In the Year of Faith, 450 years since the reform of St. Teresa of Avila

October 13, 2012: With a solemn Eucharistic celebration and a day of Adoration, the Mumbai Carmelites will celebrate the feast of St. Teresa of Avila, which falls on 15 October. Sister Gemma, mother prioress of the monastery said that it is "a very special day for two reasons: because we are in the Year of Faith, because this year we celebrate the 450^th anniversary of the monastery of St. Joseph and the beginning of reform of the Carmelite order." This anniversary falls on August 24, when Teresa opened the first cloistered convent in 1562.

Sister Gemma said that "Saint Teresa's desire for the fullness of life is embodied in the founding of the monastery of St. Joseph. She presented a new way of being a Carmelite: this 'newness' is the same spirit that today we find in the Synod and for the Year of Faith, to reach the fullness of God. "

On the occasion of this 450^th anniversary, Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message to Msgr. Jesús García Burillo, bishop of Avila. In it, the pope recalled: "The ultimate goal of Teresa's reform and the creation of new monasteries in a world lacking spiritual values was to protect apostolic work with prayer, proposing a form of evangelical life that would act as a model for people seeking the path of perfection, on the basis of the conviction that all authentic personal and ecclesial reform involves an ever more faithful reproduction of the 'form' of Christ in our own selves. "

"The example of St. Teresa of Avila - he continued - is of great help to us in this exhilarating task. In her time the saint evangelised unhesitatingly, showing tireless ardour, employing methods free from inertia and using expressions bathed in light. This remains important in the current time, when there is a pressing need for the baptised to renew their hearts through individual prayer in which, following the guidance of St. Teresa, they also focus on contemplation of Christ's blessed humanity as the only way to reach the glory of God. Thus those around us will perceive the joy that arises from our adherence to the Lord; they will see that we put nothing before His love, and that we are always ready to give reasons for our hope. "