St Teresa of Ávila was born today in 1515 to the wealthy family of a wool merchant. She ran away at the age of seven, hoping to find martyrdom, and by the age of 20 had joined her local Carmelite convent. She went on to reform the Carmelites, ending such monastic sloppiness as the wearing of shoes, and had a posthumous hit with her spiritual autobiography, The Life of St Teresa of Jesus, describing her ecstatic (and unexpectedly erotic) experiences of God.
‘I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it.’ St Teresa of Ávila
Today in 1741, the greatest preaching team in the history of the church broke up due to theological differences. John Wesley and George Whitefield failed to agree over the question of predestination (the view that God has willed all events in advance), and they went their separate ways. They were eventually reconciled.
‘He told me he and I preached two different gospels, and therefore he not only would not join with, or give me the right hand of fellowship, but was resolved to publicly preach against me and my brother.’ John Wesley, Journal for 28 March 1741
Save the date: Easter Sunday will be on 28 March in the year 9999.
Image: Felton Davis