Teresa of Jesus Carmelite Nuns OK

In the Life and in The Way of Perfection, St. Teresa of Jesus tells us her story because she wants to sing the mercies of God. To be a classic, a religious text must be both timely and timeless. . .the Life and Way are both. When we read the story of St. Teresa’s religious struggle, her true worth cannot come to light unless we understand the social and religious milieu of her time. St. Teresa was a woman in a male dominated world who succeeded because she could balance the boundaries placed on her by both society and Church. This was no small feat. Hers is a story as current today as it was in her time. Hers is the story of a journey to God: the roadblocks that hinder and the grace that frees.

Life was repressive for women in sixteenth century Spain. Church and society felt that women were guided by passion rather than reason. It wasn necessary, therefore, to keep them under constant supervision. Women were under their fathers in youth and under their husbands in marriage. It was generally held that a woman should leave her home only three times in her life: to be baptized, married and buried. The Church also was highly suspicious of women practicing prayer because of the false mysticism and heresies of the time. . . it was only natural that a woman who practiced mental prayer, let alone taught it, should come under the scrutiny of the Inquisition. Yet Teresa, who always submitted to the authority of the Church, prevailed in the end.

Her founding of St. Joseph’s Moastery was no less counter-cultural. In her day, convents and monasteries followed Spanish culture with its emphasis on social rank, lineage and honor. Wealthy nuns had their own private rooms while the poor nuns slept in dormitories. Even the seating in choir was according to family rank rather than religious seniority. Friendship too hinged on social rank–it, like marriage, was found only between social equals and it was never encouraged with anyone outside one’s rank.

This disparity had no place at St. Joseph’s. There all the Nuns had a small cell, dressed alike, ate the same food and performed manual work. This was considered radical in her time but for the women in her monastery it provided an oasis of freedom.

Indeed, Teresa called the house a heaven on earth for those whose only pleasure was to serve God. At St. Joseph’s the business of the community was prayer and prayer was its language. If others wished to speak to them, they needed to learn the same language. One way to ensure this egalitarian lifestyle would be followed was to restrict the number of nuns to thirteen. This small number enabled all the nuns to be friends. In a small community: all must be friends, all must be loved, all must be held dear and all must be helped. She believed that true friendship showed itself in both speech and action and was always directed toward the benefit of others. For Teresa it was difficult to be restricted by the norms of her time. She felt the little she could do for the Church due to her being a woman, incapable of doing anything useful was to pray for its needs.

For the generations of Carmelite Nuns who have followed, we are deeply grateful she chose prayer as her path of service to the Church. Her ideals of community and friendship still apply and for those called to Carmel, it remains an oasis of freedom.

While St. Teresa was serious in following her vocation, she was practical as well, she prized common sense and desired this quality in those who entered. I can teach a girl to pray,she said, I cannot teach her common sense.

Teresa was equally serious about celebrating the joyful moments of life. She was known to dance and she often picked up a tamborine and composed songs for the Sisters enjoyment. God deliver me from gloomy saints she once said, telling her Nuns what NOT to be!