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Today, Oct. 15,  is the Feast of St. Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus. I love this woman. Although she is a doctor of the Church and  one of the three great 16th century Spanish mystics (along with St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. John of the Cross), she is funny. St. Teresa is down-to-earth with a wonderful sense of humour which is always a sign of holiness for me. Her humourous quotes tell me that she was real, humble enough to laugh at herself and that she lived in the joy of the Lord. Thank heaven she did not take herself too seriously. Famous  HUMOUROUS Quotes Even the first line of her autobiography is amusing.  “Having virtuous and God-fearing parents would have been enough for me to be good if I were not so wicked.” After a donkey threw her into a cold river “If this is how You treat Your frie nds, then it is no wonder You have so few of them.” You’ve gotta love that level of practicality and annoyance in a mystic. On false piety

I've been studying Spiritual Canticle by St. John of the Cross as part of my OCDS Secular Carmelite formation program .    Every Friday afternoon, I spend an hour in the Adoration Chapel at church. Today, I had the idea to practice lectio divina with the stanzas. I was surprised by some of the reflections I had. For some reason, I was pulled to the topic of mental illness, specifically anxiety disorder , panic attacks and borderline personality disorde r.  The first twelve stanzas struck me as "angsty" and full of longing and distress. Anxiety permeates the entire section. The "bride" has seen God, who is "the bridegroom," only for an instant, and then He was gone. If she had not seen Him or known He was there, she could not feel the pain of loss, and because he caused the sense of loss, only He could heal her. The phrases of the Canticle are intense and dramatic,such as, " If you shall see Him Whom I love the most, Tell