ST. THERESA OF AVILA

This Catholic stained glass window is centered on St Theresa of Avila. Theresa was born in Avila, Spain on March 28, 1515. After a struggle with her own spiritual life in the Carmelite order she reformed the order called the Discalced Carmelite order. After much opposition she established new discalced convents all over Spain. As a Doctor of the Church she is known for two great books one called the Relations and the other the Interior Castles, which together form one of the most remarkable spiritual biographies ever written. To find out more about St. Theresa of Avila go to newadvent.org and type in the saint’s name in their internal search engine.

      At the top of the window is a dove surrounded by tongues of fire. The dove represents the Holy Spirit and the tongues of fire represent the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, which St. Francis made fruitful use of. Below the central image are two ovals. The one on the left contains the shield of the Discalced Carmelite order. The one on the right contains the Holy Eucharist. The central oval contains the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On top of the outer frame are seven fire-like winged shapes that represent the seven spirits (angels) of God that surround his throne in the book of Revelation.  The twenty light blue circles in the border around the window represent the twenty mysteries of the rosary, which is a contemplative prayer of the life of Jesus, Mary. The eighteen yellow, orange, red diamond like shapes in between the rosary beads represent the angels assigned to help St. Theresa in her writings and reform work.