October 16
This will be a big-time Carmelite day with visits to Alba de Tormes where St.Teresa of Jesus died then to Avila where she lived for about 30 years. Her feast day was yesterday so the nuns at Georgetown will still be celebrating. This morning it’s 32 degrees Fahrenheit, clear and cold. More rolling hills studded with oaks and groups of white houses with red tile roods. Many of the oaks are pruned in tidy clumps. Javier says it’s to keep the branches from breaking.
We arrived at Alba de Tormes by 10:15. Javier explained a few things about the Carmelites as we shivered in the cold. Then we entered a square where we took pictures of the Church of St. John of the Cross (left) and the Church of the Annunciation (right).
Fr. Frank said Mass for us at the altar beneath the urn which holds the remains of Teresa of Jesus,
a special blessing. Her statue was surrounded by flowers still fresh from her feast day yesterday.
After Mass we toured the museum (by the monastery) containing relics and writings of Teresa de Jesus and Juan de la Cruz. We enjoyed cookies (pastas) made by the nuns and bought out the store.
Relic: Arm of St. Teresa / Carmelite Monastery / Relic: Heart of St. Teresa
The cell where St. Teresa died,
transformed into a baroque chapel.
By 12:30 we were off to Avila. The rolling hills toward Avila were stripped of trees for growing corn and grain. The two lane road was very smooth, a vast difference from St. Teresa’s time. Coming down a steep grade we could see the walls of Avila with the medieval buildings catching the rays of the afternoon sun.
After a ‘fabulous’ lunch at Burger King: two Coca-Cola Lights (we weren’t feeling well), we met our special Avila guide. We saw the place where Teresa was born and statues of her surrounded with flowers all around the walls of the medieval city.
To the Spaniards, she is La Santa, their very special saint. We visited the Church of St. John the Baptist where Teresa was baptized. Her procession statue was still decorated with fresh flowers.
The main altar and nearby paintings gave testimony to St. Teresa’s influence among Carmelites.
As we left Avila, we could sense St. Teresa’s spirit of dealing with the sublime and everyday matters so well. At Alba de Tormes we had seen posters for bull fights. Now we saw signs for Avilan lunches, one with a picture of La Santa at the bottom.
After our tour of Avila, we hopped on the bus for a short ride to the first monastery,
the Monastery of the Incarnation, where she started the reform.
Monastery and parlor of the Holy Trinity where St. Teresa spoke with St. John of the Cross
We were overwhelmed to see her cell, her original writings, and many items that she had used.
We also saw a chair where St. John of the Cross sat to hear confessions and some of his relics.
Original drawing signed by St. John of the Cross; courtyard with circles; statue of St. John of the Cross
In a nearby courtyard we saw a cross surrounded by seven circles on the ground representing the seven parts of the Interior Castle. It was truly a blessing and an honor to be so near to the origin of the Discalced Carmelites.
Corner of convent garden: Teresa tells Rodrigo about her vocation to the hermit life
Around 5:15 we left Avila for a three hour ride to Burgos across more flat dry fields covered with the short brown stubble of various grains. Later on we passed bigger cities, greener fields, and plateaus topped with wind turbines. The sun was setting as we passed clumps of poplars along a river winding its way up a narrow valley. It narrowed further into the lights of Burgos as we finished watching a film on Pope John Paul II (childhood to election as cardinal). Burgos welcomed us with a traffic jam.
Barbara had soup and a coke for dinner since she still wasn’t feeling well. Javier made special arrangements with the kitchen staff. The rest of us had veal or sea bass. Then it was back to our rooms to rest for tomorrow’s adventure.