Day of Recollection With St. Teresa of Avila

On March 2, the friars at the Monastery of the Espousal of Mary and Joseph and the sisters at the Boston Monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns worked together to host a Carmelite Day of Recollection for young adult women. 

The retreat day was entitled “St. Teresa of Jesus: Prayer as Healing Intimacy and a Summons to Love Boldly.” The day began with coffee and tea, allowing the guests to meet one another. Young women came from all over Boston, some from Boston College and others from Northeastern, Harvard, and MIT, and even one from Maine. Many women had also graduated college, working in the world as nurses, teachers, and researchers.

A little after 9 AM, all of the girls poured into the chapel and were given the schedule, notes, and spiritual readings by third-order Carmelites who volunteered to help run the event. The walls of the chapel were decorated with colorful patterns, the stained glass featured saintly figures, and the dome above the altar depicted Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Child Jesus surrounded by Carmelite saints like St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Therese of Lisieux. There was also a relic and statue of St. Teresa positioned by the altar rail in preparation for the day.

The guest speaker, Fr. Michael Berry of the Heart of Jesus, OCD, gave his first talk about St. Teresa’s background and her struggles at the Convent of the Incarnation. Fr. Michael explained that Teresa lived vicariously through others, that she “longed to be longed for,” and was “happy to be desired.” 

He said that Teresa felt as though she were living an insincere life and suffered from switching between friendship with God and friendship with the world. This first talk set the stage for Teresa’s need for healing through prayer, which Fr. Michael discussed later.

The first talk was followed by an hour of Adoration and the opportunity to go to confession. After, everyone left the chapel for lunch, more socialization, and time for reflection. I had the privilege of talking to Sr. Bernadette Therese, and asked her if she had any advice for college students. 

She recommended a consistent prayer life first and foremost, even just 15 minutes a day. She said that constancy is essential in forming a friendship with God and that it’s important to familiarize oneself with Scripture, especially the Gospels. 

At about 1 PM, everyone went back into the chapel for Fr. Michael’s second talk about prayer as a source of healing in Teresa’s life. Fr. Michael explained that Teresa had a conversion moment while looking at an image of Jesus being scourged at the pillar. In the presence of that picture, she begged God for the grace to love freely and devoted herself to prayer. 

Fr. Michael noted that prayer was a willingness to move back and forth with God, likened to a song, and that Teresa’s prayer life emphasized the gaze of God or knowledge of His nearness. According to Teresa, we cannot enter Heaven without entering into ourselves. However, this self-knowledge is God-centered, not self-centered, because it is the acknowledgment of who we are in the presence of God. 

Finally, the day of recollection ended at 3 PM with Mass, the love song between God and His people, consummated in the Eucharist. 

This little retreat day was a great opportunity for women to follow St. Teresa’s example, and to reflect upon their own lives, searching for God in the quiet of their hearts. As St. Teresa says, “However softly we speak, He is near enough to hear us. Neither is there any need for wings to go to find Him. All one needs to do is go into solitude and look at Him within oneself.”