St. Teresa of Ávila and the Working Woman
“God gave us faculties for our use; each of them will receive its proper reward. Then do not let us try to charm them to sleep, but permit them to do their work until divinely called to something higher” (St. Teresa of Ávila).
When I think of Teresa of Ávila, I think about the famous Bernini statue of the Ecstasy of St. Teresa. I first saw this striking image in my AP art history textbook in high school, and it stayed with me. It accompanied me for years and years, even though I didn’t really know who she was or what she did. The other association I had with her was Avila’s, a restaurant my grandparents used to go to after Mass.
In sum, although I occasionally heard the name St. Teresa of Ávila in my life as a going-through-the-motions Catholic, I didn’t know her. Now that I do, this assertion is like saying, “Yes, I’ve heard of Batman. I recognize the Bat Signal. I never bothered to look into it, though. What’s his deal?”
St. Teresa, a Relentless Intercessor
To get into what a superior role model working women can find in St. Teresa, it’s illustrative to talk about how ceaselessly she pursued me. Just as God doggedly hounds us to meet us where we are and brings us to Him, He allows His saints to cooperate in His saving work by doing the same.
Accordingly, I have more than one story about a saint in my personal litany who I realized in retrospect had been reaching out to me for months or even years. That beautiful Bernini sculpture planted a seed when I first saw it in high school. Later, when I was a stay-at-home-mom facing a professional and personal existential crisis, St. Teresa showed up again.
The book “My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous Women Who Showed Me How to Live” showed up exactly when I needed it. In its pages, St. Teresa came alive to me. She was no longer a marble statue lost in a sublime, supernatural episode. She was a tenacious, take-no-prisoners woman of action. And this is the woman who literally wrote the book on contemplative prayer.
Even better, I learned that she is a patron saint of Spanish writers. At a time in my life when God was calling me more and more to pour myself seriously into writing, and when I was earnestly exploring my Hispanic heritage for the first time in my life, it was all too perfect.
I adopted her as a spiritual patron.
Balancing “Ora et Labora”
St. Teresa of Ávila’s life is fascinating. She was born into a wealthy family, joined the Carmelites, and, for a while gave herself up to the lax discipline at the convent. Apparently, she enjoyed quite the social life.
After a personal conversion, St. Teresa became a great reformer. Her superiors tasked her to instruct others on contemplative prayer using the insights she had gained. Those writings are a fascinating combination of the practical and the mystical. While she is talking about the abstract and spiritual, you can still see the down-to-earth, pragmatic mindset that helped her travel around Spain reforming monasteries.
St. Teresa of Avila, Pray for Working Catholic Women
St. Teresa shows us that there need not be a tension between the contemplative life and the active life.
Her writings on mental and contemplative prayer in books like “The Interior Castle” show how we can enter into prayer no matter where we are. In the stress and confusion of day-to-day life, in the isolation of telework, whatever your current professional circumstances, St. Teresa understands. She writes in her “Soliloquies,” “It is a great consolation for the soul wearied by the loneliness of being separated from You to see that You are everywhere.”
If you are struggling with fruitful prayer and progressing in the spiritual life, and if you’re balancing professional or career concerns at the same time, go to St. Teresa of Ávila. This tireless intercessor will bring to bear all of her spiritual strength and determination on your behalf.
Maggie Phillips is a freelance writer and military spouse with three small children and an incredibly patient husband. Follow her work at mrsmaggiephillips.com and on Instagram at @maggies_words.