Doctors of the ChurchSt. Teresa of Avila, Spanish nun and mystic. First female doctor. Co-founder of the Discalced Carmelites with Saint John of the Cross. Religious order: Carmelites. (1515-1582)St. Teresa of Avila was born on December 6, 1515 in Gotarrendura, Ávila, crown of Castile (today Spain). Two years after Teresa's birth, Luther launched the Protestant Reformation. After all this change, Teresa showed the way from outer disturbances to inner peace. When Teresa was 39, she began to have vivid experiences of God's presence within her. Some of Teresa's friends, like Gaspar Daza and Francisco de Salcedo, believed her blessings were the work of the devil. Others, like Diego de Cetina, comforted Teresa by encouraging her to continue her mental prayer and to also think of the humanity of Christ. A priest acting as her confessor told her that it was only the devil working in the vision she had repeatedly had of Christ and ordered Teresa to laugh at the vision, forget it and make the sign of cross. She apologized to God for following her confessor's orders, but God did not fail to comfort her. Thérèse's greatest faults came from her friendships. Even though she had not sinned, she was still very attached to all her friends until God said to her: “I no longer want you to converse with human beings but with angels. » Instantly, she received the freedom she could not have through all her years of effort. After that, God appeared first in his life. In Teresa's books, she interpreted and anatomized the mystical experiences she had. Teresa had never seen these gifts as a reward from God, but as His way of disciplining her. The more love she endured, the more the ...... middle of paper ...... escaped by unscrewing the lock on her prison door and crawling past the guard. Not knowing where he was, he let a dog lead him towards civilization. Saint John hid in a convent where he read his poetry to the nuns. From then on, his life was dedicated to sharing and explaining all of his experiences of God's love. You would think that his difficult life of poverty and abuse might have made him a more bitter person, but instead it only produced a more compassionate spiritual man, who would live by these beliefs "who ever seen people persuaded to love God by harshness? » and “Where there is no love, put love and you will find love.” He left many of his books filled with practical advice on spiritual growth and prayer that are as relevant today as they were then. Some of his writings included Dark Night of the Soul and Ascent of Mount Carmel..