Teresa of Ávila

Timeline

1. 1515–1538Ávila · SpainBorn in Ávila, Spain, into a devout noble family (her grandfather was a convert from Judaism). Fascinated by saints' stories from childhood, she once ran away with her brother seeking martyrdom. Her father opposed her entering religious life; in 1535 Teresa secretly entered the Convent of the Incarnation alone while her family was unaware, and professed her vows the following year. After entering she was seriously ill for a long time, and her practice was somewhat interrupted.
2. 1554–1562Ávila · SpainAround 1554, Teresa experienced a profound spiritual transformation before an image of the Penance, entering a higher level of contemplative prayer; thereafter she frequently received visions and mystical experiences such as levitation, including the famous vision of the transverberation of the heart. At the request of her confessor she began writing a spiritual autobiography, and exchanged views with inquisitors and John of Ávila.
3. 1562–1582Various places in Spain · SpainIn 1562 she founded the Convent of Saint Joseph in Ávila, the first Discalced Carmelite convent; over the following twenty years she founded more than seventeen convents across Spain, and with John of the Cross extended the reform to the male orders. During the same period she wrote her major spiritual works: The Way of Perfection (c. 1566), The Interior Castle (1577), and others. She died in October 1582 while traveling.