The relic of St. Teresa of Avila is set to be at the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) from August 27-31, 2014. Fifteen other Cebu schools are scheduled to welcome the relic.
St. Teresa of Avila is known as the Foundress, First Woman Doctor of the Church, and the Reformer of Carmelite Order.
Because
of the variations of the reputable name "Teresa," there is a need to
clarify some misconceptions:
1. NO,
St. Teresa of Avila is NOT St. Therese of the Child of Jesus.
2. NO,St.
Teresa of Avila is NOT Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
3. NO,
St. Teresa of Avila is NOT St. Teresa of Andes.
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The two stronghold Carmelite women doctors of the Church.
St. Teresa of Avila is the Spanish Carmelite
Doctor of the Spiritual
Life, the
Reformer
Foundress
while St. Therese of the Child Jesus
is the
French
Carmelite Doctor of the Little Way,
the Patroness
of the Missions.
|
St.
Teresa of Avila was born on March 28, 1515 in Avila, Spain to Don Alonso
Sanchez de Cepeda and Doña Beatriz de Ahumada. She was baptized on April 4,
1515 at the St. John Baptist Parish Church. At the age of 16, she entered the
Augustinian convent school of Our Lady of Grace. Eventually, St. Teresa entered
the Monastery of Incarnation in Avila on November 2, 1535 and exactly a year
later, in 1535, received her religious habit at the Incarnation. On November 3,
1537, she made her religious profession of vows.
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| Carmelite Monastery photo grabbed from Google |
What is the pivotal connection of
Carmelite Foundress St. Teresa of Avila to USPF, a non-sectarian school?
A
builder and head of the then Jereza Construction, USPF Founding Father Don
Agustin M. Jereza built the Carmelite Monastery located in Mabolo, Cebu City.
"Nyor Tuting" as he was fondly called by close friends including the
Carmelite nuns, built great infrastructures here in Cebu. He built the
Redemptorist Church, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, University of the Philippines
(UP) Cebu college building, University of San Carlos (USC) Main building, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI near the
Cebu City Hall), and Southern Islands Hospital (now Vicente Sotto Memorial
Medical Center) to name a few.
