Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

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Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
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What is a Saint?

• Saints are not simply good people who have
  realized their potential. Saints are people in
  whom God makes his dwelling place they are
  divinized humans.

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Avila, Spain

• Teresa was born in central Spain in 1515 and she
  would live until 1582.

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Avila, Spain

• By the time she was 23 she was beginning to have
  the mystical experiences that would culminate
  only 12 years later into a life of steady and
  habitual contemplation of God.

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Teresas Mystical Doctrine

• The aim and end of human life is Union with God,
  it is the transformation of our being and its
  divinization.

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Teresas Mystical Doctrine

• 1. The omnipresence of God

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Teresas Mystical Doctrine

• 1. The omnipresence of God
• 2. Her way of life and religious disciplines are
  based on the idea of friendship.

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The Interior Castle

• Teresa said the image of a castle was given to
  her and it looked like a diamond with seven rooms
  moving inward.

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The Interior Castle

• The first three rooms are the rooms where the
  beginner learns to bring their life into
  conformity with God. This preparation is
  preliminary to the mystical journey proper.

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The Interior Castle

• In the fourth room our wills rest in the love of
  God, and even if the mind continues to turn and
  think, we are able through the grace of Christ to
  just let go and sink into this deeper awareness
  of Spirit.

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The Interior Castle

• In the fifth room is the prayer of union. This is
  where the caterpillar becomes a butterfly. God is
  the cocoon.

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The Interior Castle

• The sixth room is the room of spiritual
  betrothal. It is a time of great testing, but
  also awakening. The mystic gains a deeper,
  experiential understanding of the mysteries of
  God.

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The Interior Castle

• The seventh room, the room of God himself, is the
  room of spiritual marriage. This is where the
  human spirit becomes one with God so that it can
  never be separated.

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Conclusion

• The Lord doesnt look at the greatness of our
  works as at the love with which they are done.