Conversations with St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross | KAIROS GLOBAL | AUGUST 2022

Author: Jisha John

Girl: O Lord! It’s so miserable to be all alone. I wish to have a soulmate, to be chummed up with someone. I’m desolate…

Teresa: Don’t worry dear! We are here with you.

Girl: Oh! Teresa of Jesus. How did you come here now?

Teresa: We are sent by our beloved Jesus. Here’s John too, John of the Cross.

Girl: Heavens! It’s like my prayer has been instantly answered. This is incredible! 

Teresa: Our Lord is faithful. He cares for you.

Girl: Dear Jesus! I asked you for a friend and you sent me two! And dear Teresa, I know you both are great friends too.

John: Yeah, we are. It’s wonderful to have friends. Their company will ease our burdens and colour our days.

Teresa: As the scripture says, whose soul is in accord with your soul, and who will sorrow with you if you fail.

Girl: This is nice. You even complement each other when you speak. How did you become friends? 

Teresa: It’s a long story.

Girl: My pleasure! I’m ready to spend the whole day or more if you would stay. Every second with you is precious.

John: Oh dear! We too love to stay with you. 

We both were born in Spain. Teresa was born in 1515 AD and I came in 1542. Both of us grew up in different kinds of families and circumstances.

Teresa: Yes, I was very fond of the saints and their lives during my childhood. I even ran away from home at the age of seven with my brother Rodego to become martyrs for Christ but we were brought back home by our uncle.

I lost my mother when I was eleven. That put me in utter despair and sorrow. I turned to the Holy Mother for solace and she became my spiritual mother.

John: I too lost my father when I was just three-years-old. My childhood was poverty-stricken. I entered the Carmelite order and was ordained in 1567 as a priest.

Teresa: My story is different. I initially didn’t like the idea of becoming a religious sister as I was more attracted to worldly things. But once I happened to read the letters of St. Jerome, which changed my perspectives inside-out. It made a huge impact on me and my preferences. My entry into the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation was in 1535.

Girl: Aww..! That was God’s doing.

Theresa: Yeah, indeed.

Girl: How did both meet to become friends?

John: I met her shortly after my ordination. It was when Teresa was reforming the Carmelite order guided by the Holy Spirit. We met at Medina, where she was working on the foundations of the second reformed Carmelite order.

Theresa: Yes. John told me that he wished to become a Carthusian monk.

John: I wanted a place of silent prayer and contemplation. I shared it with her. I was looking for someone who would understand the meaning of my choice and I could confide in. I found the right person in Teresa. She persuaded me to remain and join her in reforming the Carmelite order. I felt privileged to join this godly mission and we began the journey together.

Teresa: It is wonderful for two souls to understand each other and become true friends, that they will always have a listener and a confidant without prejudice.

Girl: Very true. Thomas Aquinas once said that there’s nothing more prized on this earth than true friendship.

Teresa: Thomas is right.

John: God doesn’t want us to be alone except when he speaks to us and trains us in solitude. 

Teresa: God too enjoys friendship. He created man to share his love with. He also likes to see us love each other. We see evidently in the Gospel that Jesus too enjoyed the company of friends and apostles.

But there’s a time of Gethsemane and Calvary too, where we are alone with God. It takes us closer to God and purifies us. 

Girl: Yeah! Sometimes it’s good to be with the Beloved in solitude. Let me ask you something now. How do you read each other in friendship?

John: Teresa was very witty and talkative, definitely a people’s person. 

Teresa: John was a kind fellow. He was very gentle and reserved too. But he possessed exceptionally good leadership skills.

John: You know something, she used to call me ‘Half-a-Friar’. 

Teresa: Oh no! I was just kidding.

Girl: It’s interesting to watch your rapport and the way you share friendship.

John: Though she cracks such jokes, she’s always loving. She even gifted me a habit once, which was hand sewn by herself. 

Teresa: Yeah. Our friendship is precious. More than that, I would say, he gradually became the father of my soul and my confessor. He also greatly helped with the formation of the sisters and the reformation of the Carmelite male community. 

Girl: I have heard that the reformation was an arduous task and you were even imprisoned and secluded for it.  

Teresa: It was our Gethsemane dear. 

John: We had to face severe injustice, misunderstanding, and persecution. But it had a beautiful purpose to serve. It gave us ample time for retrospection and bought us so close to God and sanctified our souls.

Teresa: John had to undergo rigorous imprisonment for nine months. And that’s how he became ‘John of the Cross’.

John: And when I came out, it was Teresa’s nuns who nursed me. I am always thankful to their selfless service. 

Girl: The story of ‘the order of the Discalced Carmelites’ is the story of your fellowship too I guess. It’s one of the greatest collaborations in human history like that of St Francis and St Clare, St Brigit and St Patrick, etc…

Teresa: Two are better than one for they have a better reward for their toil.

John: For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.

Girl: Let us be together in the Spirit. I feel like I’m on cloud nine. I had a great time with you. Your books too are truly inspiring. I feel so proud to have met two Doctors of the Church. Thank you, Lord! 

Teresa: Thanks to God. Before we go we would like to affirm you that you aren’t alone. We assure you of our company and always remember that we are siblings in Christ. So we always have each other. 

John: See you dear. God bless you.