St. Teresa of Avila: The Unperfect Saint

Catalina de Erauso, was born in an area of Spain, kenned as the Basque area. Her birth years was 1585. When Erauso was just at the ripe age of four years old, she was placed in a Dominican convent, where she went through training until the age of fifteen to become a nun. In the early part of the 1600's, Erauso was found to have ran away from the convent in which she had grown and trained in. In the process of her running away she transmuted her habiliments to look homogeneous to the fashions that men wore, and from that point on she commenced her life living as a man (SparkNotes: Lieutenant Nun).

Saint Rose of Lima had been a very divine person ever since she was born. Throughout her life, she had always dedicated herself to religion, prayer, suffering, and saving souls from purgatory. Rose always believed that although her life was very poor, there are always others out there who have it far worse. Thus with her loving compassion, Rose never hesitated to help the poor, the sick, or the weak whenever she came across them on the streets of Lima. This was what the moral of Rose’s life was based upon and dedicated to.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola was born in the year 1491. The exact month and day of his birth is not known. He was one of thirteen children. He was born into a very noble family. He was a gambling addict by the age of sixteen. When he was just seventeen years old, he became a soldier in the Spanish Army. In 1521 during a battle with the French, a cannonball broke on of his legs, and severely injured the other. The broken leg had to be broken again in order to fully repair it, and there was a bone in the other leg that was sticking out, making it shorter than the other. He ordered the doctors to remove the bone to make his legs the same length. This was all done without any anesthesia to numb the pain. The wounds from the cannonball impaired his ability to walk for the rest of his life. While he was recovering from the wounds, he would think of the women of his dreams and of being famous. To avoid boredom, he read a book titled The Life of Christ. This would be the start of Saint Ignatius’ conversion. This book by Ludolph of Saxony asks the reader to imagine that they are witnessing the stories in the Gospels. This would be the main influence for the approach that Saint Ignatius uses in his Spiritual Exercises. He realized that after he was done thinking of his dream woman and of being famous that he felt empty, but after thinking of the Jesus and the saints, he felt fulfilled.

Women could either join a convent of a beateria, a lay religious community (). There was also the expectation that married women would still be religious, but that was not meant to be their sole purpose in life (). Religiosity among women was usually expressed in a community. Religious orders, like the Poor Clares, Dominicans and Carmelites, were one option (). Family sometimes sent women to live in convents, making the woman the passive agent (). Women, however, did make the choice to live in a convent and become completely devoted to God. St. Teresa of Avila, a Carmelite nun and mystic from this time, is an example of this phenomenon (). St. Teresa’s religious experiences were not completely

The saint I chose for my project is Saint Cecilia. I chose this Saint because she is the Saint of Music and at my school I play an instrument. No one knows exactly when Saint Cecilia was born but people believe she died around 117 A.D (After Death). Saint Cecilia's body was discovered incorrupt in 1599, she is known for being the first incorrupt saint. She was Married to a man named Valerian, but she still wanted to stay a virgin. Valerian was not a Catholic.

For my confirmation saint project, I have picked, St. Rita of Cascia. St. Rita has a background of change as she was always been undecided on whether to believe in god or not. When it came to being religious and in her beliefs she was always turning on and of her faith. St. Rita was forced to marriage at an early age and was unhappy for 20 years after her marriage ended her two sons died. She was left alone with got and that's when her faith began to grow. St. Rita asked to enter the religious life and was denied.although after a couple times of trying she was finally accepted and she was asked to take care and plant a dead grapevine. With time as her faith grew the vine also grew. To this date her vine and grapes are still growing, people

Saint Catherine of Siena was born on March 25, 1347. She was born in Siena, Italy. She was the 25th child to be born in her family, although a lot of her siblings did not live long. Catherine’s sister, Bonaventura, died at age 16, making her husband a widower. Her

Saint Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena,the first Colombian born saint, was canonized by Pope Francis in 2013 (“St. Laura of St. Catherine of Siena”). Having very little memory of her Dad, Laura Montoya y Upegui never had a strong father figure, however she never let this stop her from being who she wanted to be. Laura was an outstanding student, a true preacher of God’s work, and is remembered as a role model for all young girls.

St Catherine of Bologna was canonized in 1712 (St Catherine of Bologna, Patron Saint of the Arts 9). “St. Catherines piety, charity and kindness attracted many to follow her along the road to Christian perfection. The beauty of her life and death encourages us to live in perfect charity as a Lenton goal” (Catholic Online 20). Saint Catherine shall live

The first religious experience Saint Teresa had, she did not see Jesus, but was only conscious of Christ’s presence. Saint Teresa was petrified at first. All she could do was cry with fear; when the lord spoke one word to her she was filled with feelings of happiness and was free from fear. She later went to her confessor to tell him about the incident that had occurred. Saint Teresa stated,

This lead her to follow God’s will, and become a teacher at St Mary’s school, and later become the principle of this school. At the school Mother Teresa, taught history, english and a couple of other subjects to teach the children at the schools. She loved the kids as if they were her own, and equally. Mother Teresa’s second calling was the call to care for the people in the slums of Calcutta, but to do so she needed permission from her superiors, as at this stage Mother Teresa was the principle at St Mary’s. In the following year, Mother Teresa began her work which obeyed God’s call fro her to look after the poor, sick and dying in the streets. Through many difficulties, Mother Teresa obeyed and followed the work which God led her to do, her lives work, and influenced her into making these decisions. The vow of obedience, influence Mother Teresa greatly, in following orders from superiors, and God himself. As said by Mother Teresa, “…by faith, I am catholic. As to my calling, I belong to the world…”, her calling brought her closer to the world, and the calling itself influenced the work which Mother Teresa is known of doing.

Once Saint Clare had heard Saint Francis preach, she left her home and life for Jesus. Her hair was cut off and she lived as a nun, all while refusing to leave home. Clare spent her life without much food and without a great standard of living, but she did not notice or care. To her, her life

However, not everyone believed that Mother Teresa had proven herself as a ‘living saint.’ Many people questioned her health, her mental sanity, and her work. Throughout her life, Mother Teresa suffered from ill health. While not much is known about her childhood and her health during this time, it is known that the Bojaxhiu family traveled each year to comfort Mother Teresa’s poor health. While in India, as a Loreto Sister, Mother Teresa became

In 1948, Mother Teresa came across the first woman she cared for. She found a dying woman that was half eaten by rats and ants lying on the streets of Calcutta. Mother Teresa took the lady to the hospital, but they refused to admit her. She then would not leave the hospital until they accepted the lady, and stayed by her side until she died. From that point on she dedicated the majority of her life to caring for the poor.

Mother Teresa was born in Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia. By 18 she was already serving others as a nun. Later she left with permission to serve the poorest of the poor in Calcutta with nothing to give but her love. She did not care that she was doing it alone with no funds- she just wanted to love them and be there for them. She was so inspiring that people began to fund her work and to come as volunteers. She served till the end and still influences people today.. Her life was the definition of heroism, her life was service and she gave her all to the poor of Calcutta and other poverty stricken areas. She loved all who came to her with an open heart. And that is what made her the hero she is and was- still touching others with the story of her life