Pope returns to Doctors of the Church

Pope Benedict XVI says he will dedicate his Wednesday audiences to a new cycle of lessons on the Doctors of the Church in the coming weeks, beginning with “one of the highest examples of Christian spirituality of all time”, St Teresa of Avila.

The 16th Saint and Carmelite reformer was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI. Describing her as " true teacher of life for the Christian faithful of every era" Pope Benedict XVI said her life and writings are particularly relevant "in our current society often lacking in spiritual values”.

In comments in Italian he said her spirituality is "profound and articulated”. It proposes the Gospel virtues as the basis of all Christian life and human existence, in particular detachment from earthly goods and evangelical poverty. But she also writes of human virtues, such as affability, truthfulness, modesty, kindness, happiness and culture. Saint Teresa proposes a profound harmony between the great biblical figures and listening to living the Word of God.

Teresa, was born in Spain, in Ávila in 1515 to, as she herself writes in her autobiography, "virtuous, God-fearing parents". She had nine brothers and three sisters. Teresa entered the Carmel in Avila at the age of twenty. Maturing in the spiritual life, she embraced the ideal of a renewal of her Order and with the support of Saint John of the Cross she founded a chain of reformed Carmels throughout Spain”.

Pope Benedict continued. “her highly influential writings, which include the Autobiography, The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle, reveal her profound christocentric spirituality and her breadth of human experience. Teresa considered the evangelical and human virtues the basis of an authentic Christian life. She identified deeply with Christ in his humanity and stressed the importance of contemplation of his Passion and of his real presence in the Eucharist”.

Above all concluded the Pope, “she presents prayer as an intimate friendship with Christ leading to an ever greater union of love with the Blessed Trinity. In her life and in her death Teresa embodied an unconditional love for the Church. May the example and prayers of Saint Teresa of Avila inspire us to greater fidelity to prayer and, through prayer, to greater love for the Lord and his Church, and more perfect charity towards our brothers and sisters”.

A spontaneous and touching moment of light relief took place in this Wednesday’s audience when a small boy escaped from his parents grasp and ran onto the stage of the Paul VI Hall, towards Pope Benedict. The Holy Father, who had finished reading his greetings in English, waved the guards away and welcomed the young child exchanging a few words with him before blessing him. His secretary Mgr. Georg Gänswein then accompanied the child back to his parents care. Listen: