Chapter 2

In part one of the story of the life of Saint Teresa of Avila, an attractive young girl decides to devote her life to the service of God and to follow the teachings of Holy Mother Church.

It is important to put the life of Saint Teresa in the perspective of the time in which she lived and labored in the vineyards of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The 1500s were a tumultuous period of human existence.

Worldwide religion was relatively a new concept focused around the belief in a single deity. Both the Romans and the Greeks had spent multiple Centuries in hedging their bets for secure berths in the afterlife by worshipping many Gods with specific areas of Godly expertise.

Christianity just like Judaism and the fast spreading rise of Islamic beliefs centered on a belief in one true God. The acceptance of a populace to profess faith in a worldwide religion depended a great deal on geopolitical forces devoid of any religious value system. In fact, the spread of a worldwide religion seemed better suited to intellectual ignorance. Success depended more on the lack of any spiritual object to focus attention for finding a purpose for existence. Inevitably, even the long established pagan religions of the multi-God variety crumbled away in the face of the truly faithful.

The Roman Catholic Church headquartered in Rome, Italy with a vested representative of God in the form of a "Pope" was ideally situated to assume the role of leadership.

Judaism was strangely the conceptual structure upon which the teachings of Christianity were designed. It deviated from the accepted Christian Biblical guidelines with a disbelief in the birth of the Lord God Jesus Christ as the designated "Messiah" promised in the Old Testament. Catholics and indeed most if not all Christians believe Christ was the Messiah promised, that he died for the sins of humankind, and that he arose from the dead to assume his rightful position next to God the Father. That they are part of the Divine Trinity which also includes the Holy Spirit and that the "Second Coming" will judge the just and the unjust unto all eternity. Judaism does not accept that belief and they still wait for the Messiah to arrive.

Islam mirrors both Judaism and Christianity in many respects but differs primarily in the belief that secularism is an enemy as much as any religion that follows teachings other than those of Mohammad. The rise of Islam is more through force of power and threat of severe retribution rather than exposure to Grace or desire to be saved from individual sin. The fact that it sees males as rightful rulers of females and precludes females from equality in the eyes of God challenges the modern acceptance of full equality of women.

Fortunately for Teresa, the Roman Catholic Church was much more progressive in their acceptance of the role of women. However, even 500 years later, there are still more changes to be made and injustices still exist even inside the Church itself.

The stench of corruption and sin existed right up to the highest levels of the Church in the 1500s. The papacy itself was not exempt from corruption and sin. Woven into this framework of organizational rot were political intrigue, sexual peccadillos, bribery, sodomy, sale of dispensations and other indulgences and a constant "musical chairs" game seeking power at any cost.

The Centuries old threat of the "Inquisition" would be trotted out to cover Church faults and to dispose of papal enemies with little fear of retribution.

Teresa was even threatened with the power of the Inquisition more than once when she ran afoul of dangerous forces well hidden within the ranks of the faithful. She was even accused at one time of being a member of the secretive "Illuminata" dedicated to the reform of the Roman Catholic Church.

Despite Teresa's less than successful first attempts to live the convent life, she knew she was destined to dedicate her life to the service of God. Her confidence and self-esteem was restored by the encouragement of her mentor and confessor Father Francis Borgia. He saw the aura of God's presence in the simple words she uttered to express her thoughts about the teachings of the church. Under his tutorledge she committed all of her thoughts and words relayed to her by the spirit of God's presence into writings that continue to be published to this day. They form the basis for spiritual inner peace and understanding of the power of prayer.