St. Teresa of Avila Novena - Day 9

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (This novena was written by St. Alphonsus Liguori) Lastly, O dearest Lord Jesus Christ! we thank Thee for the gift of the precious death which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa, making her sweetly to die of love; we pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most affectionate spouse, to grant us a good death; and if we do not die of love, yet, that we may at least die burning of love for Thee, that so dying, we may be able to go and love Thee for evermore with a more perfect love in heaven. Amen. Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be. V. St. Teresa, pray for us: R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ. Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. (mention request here…) Amen. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. St. Alphonsus Liguori became devoted to St. Teresa and penned this novena in his diary. Both St. Alphonsus and St. Teresa heavily emphasized the need for Mental Prayer, and they themselves practiced this form of prayer. She witnessed conflict between her parents about how strict to be with the practice of their Catholic Faith, and as a young woman she struggled between the choice of being a fashionable young lady in society versus entering a convent and becoming a nun. Teresa and her parents ultimately decided she would go to the convent, but even there she discovered such laxity of religious observance–many of the nuns indulged all manner of vanity and acted like they were not nuns at all–and since Teresa was herself so personable and attractive to others, she faced even more temptations to vanity and laziness. By God’s grace, through a severe illness and subsequent lengthy recovery, she experienced a deep conversion of heart, especially through the practice of Mental Prayer. (Note from Devin Rose: Do you know about Mental Prayer? It is the second level of prayer after Vocal Prayer, and all the saints became saints through it. Learn more by looking up Lionheart Catholic.) She founded a new convent, one that would actually follow the traditional Carmelite rule and observances. She faced tremendous opposition in doing so from the nuns at her original convent, from the town they lived in, and from others within the Church. But she did not give up, establishing a reformed convent that became a new Order recognized by the Church: the Discalced Carmelites. This coincided with the broader movement in the Church to internally reform itself in response to the Protestant Reformation. St. John of the Cross became her spiritual younger brother and himself was key to the Discalced Carmelites reform for the male part of the Order.