Thursday. October 15, 2026. Saint Teresa of Avila. Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada was born in Avila in 1515, the third child in a family descended from Jewish merchants who converted to Christianity and became ardent Catholics. She was brought up by her saintly father, a lover of serious books, and a tender and pious mother. As a child, Teresa felt captivated by the thought of eternity and the vision of God granted to the saints in heaven. She and her younger brother attempted to run away from home for the sake of dying as martyrs in a Muslim country, though they soon ran into a relative who sent them back home. At 14, her mother died; she was in profound grief that prompted her to embrace a deeper devotion to the Virgin Mary as her spiritual mother. Her father sent her to be educated in a convent of Augustinian nuns. She found their life dull, but soon came to some understanding of its spiritual advantages. Illness forced her to leave the convent during her second year, but against the will of her father, she joined the Carmelite Order. Teresa became a professed member of the order at 20, but soon developed a serious illness that forced her to return home again. She experienced severe pain and physical paralysis for two years, and was expected to die when she went into a coma for four days. But she insisted on returning to the Carmelite monastery as soon as she was able, even though she remained in a painful and debilitated state. For the next 3 years she made remarkable progress in her spiritual life, developing the practice of recalling herself into the presence of God through quiet contemplation. As her health returned, Teresa lapsed into a more routine prayer life.
At 40, Teresa found herself to the practice of contemplative mental prayer. She experienced remarkable visions that seemed to come from God. Under the direction of her confessors, she wrote about some of these experiences in an autobiography in 1565. This revolution in her spiritual life enabled her to play a significant role in the renewal of the Church that followed the Council of Trent. She proposed a return of the Carmelites to their original rule of life, a simple and austere one– founded on silence and solitude. She founded the Order of Discalced Carmelites, barefoot, symbolizing the simplicity to which they chose to return the order after a period of corruption. The reform met with fierce opposition, but resulted in the founding of 30 monasteries during her life.
Teresa’s health failed her again; she accepted her dramatic final illness as God’s chosen means of calling her into his presence forever. “O my Lord, and my spouse, the desired hour is now come,” she stated. “The hour is at last come, wherein I shall pass out of this exile, and my soul shall enjoy in thy company what it hath so earnestly longed for.”
St. Teresa of Avila was a woman “for God,” a woman of prayer, discipline, and compassion. Her heart belonged to God. Honored by the Church as the “seraphic virgin,” virgo seraphica, and reformer of the Carmelite Order, ranks first among women for wisdom and learning. She is called doctrix mystica, doctor of mystical theology; “Saint Teresa has been given to the Church by God as a teacher of the spiritual life. In 1970 Pope Paul VI named her the first woman Doctor of the Church. (Maridol: My Morning Prayer)
O most loving Heavenly Father! We thank you for the great gift you gave us through your beloved St. Teresa of Avila, virgin and doctor of the Church. Her life was a great example of prayer, sacrifice, and faith in You. We humbly pray for her most holy intercession…Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise—‘so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’”( Ephesians 6:1–3)
“Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.” (St. Augustine of Hippo) Kindness, donations, or charitable acts cannot erase or fix a failure to give someone what they have rightfully earned or deserve. As detailed in discussions on Catholic 365, true love requires fulfilling the obligations of justice before or alongside acts of generosity.
(Mention your intentions
St. Teresa, we know that you are a powerful intercessor because of your close relationship to the Holy Mother and Jesus through prayer. Open wide the doors to the interior castle of our hearts and souls so that we may know how to pray! Pray for us, that we may have the gift of prayer. St. Teresa of Avila, you are an example of prayerful holiness that we will try to follow. You are in heaven praising God. With your seat of honor, please beg God to bring me to eternal rest with you.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be… Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us! Amen
WORD Today. Luke 11:47-54. The Lord said: “Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ so that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you stopped those trying to enter.” When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
Reflection. The words of the Popes. This takes away the ability to understand God’s revelation, to understand the heart of God, to understand God’s salvation—the key to knowledge—we can say that it represents a serious oversight. The gratuitousness of salvation is forgotten; the closeness of God is forgotten, and the mercy of God is forgotten. And those who forget the gratuitousness of salvation, the closeness of God, and the mercy of God have taken away the key to knowledge. This happens even today. The Pharisees, the doctors of the law, are not just figures of those times; even today, there are many. This is why it is necessary to pray for us shepherds. To pray, so that we do not lose the key to knowledge and do not close the door to ourselves and to the people who want to enter. (Pope Francis, Santa Marta, 19 October 2017)
Dearest Lord, thank You for the gift of this new day and for Your Word that guides us toward truth and righteousness.
Help me to examine my heart and recognize the times when my actions do not reflect Your love.
Give me the humility to accept correction, the courage to stand for what is right, and the wisdom to seek Your truth. May my words and actions lead others to You, and become an instrument of Your grace, mercy, and compassion.
Lord, cleanse my heart of hypocrisy and teach me to live my faith not only through words, but through genuine love and service to others. May my life be a true reflection of Your goodness, bringing others closer to You, Jesus, I pray. Amen.
“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.” (Shakespeare)
Business Enterprises are not Legacy: the wake you leave, let the Montinola Cumagun Care Foundation’s Good Work speak, not our family name.
Our Lady of the Impossible, grace those late in life but had more in life who tried to be their brothers’ keepers for those who have less in life – “Ester and I pray for your blessings to grace our children, and their children’s children, to wholeheartedly support The MCC FOUNDATION – The MONTINOLA-CUMAGUN CARE FOUNDATION OBJECTIVES: (1) Special Children SPED, “A child’s mind is the most precious thing to waste.” (The motto of the American Negro College), and the Handicapped Senior Citizens – Physical Therapy. (2) Financial Support for Diocesan priests and Grade School Teachers for the rural areas. (3) Computer Start-up Education Tools for selected public schools and (4) Selected Start-up Management and Financial Support for Small Businesses. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48. “The sin of the rich man was not that he did wrong things, but that he did nothing.” (William Barclay, in A.G. Cumagun Autobiography Song of Myself Memoirs, Looking Back at Serendipity, 2002) Our Lady of the Impossible, “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection was left unaided…” Bless Ester and my founding the Montinola Cumagun Care Foundation. Let Its Wake Speak.
Ester and My State of Health
(Vital Stats of Ester and Tony C are recorded every day by 24 hr. PDNs.)
Ester’s morning BP was 110/70. HR 85. O2sat 97%. Temp 36.2
Last Night’s BP 110/70. HR 69. O2sat 97%. Temp.36.2
Tony’s morning BP was 110/70. HR 62. O2sat 99%. Temp 36.6
Last Night’s BP 110/70. HR 54. O2sat 97%. Temp. 36.6
Beata John Paul 1, watch over Cristina C, Justice Jun’s state of health, Ester’s recovery, and our autistic son John Paul’s emotional stability at 57.
Mama Mary walks us through the entire Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious angles of the life of our Savior when we pray with her in the Rosary.
October is the month of Our Lady of the Rosary. For many sinners, she and her Rosary have been the lifeline that pulled them back to Jesus
Rosary means “garland of roses.” The family that prays together stays together. Daily Rosary trains the whole family in humility and obedience, becoming a cohesive garland of lives linked by strong faith, hope, and love for God and each other. Let us pray the Rosary with Mama Mary.
FOR THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED AND SOULS IN PURGATORY
In Memory of all those who left us. We remember you in the morning and at night. You are always with us. We pray for the souls in Purgatory.
Blessed Mother Mary, I bring to you for your intercession the souls of Amb. Manuel R. and Dolores G. Cumagun, Juana Cumagun, Annette Cumagun, Lina Beltran, Judge and Mrs. Dolores Cumagun, Gov. Primo & Magdalena H. Gaffud, Dr. Trino, Sr. & Angeles Montinola, Betty, Luie, Trino, Jr. Montinola, Bernardino, and Isabel Jalandoni. Dr. Terry Lirio-Montinola, Dr. & Mrs. Tomacruz, Akira Tsusaka, Boy Eugenio, Jesus Ibañez, Sen. Nene Pimentel, Santiago Ranada 111, Boysie Villavicensio, Patria Manuel, Dr. Mariano Laurel, Rene Datu, (Ateneo ’54 – Jimmy Ongpin, Atty. Ato Gonzales, Buddy Joaquin, Fr. Unson, Msgr. Tantoco, Atty. Art Alafriz, Robert Arevalo Ylagan, Maximo Abesamis, Jr., Jesse Paredes), Atty. C. Platon, Araceli Rivera, Rey Castañeda, Col. Tanseco, Dr. E Fores, Dr. J. Caedo, Christine Syjuco, Leni Panganiban, Raul Boncan, Atty. Spanky and Dolly Perez, Amb. Albert del Rosario, Nellie Valdez, Toti Herbosa, Tec Syjuco, AL, Umberto (Beck) Gonzales, and Rufo Colayco. Pray 7 Our Father and The Credo