianian tertiary, and worked as an interpreter and catechist for Augustinian missionaries Father Francis of Jesus Terrero and Father Vincent of Saint Anthony Simoens. Martyr.

Born

c.1610 in Nagasaki, Japan

Died

15 October 1634 in Nishizaka, Nagasaki, Japan

Canonized

18 October 1987 by Pope John Paul II

Patronage

Secular Augustinian Recollects

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-magdalena-of-nagasaki/


Saint Barsen of Edessa

Also known as

Barso, Barsas, Barses

Additional Memorial

12 January (Syriac Martyrology of Rabban Slibã)

Profile

Hermit in northern Mesopotamia. Bishop of Edessa, Syria in 361. For his firm defense of orthodox Christianity, he was exiled to Egypt by the Arian Emperor Valens in 373. Sent to the Phoenician island of Aruad, he brought most of the residents and clergy back to the orthodox faith, and was so successful that Valens had him exiled to farther and more isolated locations in Egypt.

Died

March 379 somewhere in Egypt of natural causes

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-barsen/


Saint Thecla of Kitzingen

Also known as

• Thecla of England
• Tecla, Heilga

Profile

Benedictine nun at Wimborne Abbey, Dorset, England. Missionary to Germany, working with her relative, Saint Lioba of Bischofsheim, and Saint Boniface. Abbess of Ochsenfürt Abbey and then Kitzingen Abbey.

Born

England

Died

• c.790 at Kitzingen Abbey, Germany of natural causes
• relics scattered by anti–Catholic forces in the Peasant’s War of 1524–1525

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-thecla-of-kitzingen/


Saint Aurelia of Strasbourg

Also known as

• Aurelia of Ratisbon
• Aurelia of Regensburg

Profile

Born a princess, a member of the royal family of Hugh Capet. To escape marriage, she fled to Alsace and lived as a recluse for 52 years. Only Bishop Wolfgang of Ratisbon knew that she was even alive.

Died

15 October 1027 at Regensburg, Gemany of natural causes

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-aurelia-of-strasbourg/


Saint Euthymius the Younger

Also known as

• Euthymius the Thessalonian
• Euthymius the New

Profile

Hermit on Mount Olympus c.848. Hermit on Mount Athos in Greece, and became a noted preacher in the area. Founded a monastery in Salonika where he lived for a while as a hermit. Founded a monastery on and another one near Mount Athos. Late in life, he retired to living as a prayerful hermit.

Born

Galatia

Died

15 October 886 of natural causes

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-euthymius-the-younger/


Saint Severus of Trier

Profile

Spiritual student of Saint Germanus of Auxerre and Saint Lupos of Troyes. Worked with Saint Germanus to oppose Pelagianism in the British Isles. Missionary to the Germans in the lower Moselle region. Bishop of Trier, Germany in 446.

Born

France

Died

c.455

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-severus-of-trier/


Saint Odilo

Profile

Benedictine monk at Gorze, Lorraine, France. Abbot of Stavelot-Malmedy, Belgium in 945. Made his monastery an example of discipline and a center of learning in the region.

Died

c.954 of natural causes

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-odilo/


Saint Willa of Nonnberg

Profile

Nun at Nonnberg Abbey in Austria. Late in life she retired from community life to live as an anchoress.

Died

c.1050

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-willa-of-nonnberg/


Saint Callistus of Huesca

Profile

Friend of Saint Mercutialis. Martyred by Saracens.

Born

Huesca, Spain

Died

1003 in France

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-callistus-of-huesca/


Saint Leonard of Vandoeuvre

Profile

Hermit. Founded Vandoeuvre Abbey in France, and served as its first abbot.

Died

c.570

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-leonard-of-vandoeuvre/


Saint Sabinus of Catania

Profile

Bishop of Catania, Sicily. In later years he resigned to become a hermit.

Died

c.760

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-sabinus-of-catania/


Saint Fortunatus of Rome

Profile

Martyr.

Died

c.537 in Rome, Italy

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-fortunatus-of-rome-15-october/


Saint Cannatus of Marseilles

Profile

Fifth-century bishop of Marseilles, France.

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-cannatus-of-marseilles/


Martyrs of Cologne

Profile

A group of 360 Christian soldiers martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian and Maximian.

Died

303 outside the city walls of Cologne, Germany

https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-cologne/


Martyred in the Spanish Civil War

Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939. I have pages on each of them, but in most cases I have only found very minimal information. They are available on the CatholicSaints.Info site through these links:

Blessed Cipriano Alguacil Torredenaida
Blessed Josefa Martínez Pérez
Blessed Narcis Basté y Basté
Blessed Pere Verdaguer Saurina


Also celebrated but no entry yet

• Elizabeth of Hoven
• Eusebia of Vercelli
• Ferdinand Sorita
• Filippa de Chantemilan
• Fortunata of Campania
• Gonsalvo of Lagos
• Sancho of Soria
• Sofia
• William de Eril


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