Daily Martyrology for October 15

At Alba de Tormes, in 1582, St. Teresa of Avila, doctor of the church. She was born in 1515. She had a happy childhood and was a charming young woman. Her mother died when she was thirteen, and Teresa was sent to a convent school. She joined a large, easy-going Carmelite convent. When she took ill, she left the convent to recover and was much influenced by reading Francisco de Osuna’s Third Spiritual Alphabet. After three years she returned to the convent, where she had great difficulty praying, but began developing her ideas about convent life: she wanted small, poor, enclosed communities which would pray for the unity of the church. She fought for her ideas and in 1562 founded the convent of St. Joseph in Avila, the first of many she established. As her spiritual life deepened, she began to write, and in spite of much opposition, she collaborated with St. John of the Cross in reforming the male branch of the Carmelite Order.

About 790, St. Thecla of Kitzingen. She was an associate of St. Boniface (June 5), and accompanied him to Germany on his mission to the Saxons. After living under St. Lioba (September 28) at Bischofheim, she became abbess of Ochsenfurt, and then of Kitzingen.

In 1584, the martyrdom of St. Richard Gwyn. He was married, had six children, and worked as a school teacher. He was arrested a number of times for his adherence to the Catholic faith, and eventually hanged, drawn and quartered at Wrexham. His wife told the court that condemned him that she was ready to die with him.

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Our daily martyrology was written by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB. Copyright © 2008 by the Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, ID 83338.