EVENSONG – FEAST OF SAINT TERESA OF AVILA
Sunday 16 October, 2022, 5 pm
The All Saints Choir will offer Choral Evensong on Sunday, 16 October, at 5:00 pm for the feast of Saint Teresa of Ávila, Mystic and Monastic Reformer. Featuring music by Juan Esquivel, Kerensa Briggs, Elizabeth Coxhead, and Maxine Thévenot.
Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582), also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Spanish noblewoman who was called to convent life in the Catholic Church. A Carmelite nun, prominent Spanish mystic, religious reformer, author, theologian of the contemplative life and of mental prayer, she earned the rare distinction of being declared a Doctor of the Church. Active during the Catholic Reformation, she reformed the Carmelite Orders of both women and men. The movement she initiated was later joined by the younger Spanish Carmelite friar and mystic John of the Cross. It led eventually to the establishment of the Discalced Carmelites.
Her written contributions, which include her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus and her seminal work The Interior Castle, are today an integral part of Spanish Renaissance literature. Together with The Way of Perfection, her works form part of the literary canon of Christian mysticism and Christian meditation practice, and continue to attract interest from people both within and outside the Catholic Church.