St Teresa of Avila Quotes | 21 Inspiring Sayings That Will Change Your Life

Here we have compiled 21 Powerful St Teresa of Avila Quotes on courage, pain, humility, suffering, prayer, God’s will, and self-understanding. These St Teresa of Avila Quotes will inspire you to change your lives for the better and provide you hope and strength in times of trials, hardships, and challenges.

Brief Biography of St Teresa of Avila

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Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582 A.D.)

Born Teresa Ali Fatim Corella Sanchez de Capeda y Ahumada, Teresa of Avila, was a Spanish noblewoman born to Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda, a successful wool merchant and one of the wealthiest men in the province of Avila. She was an influential religious reformer, theologian of the contemplative life and mental prayer, and author of spiritual classics.

Teresa’s mother, Beatriz de Ahumada y Cuevas, died when she was 11 years old, leaving her sorrowful and heartbroken. She was very close to her mother, who was a very warm person compared to her father, who carried strictness to extremes. After her mother’s death, she became closer to God and devoted herself to the Christian way of living.

Despite her father’s objecting to her entry into religious life, she enrolled in the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation in 1536 to become a nun. She became sick and was invalid for three years. During this period, she developed a love for prayer, discipline, and compassion.

Later, she carried out many reforms such as strict enclosure and solitude for nuns, so that they would meditate on divine law, practice a life of penance, fasting, perpetual abstinence, manual labor, and charity. She opened the first convent (St. Joseph’s) of the Carmelite Reform in 1562 with the authorization of Pope Pius IV. Many religious leaders opposed her as the convent did not receive any financing and solely depended on subsistence through public alms.

She opened 16 more convents (Discalced Carmelites) in Spain based on ancient monastic traditions despite her frail health and hostility to her reforms.

She is best known for her extensive writings on counter-reformation and prayer life. She wrote the book Way to Perfection in 1566, which instructs nuns how to reach their objectives. She wrote what is considered her greatest work: the Castillo Interior (Interior Castle) in 1588. This book explained the various stages of spiritual evolution leading to full prayer.

She never let her difficulties deter her from her life’s goals. She died on October 4, 1582, during her journey from Burgos to Alba de Tormes.

St Teresa of Avila had a lifelong struggle facing misunderstanding and misjudgment in her efforts at reform. However, St Teresa of Avila moved on courageously and faithfully, overcoming her mediocrity and illness. St Teresa of Avila was a graceful woman of prayer who held on to the Heavenly Father undergoing a process of continuous sanctification and purification.

She was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622, forty afters after she died. On December 27, 1970, Pope Paul VI declared her a Doctor of the Church, which is a rare distinction reserved only for a few saints.

St Teresa of Avila Quotes

The following is a list of quotable quotes from St Teresa of Avila, who lived a faith-filled life that was uniquely challenging yet rewarding. She was a wise, practical, mystic, courageous, outgoing, and energetic reformer who was a great servant of God admired for her outer charm and inner serenity. She was the first woman Doctor of the Church and originator of the Carmelite Reform. These St Teresa of Avila quotes are sure to arm you with resilience and perseverance.


Check our amazing collection of quotes that will inspire positivity, happy feelings, serenity, and spirituality. Our motivating quotes will boost your spirit and put you in the right frame of mind as you start your day.

2 Comments

  1. Folio 16th September 2021
  2. james marty 8th December 2021

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