Come and join us tomorrow as we celebrate the life of St Teresa of Avila at our Morning Prayer and Holy Rosary at 10.00 (her feast day is in fact today). She joined the Carmelite order at the age of 20 but fell ill with malignant malaria, so had to leave for three years, returning in 1538. She was very unimpressed with the highly relaxed convent, where ladies and gentlemen were entertained in the parlour, and the nuns frequently left their enclosure, so having experienced an interior conversion through her practice of intense prayer, she decided to found a house where the primitive rule would be strictly observed. Despite much ecclesiastical and civic opposition, her new house of St Joseph at Avila was founded in 1562. The 13 nuns lived in poverty, hardship and solitude, and this initial house inspired 16 others. Teresa was not only an excellent manager, but her common sense, charm and extreme hard work helped to overcome many obstacles. Her correspondence with St John of the Cross is preserved, and reveals a deep understanding of the contemplative life, its joys and its problems. She died in 1582 on her way back from founding another house at Burgos and was canonised in 1622, being declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970.