# The Life of St Teresa of Avila by Herself

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/teresa-of-avila/the-life-of-st-teresa-of-avila-by-herself/9780141916545

JSON version (same data): https://www.bookquiver.com/teresa-of-avila/the-life-of-st-teresa-of-avila-by-herself/9780141916545.json

![The Life of St Teresa of Avila by Herself](https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin/teresa-of-jesus/the-life-of-st-teresa-of-avila-by-herself_978-01-4191-654-5.jpg?v=2026-04-23%2021%3A45%3A37)

- Book: [The Life of St Teresa of Avila by Herself](https://www.bookquiver.com/teresa-of-avila/the-life-of-st-teresa-of-avila-by-herself) ([The Life of St Teresa of Avila by Herself.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/teresa-of-avila/the-life-of-st-teresa-of-avila-by-herself.md))
- Authors: [Teresa of Ávila](https://www.bookquiver.com/teresa-of-avila)
- Publisher: Penguin
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-01-4191-654-5
- Published: 2004-07-29
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: E-book

## Description

Born in the Castilian town of Ávila in 1515, Teresa entered the Carmelite convent of the Incarnation when she was twenty-one. Tormented by illness, doubts and self-recrimination, she gradually came to recognize the power of prayer and contemplation - her spiritual enlightenment was intensified by many visions and mystical experiences, including the piercing of her heart by a spear of divine love. She went on to found seventeen Carmelite monasteries throughout Spain. Teresa always denied her own saintliness, however, saying in a letter: 'There is no suggestion of that nonsense about my supposed sanctity.' This frank account is one of the great stories of a religious life and a literary masterpiece - after Don Quixote, it is Spain's most widely read prose classic.