St. Teresa of Avila

Ave Maria! I am mesmerized by this image of St. Teresa of Avila. I don't know how accurately it depicts her, but looking into her eyes, I can see the depths and passion of her being, God alone. He was all that mattered to her. She was all His. As she wrote in one of her poems, "In the Hands of God":

"Yours, you made me,
Yours, you saved me,
Yours, you endured me,
Yours, you called me,
Yours, you awaited me,
Yours, I did not stray.
What do You want of me?

...

Yours I am, for You I was born:
What do You want of me?"

What God's will was for St. Teresa was of no concern to her. All that mattered was knowing His will and doing it with love, a love that is strong as death (Songs 8:6). Her understanding of love has nothing to do with sentiment and romance. "Love does not consist in shedding tears, nor in tasting sweetness and that tenderness in which one seeks consolation; it consists in serving God in justice, in strength of soul, and in humility." For St. Teresa, love was a constant dying to self in order to rise with Christ and live through Him, for Him and in Him. "Move me here or there," she prayed, "To you I give all." And in the Lord Jesus she found all: "Spouse, Redeemer sweet...In you alone, Sovereign Majesty, I find my peace."

St. Teresa, wise and loving virgin,
may we learn from you that God alone is enough. Amen.