A Good Year for Teresa of Avila

Teresa of Jesus, OCD, known by many as Teresa of Avila, was a prominent 16th century Spanish mystic, saint, Carmelite nun, theologian, and church reformer. Through the past 500 years, the faithful across countless Christian traditions have been inspired by Teresa’s life of prayer and reform.

The Rev. Greg Foraker will be leading a parish pilgrimage for adults in May 2015 to walk the pilgrimage road to Santiago. This journey has been a path taken by pilgrims for centuries across the northern region of Spain. The pilgrimage will begin in Avila on the 500th anniversary of St. Teresa’s birth, exploring her spirituality in the place of her birth. The group will then travel north to make the journey from Roncesvalles to Santiago. Along the way villages, towns, and cities, including Burgos, will inspire the journey, and sacred places, including the Santo Domingo de Silos Monastery, will stir the spirits of participants. This active walking pilgrimage involves vigorous physical activity including the ability to walk 5-7 miles, climb steep hills, and be “on one’s feet” for several hours on many days.

Sooner, and closer to home, St. Philip’s will offer an Advent Quiet Day with Teresa of Avila, Mentor for the Ages, on Saturday, December 6, 2014, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This spacious and renewing day will include talks, prayer, music and time for reflection and contemplation. This day will appeal to all who yearn for an intentional day of spirituality in the midst of the Advent Season, as well as pilgrims planning to travel to Spain in 2015.

This Advent day of prayer and reflection will be led by the Rev. Dr. Ivan Cormac Marsh, O. Carm., a Carmelite priest of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary since 1978 and now residing in Tucson. Over the years, Father Ivan has been involved in parish ministry, Carmelite retreat ministry, and spiritual direction. Father Ivan lectures, gives retreats to laity and clergy around the United States, and has taught also in Canada in the area of spiritual direction.

The program for the day is as follows:

• Morning Retreat Talk: Teresa’s Life—Guideposts for a Whole and Happy Life. This talk will offer a brief history of Teresa ’s life and Ministry, explore the universal Christian appeal of her writings and practices, and consider the many titles by which Teresa has come to be known and revered.
• Afternoon Retreat Talk: Teresa and Prayer—The Call to Carmel Is a Call to Prayer. This talk will explore the centrality of Teresa’s contemplative prayer practice.

$25.00 retreat fee includes materials and lunch.  Scholarship assistance is available.  To register, send your check made payable to St. Philip’s, with “Advent Retreat” on the memo line, to the attention of the Rev. Greg Foraker. The church address is P.O. Box 65840, Tucson, AZ, 85728-5840.

For information about either the pilgrimage or the retreat, contact the Rev. Greg Foraker.

Christ Has No Body
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

—Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)