Ávila, sometimes Avila, may refer to:

Places[link]

• Ávila, Spain, a city in Spain. The original place to receive this name.
• Ávila (province), a province in Spain
  • Ávila (Spanish Congress Electoral District) the electoral district covering the province
• Avila Beach, California, in the United States
• Cerro El Ávila, a mountain near Caracas, Venezuela
• Əvilə, a municipality in Azerbaijan

People[link]

• Ávila (surname)
• Davila (surname) (also rendered de Ávila, d'Ávila, de Avila, or d'Avila), a variation of the surname Ávila

Other[link]

• Avila University, in the U.S. state of Missouri, named in honor of Saint Teresa of Avila
• Avila TV, a Venezuelan television channel
• Plan Ávila, a military operation ordered by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in April 2002
• Samsung S5230, also known as Samsung Avila

See also[link]

• Avilla (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

José Joaquín ("Yiye") Ávila
Born	1925 Camuy, Puerto Rico
Education	Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico
Occupation	Evangelist
Religion	Evangelical Christian
Spouse	Carmen Delia Talavera
Children	Noemí, Doris Myrna, and Carmen Ilia
Website
http://yiyeavila.org/

José Joaquín Ávila (born 1925 in Camuy, Puerto Rico), better known as Yiye Ávila, is an evangelist and Christian writer for Latin America and a former (1953) Mr. North America.^[1]

Early life[link]

Yiye Ávila was born in Camuy, Puerto Rico. His parents (Pablo Ávila and Herminia Portalatin) were respected schoolteachers, and he eventually followed in their footsteps. Surprisingly, though, he enrolled at Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico in San Germán, with plans to study medicine. There he graduated with a Bachelors degree in natural sciences and completed his pre-medical studies. In spite of this success, however, he chose to return to his hometown of Camuy and teach chemistry and biology at the local high school, where he taught for the next 23 years. Eventually, however, a change of careers would come about that would take him to over 100 countries.^[2].

Sporting life[link]

He began playing baseball in the Double A level and training as a weight lifter. In 1952, he competed and won the Mr. Puerto Rico bodybuilding contest and would go on to win the title of Mr. North America in 1953.^[3]

While training for the summer Olympic Games of 1956, Ávila experienced terrible pain in parts of his body and, after various tests, was diagnosed with chronic arthritis by his doctors. This prevented him from participating in the Olympics or in any other future sporting event. The pain was so intense, that Ávila suffered limited mobility and could not even perform everyday chores. As a consequence of his health problems, Ávila turned to Christianity and began praying, seeking divine intervention for his situation. According to him, he received a divine revelation through the reading and study of Christian bible and allegedly received healing from Jesus Christ. From that time on, he dedicated himself to ministry.^[2]

Evangelism[link]

Although Yiye Ávila was always deeply interested in Christianity, he reportedly was convinced to dedicate all his life and work to evangelism after watching a Christian television show hosted by Oral Roberts, an American tele-evangelist in the early 1960s. In 1967, Ávila retired after 21 years as a teacher and began to concentrate on Christian work instead. He became a full-time preacher and, in 1972, he invited several friends, family, and neighbors to form the Escuadron Relampago Cristo Viene ("Christ Is Coming Lightning Squadron"), which would congregate constantly in a small room in his house to discuss the Bible, salvation, Christianity, and the Apocalypse. Eventually, his ministry and followers increased dramatically, and a new three story building near the PR # 2 state road was built to accommodate the attending public. His preaching was followed by various church groups and many Latin American evangelists invited him to preach to their local communities and churches. This demand prompted Yiye to create a radio and, eventually, a television network called Cadena Del Milagro (Miracle Network) so that his preaching could reach those same communities that he visited. The network and his ministry has grown considerably over the years, expanding to magazines, books, audio tapes, videos and televised scheduled programming. The three story building which he and his close followers originally built now serves as the headquarters for Yiye's ministry and his television network.^[2]

Since the 1970s, Yiye has been a laborious evangelist, visiting almost all Latin American countries, many North American cities, and parts of Europe at one time or another. He appears daily on his morning telecast preaching selected verses from the Bible and receiving prayer petitions from viewers. He also appears every Saturday night on the network's flagship show, Campaña Por TV (Campaigning Through TV), where he preaches selected verses of the New Testament, presents Christian music groups, and invites viewers to convert to Christianity. In his shows he encourages viewers to constantly congregate by going to Christian churches and to form Christian groups to discuss the Bible and current events. These shows and many other programs are broadcasted in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, and are transmitted via satellite to Latin America, the continental United States and certain parts of Europe.^[2]

In addition to his television shows and public preaching, Yiye Ávila is a prolific writer, publishing numerous works throughout his ministry years. Furthermore, many of his public preachings have been recorded and published in tapes and compact discs.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Yiye Ávila is married to Carmen Delia Talavera (better known as Yeya) and had three daughters: Noemí, Doris Myrna, and Carmen Ilia. Although his ministry has expanded across three continents and he has become a household name among Christian families in Latin America, he still lives a humble life, reportedly living in the same house he owned and in the same conditions before his ministry began. On April 28, 2009, Noemi Ávila, the second daughter of Yiye Ávila, died in a car accident in Freites, Venezuela.^[2]

Literary works[link]

References[link]

1. ^ 1953 Mr North America – AAU. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Biografia Yiye Ávila. Asociacion Evangelistica Cristo Viene. Camuy, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
3. ^ Jose Avila. Retrieved 8 December 2011.

External links[link]

• La Cadena del Milagro (Miracle Network) official page (Spanish)

See also[link]

• Bob Graham
• List of Puerto Ricans

Saint Teresa of Avila
Teresa of Ávila by Peter Paul Rubens
Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Born	March 28, 1515 Gotarrendura (Ávila), Crown of Castile (today Spain)
Died	October 4, 1582(1582-10-04) (aged 67)[1] Alba de Tormes, Salamanca, Spain
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church Lutheran Church[2][3] Anglican Communion
Beatified	April 24, 1614, Rome by Pope Paul V
Canonized	March 12, 1622, Rome by Pope Gregory XV
Major shrine	Convent of the Annunciation, Alba de Tormes, Spain
Feast	October 15
Attributes	habit of the Discalced Carmelites, Book and Quill, arrow-pierced heart
Patronage	bodily ills; headaches; lacemakers; laceworkers; loss of parents; people in need of grace; people in religious orders; people ridiculed for their piety; Pozega, Croatia; sick people; sickness; Spain

Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, (March 28, 1515 – October 4, 1582) was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered to be, along with John of the Cross, a founder of the Discalced Carmelites.

In 1622, forty years after her death, she was canonized by Pope Gregory XV, and in 1970 named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI. Her books, which include her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, and her seminal work, El Castillo Interior (The Interior Castle), are an integral part of the Spanish Renaissance literature as well as Christian mysticism and Christian meditation practices as she entails in her other important work Camino de Perfección (The Way of Perfection).

Early life[link]

Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada was born in 1515 in Gotarrendura, in the province of Ávila, Spain. Her paternal grandfather, Juan de Toledo, was a marrano (Jewish convert to Christianity) and was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition for allegedly returning to the Jewish faith. Her father, Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda, bought a knighthood and successfully assimilated into Christian society. Teresa's mother, Beatriz, was especially keen to raise her daughter as a pious Christian. Teresa was fascinated by accounts of the lives of the saints, and ran away from home at age seven with her brother Rodrigo to find martyrdom among the Moors. Her uncle stopped them as he was returning to the city, having spotted the two outside the city walls.

In the cloister, she suffered greatly from illness. Early in her sickness, she experienced periods of religious ecstasy through the use of the devotional book "Tercer abecedario espiritual," translated as the Third Spiritual Alphabet (published in 1527 and written by Francisco de Osuna). This work, following the example of similar writings of medieval mystics, consisted of directions for examinations of conscience and for spiritual self-concentration and inner contemplation (known in mystical nomenclature as oratio recollectionis or oratio mentalis). She also employed other mystical ascetic works such as the Tractatus de oratione et meditatione of Saint Peter of Alcantara, and perhaps many of those upon which Saint Ignatius of Loyola based his Spiritual Exercises and possibly the Spiritual Exercises themselves.

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Bernini, Basilica of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome.

She claimed that during her illness she rose from the lowest stage, "recollection", to the "devotions of silence" or even to the "devotions of ecstasy", which was one of perfect union with God. During this final stage, she said she frequently experienced a rich "blessing of tears." As the Catholic distinction between mortal and venial sin became clear to her, she says she came to understand the awful terror of sin and the inherent nature of original sin. She also became conscious of her own natural impotence in confronting sin, and the necessity of absolute subjection to God.

Saint Teresa of Jesus from the Church of Saint Marin Bled (Slovenia).

Around 1556, various friends suggested that her newfound knowledge was diabolical, not divine. She began to inflict various tortures and mortifications of the flesh upon herself. But her confessor, the Jesuit Saint Francis Borgia, reassured her of the divine inspiration of her thoughts. On St. Peter's Day in 1559, Teresa became firmly convinced that Jesus Christ presented himself to her in bodily form, though invisible. These visions lasted almost uninterrupted for more than two years. In another vision, a seraph^[4] drove the fiery point of a golden lance repeatedly through her heart, causing an ineffable spiritual-bodily pain.

This vision was the inspiration for one of Bernini's most famous works, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa at Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

The memory of this episode served as an inspiration throughout the rest of her life, and motivated her life-long imitation of the life and suffering of Jesus, epitomized in the motto usually associated with her: Lord, either let me suffer or let me die.

Activities as reformer[link]

The incentive to give outward practical expression to her inward motive was inspired in Teresa by the Franciscan priest Saint Peter of Alcantara who became acquainted with her as Founder early in 1560, and became her spiritual guide and counselor. She now resolved to found a reformed Carmelite convent, correcting the laxity which she had found in the Cloister of the Incarnation and others. Guimara de Ulloa, a woman of wealth and a friend, supplied the funds. Teresa worked for many years encouraging Spanish Jewish converts to follow Christianity.

The absolute poverty of the new monastery, established in 1562 and named St. Joseph's (San José), at first excited a scandal among the citizens and authorities of Ávila, and the little house with its chapel was in peril of suppression; but powerful patrons, including the bishop himself, as well as the impression of well-secured subsistence and prosperity, turned animosity into applause.

In March 1563, when Teresa moved to the new cloister, she received the papal sanction to her prime principle of absolute poverty and renunciation of property, which she proceeded to formulate into a "Constitution". Her plan was the revival of the earlier, stricter rules, supplemented by new regulations such as the three disciplines of ceremonial flagellation prescribed for the divine service every week, and the discalceation of the nun. For the first five years, Teresa remained in pious seclusion, engaged in writing.

Church window at the Convent of St Teresa.

In 1567, she received a patent from the Carmelite general, Rubeo de Ravenna, to establish new houses of her order, and in this effort and later visitations she made long journeys through nearly all the provinces of Spain. Of these she gives a description in her "Libro de las Fundaciones." Between 1567 and 1571, reform convents were established at Medina del Campo, Malagon, Valladolid, Toledo, Pastrana, Salamanca, and Alba de Tormes.

As part of her original patent, Teresa was given permission to set up two houses for men who wished to adopt the reforms; she convinced John of the Cross and Anthony of Jesus to help with this. They founded the first convent of Discalced Carmelite Brethren in November 1568 at Duruello. Another friend, Gerónimo Grecian, Carmelite visitator of the older observance of Andalusia and apostolic commissioner, and later provincial of the Teresian reforms, gave her powerful support in founding convents at Segovia (1571), Beas de Segura (1574), Seville (1575), and Caravaca de la Cruz (Murcia, 1576), while the deeply mystical John, by his power as teacher and preacher, promoted the inner life of the movement.

In 1576 a series of persecutions began on the part of the older observant Carmelite order against Teresa, her friends, and her reforms. Pursuant to a body of resolutions adopted at the general chapter at Piacenza, the "definitors" of the order forbade all further founding of convents. The general chapter condemned her to voluntary retirement to one of her institutions. She obeyed and chose St. Joseph's at Toledo. Her friends and subordinates were subjected to greater trials.

Teresa of Ávila by François Gérard (1770−1837), a French painter

Finally, after several years her pleadings by letter with King Philip II of Spain secured relief. As a result, in 1579, the processes before the inquisition against her, Grecian, and others were dropped, which allowed the reform to continue. A brief of Pope Gregory XIII allowed a special provincial for the younger branch of the discalced nuns, and a royal rescript created a protective board of four assessors for the reform.

During the last three years of her life, Teresa founded convents at Villanueva de la Jara in northern Andalusia (1580), Palencia (1580), Soria (1581), Burgos, and Granada (1582). In total seventeen convents, all but one founded by her, and as many men's cloisters were due to her reform activity of twenty years.

Her final illness overtook her on one of her journeys from Burgos to Alba de Tormes. She died in 1582, just as Catholic nations were making the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, which required the removal of October 5–14 from the calendar. She died either before midnight of October 4 or early in the morning of October 15, which is celebrated as her feast day. Her last words were: "My Lord, it is time to move on. Well then, may your will be done. O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is time to meet one another."^[5]

In 1622, forty years after her death, she was canonized by Pope Gregory XV. The Cortes exalted her to patroness of Spain in 1617, and the University of Salamanca previously conferred the title Doctor ecclesiae with a diploma. The title is Latin for Doctor of the Church, but is distinct from the papal honor of Doctor of the Church, which is always conferred posthumously and was finally bestowed upon her by Pope Paul VI in 1970 along with Saint Catherine of Siena making them the first women to be awarded the distinction. Teresa is revered as the Doctor of Prayer. The mysticism in her works exerted a formative influence upon many theologians of the following centuries, such as Francis of Sales, Fénelon, and the Port-Royalists.

Statue of Saint Teresa of Ávila.

Mysticism[link]

"It is love alone that gives worth to all things." - St. Teresa of Avila

The kernel of Teresa's mystical thought throughout all her writings is the ascent of the soul in four stages (The Autobiography Chs. 10-22):

The first, or "mental prayer", is that of devout contemplation or concentration, the withdrawal of the soul from without and specially the devout observance of the passion of Christ and penitence (Autobiography 11.20).

The second is the "prayer of quiet", in which at least the human will is lost in that of God by virtue of a charismatic, supernatural state given of God, while the other faculties, such as memory, reason, and imagination, are not yet secure from worldly distraction. While a partial distraction is due to outer performances such as repetition of prayers and writing down spiritual things, yet the prevailing state is one of quietude (Autobiography 14.1).

The "devotion of union" is not only a supernatural but an essentially ecstatic state. Here there is also an absorption of the reason in God, and only the memory and imagination are left to ramble. This state is characterized by a blissful peace, a sweet slumber of at least the higher soul faculties, a conscious rapture in the love of God.

The fourth is the "devotion of ecstasy or rapture," a passive state, in which the consciousness of being in the body disappears (2 Corinthians 12:2-3). Sense activity ceases; memory and imagination are also absorbed in God or intoxicated. Body and spirit are in the throes of a sweet, happy pain, alternating between a fearful fiery glow, a complete impotence and unconsciousness, and a spell of strangulation, intermitted sometimes by such an ecstatic flight that the body is literally lifted into space. This after half an hour is followed by a reactionary relaxation of a few hours in a swoon-like weakness, attended by a negation of all the faculties in the union with God. From this the subject awakens in tears; it is the climax of mystical experience, productive of the trance. (Indeed, she was said to have been observed levitating during Mass on more than one occasion (The Interior Castle St Teresa Of Avila translated by Mirabai Starr.)

Teresa is one of the foremost writers on mental prayer, and her position among writers on mystical theology is unique. In all her writings on this subject she deals with her personal experiences, which a deep insight and analytical gifts enabled her to explain clearly. Her definition was used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Contemplative prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us."^[6]

Throughout her writings, persistent metaphors provide a vivid illustration of the image of mystic prayer as watering a garden.

Writings[link]

This is the one portrait of Teresa that is probably the most true to her appearance. It is a copy of an original painting of her in 1576 at the age of 61.

A series of articles on Christian mysticism
Articles Aspects of meditation • Christian meditation • Contemplative prayer • Hesychasm • Mystical theology • Reflection on the New Age Early period Gregory of Nyssa • Bernard of Clairvaux • Guigo II 13th and 14th centuries Francis of Assisi • Dominic de Guzmán • Bonaventure • Catherine of Siena 15th and 16th centuries Ignatius of Loyola • Francisco de Osuna • John of Avila • Teresa of Avila • John of the Cross 17th and 18th centuries Francis de Sales • Pierre de Bérulle 19th century Therese of Lisieux • Gemma Galgani • Conchita de Armida 20th century Maria Valtorta • Faustina Kowalska • Thomas Merton

Teresa's writings, produced for didactic purposes, stand among the most remarkable in the mystical literature of the Catholic Church:

• The "Autobiography," written before 1567, under the direction of her confessor, Fr Pedro Ibáñez;^[7]
• " El Camino de Perfección", written also before 1567, at the direction of her confessor;^[8]
• "Meditations on Song of Songs", 1567, written nominally for her daughters at the convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
• "El Castillo Interior", written in 1577;^[9]
• "Relaciones", an extension of the autobiography giving her inner and outer experiences in epistolary form.

• Two smaller works are the "Conceptos del Amor" ("Concepts of Love") and "Exclamaciones". In addition, there are "Las Cartas" (Saragossa, 1671), or her correspondence, of which there are 342 extant letters and 87 fragments of others. St Teresa's prose is marked by an unaffected grace, an ornate neatness, and charming power of expression, together placing her in the front rank of Spanish prose writers; and her rare poems ("Todas las poesías", Munster, 1854) are distinguished for tenderness of feeling and rhythm of thought.

Excerpts[link]

<poem>

                                                Let nothing disturb thee,
                                                Nothing affright thee;
                                                All thing are passing;
                                                God never changeth;
                                                Patient endurance
                                                Attaineth to all things;
                                                Who God possesseth
                                                In nothing is wanting
                                                Alone God sufficeth.
                                               -Liturgy of the Hours

^[10] </poem>

In Spanish, it is a song called "Nada te turbe" after the first line.

Saint Teresa, who reported visions of Jesus and Mary, was a strong believer in the power of holy water and wrote that she used it with success to repel evil and temptations.^[11] She wrote:^[12]

I know by frequent experience that there is nothing which puts the devils to flight like holy water.

<poem> Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing make you afraid. All things are passing. God alone never changes. Patience gains all things. If you have God you will want for nothing. God alone suffices. ~The bookmark of Teresa of Avila ^[13] </poem>

Saint Teresa and Infant Jesus of Prague[link]

Though there are no written historical accounts proving that Teresa of Avila ever owned the Infant Jesus of Prague statue,^[14] a pious legend recounts a tale when Avila once allegedly owned the statue and gave it away to a noblewoman travelling to Prague.^[15][16]

However, what is historically known is that Teresa always did carry a portable statue of the Child Jesus wherever she went, as she is so portrayed in the 1984 Teresa de Jesús (film), and shown in the movie protecting this infant statue in her many calamitous travels. In some scenes, the other religious sisters take turn in changing its vestments. The devotion to the child-Jesus spread quickly in Spain most likely due to her mystical visions.^[17]

During one of these travels, another popular legend tells that Saint Teresa de Avila once saw a young boy who asked her name. She replied Yo Soy Teresa de Jesus!, to which he replied Yo Soy Jesus de Teresa!.^[18] The Discalced Carmelites today administer the pilgrim Church of Our Lady Victorious, where the Infant Jesus of Prague is currently enshrined.^[19]

Similarly, in Raymond Arroyo's biography of Mother Angelica, she recounts a similar event seeing an apparition of the child Jesus in Colombia. Allegedly having a brief conversation which the child, she later discovers him to be the Divino Nino of Bogota.^[20] Mother Angelica is also a known devotee of the Infant Jesus of Prague statue.^[21]

Portrayals[link]

• "St. Teresa" was painted in 1819–20 by François Gérard, a French neoclassical painter.
• Saint Teresa was the inspiration for one of Bernini's most famous sculptures, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.
• Simone de Beauvoir singles out Teresa as a woman who lived her life for herself (perhaps the only woman to do so) in her book The Second Sex.
• Saint Teresa features prominently in Joan Osborne's song with the same name.
• She is a principal character of the opera Four Saints in Three Acts by the composer Virgil Thomson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein.
• She is mentioned prominently in Kathryn Harrison's novel Poison. The main character, Francisca De Luarca, is fascinated by her life.
• R. A. Lafferty was strongly inspired by El Castillo Interior when he wrote his novel Fourth Mansions. Quotations from St. Teresa's work are frequently used as chapter headings.
• Pierre Klossowski prominently features Saint Teresa of Ávila in his metaphysical novel Baphomet.
• George Eliot compared Dorothea Brooke to St. Teresa in Middlemarch (1871–1872) and wrote briefly about the life and works of St. Teresa in the "Prelude" to the novel.
• The contemporary poet Jorie Graham features Saint Teresa in the poem Breakdancing in her volume The End of Beauty.
• Paz Vega stars as Teresa in Teresa, el cuerpo de Cristo, a 2007 Spanish biopic directed by Ray Loriga.
• Barbara Mujica's novel Sister Teresa, while not strictly hagiographical, is based upon Teresa's life.
• St. Teresa was the subject of a 1959 play, "La Madre"; she was portrayed by actress Kate Wilkinson.
• Performance artist Linda Montano has cited Teresa of Ávila as one of the most important influences on her work and since her return to Catholicism in the 2000s has done performances of her life.
• Concha Velasco portrays Teresa in Teresa de Jesús (film), a 1984 television miniseries directed by Josefina Molina.
• Timothy Findley's 1999 novel Pilgrim features St. Teresa as a minor character.

See also[link]

• Visions of Jesus and Mary
• Saints and levitation
• Carmelite Rule of St. Albert
• Book of the First Monks
• Constitutions of the Carmelite Order
• Byzantine Discalced Carmelites
• Spanish Renaissance literature
• Asín on mystical analogies in St. Teresa of Avila and Islam
• Mental prayer
• Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites
• Teresa de Jesús, 1984 Spanish language mini-series

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Williams, Rowan (2004). Teresa of Avila. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8264-7341-5. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=mte4aBUVFiAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Teresa+of+Avila&cd=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
• Bielecki, Tessa; tr. by Mirabai Starr (2008). Teresa of Avila: The Book of My Life. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1-59030-573-6. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wVLtJ-JFVcQC&pg=PA102&dq=%22Prayer+of+Quiet%22&cd=4#v=onepage&q=%22Prayer%20of%20Quiet%22&f=false. 
• This article was originally based on the text in the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.

Further reading[link]

• "The Interior Castle - The Mansions," TAN Books, 1997. ISBN 978-0-89555-604-2
• "The Way of Perfection," TAN Books, 1997. ISBN 978-0-89555-602-8
• Teresa of Avila, "The Book of Her Life" (Translated, with Notes, by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD. Introduction by Jodi Bilinkoff). Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, 2008. ISBN 978-0-87220-907-7
• "The Delighted Angel" drama about Teresa of Ávila and Rabija al-Adavija by Dževad Karahasan, Vienna-Salzburg-Klagenfurt, ARBOS 1995.
• "The Interior Castle (Edited by E. Allison Peers)," Doubleday, 1972. ISBN 978-0-385-03643-6
• "The Way of Perfection (Translated and Edited by E. Allison Peers)," Doubleday, 1991. ISBN 978-0-385-06539-9
• "The Life of Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography of Teresa of Avila (Translated by E. Allison Peers)," Doubleday, 1991. ISBN 978-0-385-01109-9
• "Teresa of Avila: An Extraordinary Life", Shirley du Boulay, Bluebridge, 1995 ISBN 978-0-9742405-2-7
• "Teresa: Outstanding Christian Thinkers," Rowan Williams, Continuum, 1991. ISBN 0-8264-5081-4
• "The Eagle and the Dove" Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. by Vita Sackville-West. First published in 1943 by Michael Joseph LTD, 26 Bloomsbury Street, London, W.C.1
• "Castles in the Sand" fiction with cited sources about Teresa of Avila by Carolyn A. Greene, Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9791315-4-7
• "15 Days of Prayer with Saint Teresa of Avila" by Jean Abiven, New City Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-56548-366-8
• Bárbara Mujica, Teresa de Ávila: Lettered Woman (Nashville, Vanderbilt University Press, 2009).
• E. Rhodes, "Teresa de Jesus's Book and the Reform of the Religious Man in Sixteenth Century Spain," in Laurence Lux-Sterritt and Carmen Mangion (eds), Gender, Catholicism and Spirituality: Women and the Roman Catholic Church in Britain and Europe, 1200-1900 (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011),

External links[link]

Find more about Teresa of Ávila on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
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	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• The Life, Miracles and Revelations of St. Teresa of Avila: The Ecstatic Saint of Jesus Christ
• "St. Teresa, Virgin", Butler's Lives of the Saints
• Statue of St Teresa in St Peter's Basilica
• Biography Online: St Teresa of Avila
• Patron Saints: Saint Teresa of Avila
• Carmelite Vocation
• Books written by St Teresa of Avila, including St John of the Cross
• Works by Teresa of Avila at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Teresa of Ávila in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Basilica of Saint Teresa in Alba de Tormes (in Spanish)
• Alba de Tormes: la Basílica Teresiana, piedras vivas- Living Stones (in Spanish, YouTube)
• Alba de Tormes, sepulcro de Santa Teresa - Tomb of Saint Teresa (in Spanish, YouTube)
• Convent of St Teresa in Avila
• Poems of St Teresa
• Santa Teresa: an Appreciation, 1900, by Alexander Whyte, from Project Gutenberg
•  "St. Teresa of Avila". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 

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Bishop T.D. Michael Jakes
Personal details
Birth name	Thomas Dexter Jakes
Born	(1957-06-09) June 9, 1957 (age 55) South Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
Nationality	United States
Spouse	Elder Serita Ann Jakes
Occupation	Minister Evangelist Life Coach Author SpeakerActor

Thomas Dexter "T. D." Jakes, Sr. (born June 9, 1957) is the bishop/chief pastor of The Potter's House, a non-denominational American megachurch, with 30,000 members, located in Dallas, Texas.^[1] T. D. Jakes' church services and evangelistic sermons are broadcast on The Potter's Touch, which airs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Black Entertainment Television,^[2] the Daystar Television Network, The Word Network and The Miracle Channel in Canada. Other aspects of Jakes' ministry include an annual revival called "MegaFest" that draws more than 100,000 people, an annual women's conference called "Woman Thou Art Loosed", and gospel music recordings.

In the fall of 2009, Jakes planned on launching a secular daily talk show, syndicated through the CBS Television Distribution group; however, economic troubles in the industry may put his new program into jeopardy.^[3]

In 2005 Jakes accompanied President George W. Bush on his visit to the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. In his book Decision Points, President Bush describes Jakes as "a kind of man who puts faith into action."

On January 20, 2009, Jakes led the early morning prayer service for President Barack Obama at St. John's Church in Washington, D.C., according to NBC News.

Early life and history[link]

On June 9, 1957, Thomas Dexter Jakes was born in South Charleston, West Virginia to Ernest Jakes, Sr., a janitor and entrepreneur,^[2] and Odith, an educator. Even as a child, he was known in his West Virginian neighborhood as "the bad Bible boy." He was also told he would never be able to preach because of his "bad" lisp.^[4] Shortly after his father's death from kidney failure, Jakes decided to go into ministry.^[2] In 1979, with very little funds of his own and with only ten initial members, he founded Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith as a storefront church in Montgomery, West Virginia. Jakes maintained his day job digging ditches in order to support his ministry until the church was able to support him. During its first 10 years, the church grew to over 1,000 members.^[5] In 1982, Jakes turned to full-time ministry.^[2]

By 1990, his church had moved twice, first from Montgomery to the nearby community of Smithers, and from there to his hometown of South Charleston. In 1993, the church moved yet again within the Charleston area, to Cross Lanes; the building having been formerly a bank.^[6]

In 1995, when he was 38 years old, Jakes started his television ministry.^[4] In 1996, Jakes founded The Potter's House in Dallas, Texas, with about 50 families that had relocated with him from his former congregation in Cross Lanes. Jakes purchased the property, which was previously Eagle's Nest Family Church, from W. V. Grant, after Grant was sentenced to 16 months in prison for tax-related crimes.^[7] In its 12 year existence, it has grown to over 30,000 members.^{[citation needed]} Both Jakes and his Potter's House church are unrelated to the Potter's House Christian Fellowship, a Pentecostal denomination founded in Arizona in 1971.

Family and heritage[link]

When he was 24 in 1981, he married Serita Ann Jamison.^[2] They have five children together (Jermaine, Jamar, Cora, Sarah, and Thomas Jakes, Jr.) Jakes is a strong advocate of abstinence and has made appearances on the subject ranging from Good Morning America to Dr. Phil.

On the PBS program African American Lives, Jakes had his DNA analyzed; his Y chromosome showed that he is descended from the Igbo people of Nigeria.^[8][9] According to his family history, it was also suggested that he is descended from them through his grandmother.^[10][11] He is a second cousin once removed of vocalist Will Wheaton and first cousin twice removed of actor James Wheaton.

Christian ministry[link]

Jakes' sermons are broadcast nationally and internationally over television and satellite television. He has written over 30 books, many of which have been featured on the New York Times best-selling list. Jakes is also a songwriter, a playwright, and performer. He founded the Christian record label Dexterity Sounds ^[12] as well as a theater and movie production company.^[13]

Jakes' church, The Potter's House, is active in ministry and outreach both locally and internationally. The Potter's House sends drugs and alcohol counseling to the inner city, volunteers to the elderly, to prostitutes and victims of domestic violence.^[4] Jakes also has a special interest in the continent of Africa, and The Potter's House launched an initiative that brought water wells, medicine, and ministry to thousands of people in and around Nairobi in Kenya.^[13]

Jakes hosted several popular national conferences, including "Woman, Thou Art Loosed," "G Unit: ManPower," and "God's Leading Ladies." Recently, Jakes combined those into a single event called "Megafest." Jakes regularly draws capacity crowds at his conferences and ministry events.^[13]

Awards and accomplishments[link]

Jakes has received numerous honors, including 13 honorary degrees and doctorates. He has also received Grammy and Dove Award nominations for Gospel album "Live at The Potter's House." PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly named Jakes among America's "Top 10 Religious Leaders." Time magazine featured Jakes on the cover of its September 17, 2001 issue with the provocative question: "Is This Man the Next Billy Graham?".^[5]

Writings[link]

• Intimacy With God
• Loved by God
• Can You Stand To Be Blessed?
• Naked And Not Ashamed?
• Loose That Man And Let Him Go
• Loose That Man And Let Him Go Work Book
• Positioning Yourself To Prosper
• Reposition Yourself: Living a Life Without Limits
• He-Motions: Even Strong Men Struggle
• Help! I'm Raising My Children Alone: A Guide for Single Ladies and Those Who Sometimes Feel They Are
• Ten Commandments of Working in a Hostile Environment
• Promises From God For Single Women
• Woman, Thou Art Loosed: Healing the Wounds of the Past
• Woman, Thou Art Loosed Devotional
• The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord
• Maximize the Moment : God's Action Plan For Your Life
• So You Call Yourself a Man?: Finally Devotional for Ordinary Men With Extraordinary Potential
• God's Leading Lady
• His Lady
• Jesus Walks (with me)
• Lay Aside the Weight
• Daddy Loves His Girls
• The Greatest Investment
• Mama Made the Difference
• TD Jakes Speaks To Men
• Overcoming the Enemy
• Life Overflowing: Six Pillars for Abundant Living
• Not Easily Broken, 2006
• Before You Do: Making Great Decisions That You Won't Regret, Atria Books, 2008. ISBN 978-1-4165-4728-0
• The Memory Quilt: A Christmas Story for Our Times, 2009
• Let it go: Forgive So You Can Be Forgiven , 2012

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

• 2004: Woman Thou Art Loosed — As himself (based on Jakes' novel of the same name)^[14]
• 2009: Not Easily Broken — Allen (based on another Jakes' novel).^[15]
• 2011: Jumping the Broom — Reverend James
• 2010: Munya — Reverend Brian

Further reading[link]

"Biography". Bishop T.D. Jakes. — T.D. Jakes Web site. http://www.tdjakes.com/bishops-bio/. Retrieved 11-24-2011

References[link]

External links[link]

• www.tdjakes.com — official site
• T.D. Jakes at the Internet Movie Database

Eva Avila (born Eva Gougeon-Ávila on February 25, 1987 in Gatineau, Quebec) is a singer and songwriter. She won the fourth season of the CTV reality show Canadian Idol in 2006.

Early life[link]

Avila's father introduced her to music^[1] and she has been singing in public since the age of 2, and at the age of 9 was a winner on Homegrown Cafe, a talent show on CJOH-TV, in Ottawa. Her nickname, given by her family when she was a small child, is still Eva le dragon (English: Eva the dragon). Prior to Idol, she had been working as a postal clerk and a beauty consultant. She had also been a former winner of the Jeune Diva du Québec contest.^[2] Avila also participated in another competition for a Quebec TV téléroman aired on Radio-Canada called Virginie. She usually speaks English and French, as well as a little Spanish because her father is of Peruvian origin.^{[citation needed]}

Music career[link]

[edit] 2006: Canadian Idol

In early 2006, Avila auditioned for the fourth season of Canadian Idol in Ottawa. She advanced into the top 10, and then she made it to the final two of the competition. During the final show, hundreds of Avila's supporters were gathered at Gatineau City Hall while Canadian Idol crews were filming scenes occasionally during the show. Several local politicians such as Gatineau mayor Marc Bureau, Hull—Aylmer federal MP Marcel Proulx, as well as Hull provincial MNA Roch Cholette were in attendance.^[3] During the finale show, Judge Zack Werner said that Avila was the show's most obvious candidate for international stardom, but he thought Craig Sharpe would win the competition. However, on September 16, 2006, Eva Avila was crowned as the fourth Canadian Idol winner, defeating Craig Sharpe by a margin of only 131,000 votes or 3%.^[4] To date, she is one of only five singers from Quebec or Francophone Canada to crack the top ten and the first to win the event: Season one's Audrey de Montigny was the first to reach the top ten, Steffi DiDomenicantonio in season four, Khalila Glanville in season five and Katherine St-Laurent in season six.

[edit] Canadian Idol performances

[edit] 2006–07: Somewhere Else

Hours after her victory, Avila signed with the Sony BMG Canada record label and released her first single "Meant to Fly", which debuted at number one on the Canadian singles chart, a position it held for a huge nine weeks. The single was eventually certified double platinum. On October 5, 2006, the CTV television network reported that Avila has signed a modelling contract with Ford Model.^[5] Avila started the 2006 NHL season on October 4 when she performed the Canadian national anthem at the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators game. She performed the anthem again before another Battle of Ontario game at the Scotiabank Place on October 26 following an autograph session on the same afternoon at Gatineau's Les Galeries de Hull shopping centre.

Avila's debut album, Somewhere Else, was released on November 14, 2006.^[6] and debuted at number 6 on the Canadian albums chart, selling 16,000 copies in its first week. The second single from the album, "I Owe It All To You",^[7] peaked at number nine. On November 19, 2006, Avila performed the national anthem at the 94th Grey Cup game in Winnipeg. Eva and her Canadian Idol predecessor, Melissa O'Neil, were both nominated for the 2007 Juno Award for Best New Artist, but Tomi Swick won the award. The third and final single from Avila's album, "Fallin' for You" was released in April 2007 and peaked at number thirty-five.

[edit] 2008–10: Give Me the Music

On March 26, 2007, eTalk confirmed that Avila would be the new face of Maybelline New York, making her the first Canadian to be a face for the brand. Also in 2007, she participated on the Hip Hop compilation "Les 40 Voleurs" with La Dynastie on the song "La Fausse Raison". Eva also recorded the song: "Canada (You're a Lifetime Journey)", the finale tune to the film "O Canada!" which is shown at the Canadian pavilion in Epcot in Orlando, Florida.

Following the success of her debut album, Avila returned to the recording studio in Toronto to begin work on her second album. On August 9, 2008, she announced on Canada's eTalk that the first single to be taken from her second album would be called "Give Me The Music", composed by Matrax Production and written by Frankie Storm, Tee Marie a.k.a. Tanya Miller of (Tha Kopi Writz) and Shaun Johnson^[8] and would be released on September 2,^[8] with the album of the same name following on October 28.^[9] She also stated that the record label, Sony BMG Canada were hoping to make the record her first American release. If the album was released and well received in America, Avila stated that she hoped to extend the album's supportive tour into the U.S. When released in Canada on October 28, Eva's second album Give Me the Music hit the national albums chart at number 63, a surprisingly low debut considering the lead single had peaked at number 21 on the Canadian Hot 100. "Damned", the second single from the album debuted on the Hot 100 in January 2009 and peaked at number 83. In late March 2009, Avila was the support act for the four Canadian dates of Beyonce Knowles' I Am... Tour. She recently performed at the Virgin Festival 2009 in Montreal. She was the third act. She also performed at the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games on February 28, 2010.

2011[link]

Eva Avila sang the National Anthem and performed at the half-time show at the Montreal Alouettes home opener on June 29, 2011. She sang three songs, including "I Owe It All to You". The Als defeated the B.C. Lions 30-26.

Discography[link]

The following is a complete discography of every album and single released by Canadian pop/R&B artist Eva Avila.

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Other Recordings[link]

• "Canada (You're a Lifetime Journey)" (from Epcot's "O Canada" film at Walt Disney World)

Appeared On[link]

• Canadian Idol: Spotlights (August 2006)

Tours[link]

2007: Somewhere Else Tour
2009: I Am... Tour (Support act)

Controversies[link]

Cholette and Proulx, two politicians who appeared at the Canadian Idol final, published a full page newspaper ad to ask local residents to vote for Avila. This drew criticism from local residents, who claimed it was a waste of taxpayers' money. It was later ruled that the two politicians had to pay the costs.^[12]

Avila's name was mentioned in the Outaouais Parti Québécois 2007 election platform^[13] recognizing local culture, including Avila and Pierre Lapointe. After complaints from her record company, Sony BMG, the party decided to remove her name.

See also[link]

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikinews has related news: Eva Avila crowned winner of Canadian Idol

• Eva Avila official website