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Why Saints Teresa of Avila and Ignatius of Antioch still matter in an age of intolerance
Saints Teresa of Avila and Ignatius of Antioch faced persecution for being different. Their feast days, Oct. 15 and 17, invite us to embrace differences instead of silencing them.
By Julie A. Ferraro | FāVS News Columnist
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News.
While preparing a few social media posts for the month, I came across St. Teresa of Avila, whose feast day is celebrated Oct. 15, and St. Ignatius of Antioch, honored on Oct. 17.
These two individuals have nothing in common, really. Teresa lived in Spain during the 16th century. Ignatius was an early church father, living in the Middle East toward the end of the first century.
Ignatius was a convert to Christianity and became a bishop. Teresa grew up Catholic, entered a Carmelite convent against her father’s wishes, but didn’t find what she was seeking, so she set out to reform the Order, becoming foundress of the Discalced (“shoeless”) Carmelites.
Anyone who’s studied a bit of world history — as I did in high school and, on an independent basis, afterward — knows how the Roman Empire tried to squash those who were seen as different or a threat to the emperor’s power.
When Emperor Trajan visited Antioch, he threatened all the Christians there with death if they didn’t renounce this new faith that was sweeping through the countries under Roman domination.
Ignatius — like many, many others — refused and was martyred for his faith.
Fearing the nonconformers
The Romans feared the Christian because they held different beliefs, they preached that love was more important than power and money, and all people were worthy of respect.
Centuries later, as Teresa used her practical skills to establish reformed monasteries in Spain, her deep relationship to the divine provided her with mystical experiences. She wrote about both the founding of the various communities and what occurred during her times of prayer. However, when she was asked to share those writings, she came under scrutiny by the Inquisition.
(And, no, I’m not going to make a joke based on the Monty Python sketch, “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.” Oh, wait, I just did.)
The fact that Teresa was a woman, not well educated, and that she dared to write about topics reserved to male clerics, placed her under suspicion. She willingly submitted her writings to these church authorities who, after long delays and extensive examination, found nothing wrong with them.
Books like her “Interior Castle” and “The Way of Perfection” are classics of Christian literature, still widely read today, and a key reason she was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
A Doctor of the Church is someone whose writings or teachings about the Catholic faith are in keeping with Church doctrine and theology, and of benefit to the faithful.
There are only 38 saints who have been honored by this title in church history and, of those, only four are women: Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Therese of Lisieux (the Little Flower) and Hildegard of Bingen.
Christian trailblazers were often persecuted in their eras
It is truly sad, though, that both Ignatius of Antioch and Teresa of Avila had to — in their respective eras — stand up for being different against those who preferred they conform to the norms of society.
Sadder still: Those who have lived throughout human history — opening their eyes, their ears, their hearts and their minds to the wonders all around us and proclaiming their discoveries of both the sublime and the mundane — have been subjected to derision, persecution, violence and death.
Even today, in this 21st century, those with ideas “set in stone,” who refuse to open themselves to the new and wonderful, fear the differences they see others and consider them trends to be quashed.
I would dare to say this fear becomes a powerful motivation for assaults and violent crimes against those whose only desire is to awaken the world to progress, tolerance and truth.
The open-minded understand violence is not an option when sharing their message, while the closed-minded seem to rely on vitriolic rhetoric and weapons to make a point that is unsustainable.
Hopefully, someday, more people will take the example of saints like Teresa of Avila and Ignatius of Antioch to heart and rejoice in the differences that make all humans unique, rather than trying to crush them or silence them to maintain an illusion of power.
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