By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -

Photography: CRISTINA CABRERA JARRO | FC

HIALEAH | For a woman from the Middle Ages, St. Teresa of Avila remains quite in vogue � an example of faith and perseverance for people in the 21st century. So much so that Pope Francis last October declared a year-long celebration leading up to the 500th anniversary of her birth.

“She has had a tremendous effect on religious life,” said Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski. “Five-hundred years ago may seem like a long time ago, but really, she is a modern nun in the sense that she is still described as a nun of our times. Carmelite spirituality is alive and well and her writings and her work still influence the Church.”

That Carmelite presence was especially “alive and well” at the Mass celebrating the closing of the fifth centenary. Filling Immaculate Conception Church in Hialeah on her feast day, Oct. 15, were members of the Discalced Carmelite community � friars, nuns (cloistered), religious (active), and Third Order (secular) � who live, work and pray in South Florida.

Concelebrants at the Mass included Miami Auxiliary Bishop Peter Baldacchino, Bishop Emeritus Fernando Isern of Pueblo, Colorado, and several archdiocesan priests.

“I was not expecting so many people. I imagine St. Teresa is very happy,” said Jose Adan Abreu of Our Lady of the Lakes Church in Miami Lakes.

Abreu studied spirituality and prayer for eight years with the Discalced Carmelite Friars of Miami, and continues to support and celebrate the order.

“The Carmelites have done an exceptional job. Remember that the religious are a fundamental part inside the Church and the diocese. They do the jobs that almost no one wants to do. Above everything else, (they are) those that pray behind the scenes, which is much harder.”

Abreu and others from the Carmelite community agree: Prayer, for Carmelites, is an essential part of life. In her many writings, St. Teresa often highlighted the benefits of prayer as “nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.”

It is a simple, almost child-like message. Even so, her reflections on prayer earned the saint the title of Doctor of the Church, a title given to few women � among them St. Catherine of Siena (Dominican), St. Therese of Lisieux “the Little Flower” (Carmelite) and St. Hildegard of Bingen (Benedictine).

“We are enjoying this privilege that God has given us to be here before a Doctor of the Church,” said Carmen Von Reitzenstein, a parishioner at Epiphany Church in Miami and a Third Order Carmelite. “A Doctor of the Church who left us beautiful teachings about prayer, about loving Christ and following Christ and living for Christ.”

The teachings of St. Teresa have drawn many in Miami to join the Third Order of Carmelites.

Maria Mercedes Escobar of Our Lady of the Lakes Church described it as a calling: “God prepares people on the way until he knows where they belong. Then you feel that you are where he wants you to be.”

“I tried various groups until I got to the Carmelites and I realized I finally found my vocation,” said Alba Bowen, a Third Order Carmelite who made her promises at the same time as Escobar. “It’s like when you are searching and you finally reach your destination.”

For Carmelite nuns, such as Mother Teresa Lucia del Inmaculado Corazon, hearing a calling and being led to a vocation is a gratuity of the love of God. Mother Teresa is one of 12 Discalced Carmelite nuns � the only cloistered community in the archdiocese � currently living in a temporary cloister on the grounds of Immaculate Conception Church.

“The Lord calls who he wants,” said Mother Teresa. “As the text of Jeremiah 1:5 says, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.’”

That passage from scripture holds a special place in her heart, she said, because upon entering the cloister her mother revealed to her that she had consecrated her to the child Jesus at an early age.

“It made me think and reach the conclusion that this is something beautiful. A mother can fill her little one with anything. She can fill her with prayer, she can fill her with positive thinking, and she can fill her with faith. Or she can fill her with drugs, with coffee, with Coca-Cola; with addictions of the simplest kind. (Children) are like sponges. This is why the words of Jeremiah stood out to me.”

At the moment, the Discalced Carmelites continue to raise funds for the construction of their monastery, currently underway in Homestead. The Carmelite community looks forward patiently to the completion of the monastery, as St. Teresa prescribed: “Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.”

Quick facts about St. Teresa of Avila and the Discalced Carmelites

• St. Teresa was born March 28, 1515 in Avila, Spain, and died Oct. 4, 1582.

• She was beatified in 1614 by Pope Paul V and canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. Pope Paul VI declared her a Doctor of the Church in 1970.

• Her feast day is October 15. She is the patron saint of headache sufferers (she herself suffered from migraines) and Spanish Catholic writers.

• Her books include her autobiography, “The Life of Teresa of Jesus,” “The Interior Castle” and “The Way of Perfection.”

• While she is known for her writings � and mystical experiences � on prayer, she also led an active life, traveling throughout Spain, despite ill health, to found reformed Carmelite convents.

• She entered the Carmelite Order in 1535. Carmelites trace their origin to hermits who withdrew to the mountain of Carmel in the Holy Land at the end of the 12th century then slowly made their way to Europe.

• By the Middle Ages, the Carmelite convents and monasteries had grown lax in their practice of prayer and poverty. St. Teresa and her disciple, St. John of the Cross, set about reforming the order and are considered the founders of today’s Discalced Carmelites.

• Carmelites currently serving in the Archdiocese of Miami include: the Discalced Carmelite Friars who have a house of prayer in Miami Gardens; the Discalced Carmelite nuns who live on the grounds of Immaculate Conception Church in Hialeah; and the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles who staff St. Theresa School in Coral Gables and Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School in Miami.

Sources: Discalced Carmelites, Catholic.org, and the Catholic Encyclopedia