Saint Who?
Saints Who Battled the Devil
Saint Teresa of Ávila
Doctor of the Church († 1582) Feast: October 15
“Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you.” Teresa of Jesus was almost fifty when she began the reform that became known as the discalced Carmelites. Because there was so much opposition to Teresa’s planned reform, her first little convent was built in secret. During its construction, a wall collapsed, and her brother-in-law, who was funding the project, blamed the workers. Teresa, however, insisted that they be paid, certain that demons had caused the collapse.
She dedicated the convent to Saint Joseph, whom she venerated as a mighty protector of soul and body. Her community spread, and with it spread devotion to the great foster-father of Jesus, whose intercession, Teresa assured her followers, was unfailing. As one author notes, “none contributed so effectually as…Saint Teresa to make the love of Saint Joseph take possession of…the hearts of the faithful.”
In her autobiography, Teresa recalls being harassed by the devil, who threatened her with hell. “I was very much afraid,” she wrote. “But there was some holy water there, so I flung some in the direction of the apparition, and it never came back…. From long experience I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back again.” Teresa was canonized in 1622 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970.
Good Father, may we defeat our enemy with
Saint Teresa’s simple methods: go to Joseph
and get some holy water.
