Palermo and Rome (Italy) celebrated the feast of St. Teresa in a special way by taking up the invitations issued by the recent International Meeting and the 19th General Assembly of the Teresian Association.
Arantxa Aguado, President of the TA from 1988 to 2000, gave a talk at both gatherings, offering an updated reading of some texts of the Saint.
The face of God today
The Palermo meeting, on the weekend of 14 and 15 October, was themed “Friendship and commitment: with Teresa in search of the face of God in today’s situations”. It was attended by TA members, friends, collaborators and former students.
On Saturday afternoon, to open the session, Arantxa Aguado introduced us to some lesser- known aspects of Saint Teresa, which can be gleaned from the numerous letters addressed to her brothers, nephews, friends, nuns... it is estimated that the Saint wrote around twenty thousand letters!
But whom do we meet in these letters? A woman of deep empathy, attentive to the needs of others, sensitive and always ready to listen to what the other had to say. But above all we discover a woman of deep spirituality and virtue.
There was an interesting exchange of reactions and opinions among those present, and the evening ended with a moment of community celebration, greetings and meeting friends.
Teacher of prayer
On Sunday morning, the 15th, our immersion in the texts of St. Teresa continued, with extracts from her other works. We entered into the core reflection on how Teresa understood prayer.
Arantxa showed us, once again, a deeply human saint, who understood prayer as a “one to one” relationship, such as when we meet with a faithful friend. Prayer is understood as faithful friendship with God. “He will look at you with those beautiful, compassionate eyes of His, and will forget His own sorrows to console yours, just because you turn to Him to be consoled”. (Way of Perfection).
“With the presence of such a good friend and the example of such a brave captain who is the first to shoulder suffering, we can endure everything”. (Book of Life).
This presentation also concluded with reflection in groups and was followed by a celebration of the Eucharist.
To have and to give peace
The title of the gathering in Rome, held on the afternoon of 21 October, was “Walking with Teresa through the Book of Life. Words and gestures for today's world.” It began with the reading aloud of some extracts from “Spiritual Advice from St. Teresa”, which Pedro Poveda had compiled for the teachers of the Academies. They seemed to be written for these very times we are going through.
For example, referring to the message of the Risen Christ, the Saint says: “Peace, peace, said the Lord many times to the apostles. Believe me, if we do not have it and do not seek it in our own house, we will not find it outside. May this war come to an end” (Second Mansions).
To have peace, Teresa proposes three attitudes: love, detachment, humility.
Arantxa Aguado developed each of these attitudes from Teresa's texts and applied them to the present moment.
In Teresa’s Life (autobiography) we find what we need today to be peacemakers, to have peace and to help others to achieve peace:
- Meeting: Friendship with our God who invites us to be his friends.
- Care: the garden we need to care for and how to care for it at each stage.
- Wisdom: “I will give you a living book”. This living book, Jesus of Nazareth Himself, is the compendium of wisdom that will help us in every moment of life.
- Compassion: that unites and transforms.
When a person is able to live out these attitudes, not only are they filled by the desire to do what God wants, but He gives them the strength to actually do what He desires of them.
The whole group, both those in the room and those on Zoom, were eager to read Teresa's Life again and felt immense gratitude to Arantxa Aguado who knew so well how to present her as a model of a woman, “outstandingly human and wholly of God.”
Valentina and Alessia, from Palermo and Pilar Reinoso, from Rome.
TA Translation Team.
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