When did you start the reform of the Carmel?

The first Carmel, the one of St Joseph, was founded in Avila on  August, 24th, 1562, and I was 47 years old.

In there, I spent the five most peaceful years of my life, in the company of the Sisters who shared with me the same ideal of life and sanctity.

How did the idea of reforming the Carmelite Order came to you?

By knowing the break-up of the Church in this 16th century, by the news of so many peoples in the "new world" without the Gospel, I started to think about what could I do for all of them...afterwards, in a conversation with friends, a young one asked: " and why not starting a foundation with just a few nuns, in a solitary life?". I had not thought about it, but the Lord told me to do it.

Which were the main caracteristics that you wished to inspire in the Discalced Carmelites or the Reformed ones?

I wanted the Convent of Saint Joseph, and all the ones that followed it, to be a faithful IMITATION OF THE COLLEGE OF CHRIST, with only 12 sisters and the prioress, favouring the fraternal spirit, the familiar atmosphere, and the mutual help. Here we should all be friends, all will love each other in the love ofThe One who united us here.

In contrast to the majority of the Convents that existed and lived with a fixed income, I wanted to found this convent in POVERTY, so that the sisters who lived in it, would expect everything, both spiritual and material, just from the Lord, the One who never fails those who love Him. Another caracteristic was the atmosphere of SILENCE, alternating with times of sociability among the sisters, thus promoting the time of prayer, the intimacy with the Lord, and reaching better the purpose for which the Lord gathered us here.

Were there many contradictions?

Yes! Almost everybody objected, the people of Avila did not want to give donations to another convent, as at that time they were by the dozens in that city; some priests and even the sisters of the Convent of the Encarnation themselves, who wanted to continue their moderate lives, they thought that the fact that I wanted a more radical life was an insult for them, although some of them came with me for the foundation of the Convent of St. Joseph.

How many convents did you found during your lifetime?

With the help and the grace of the Lord, and despite my weak health, I founded 16 convents of Discalced Carmelites in Spain.

Was there a foundation in which you did not go personally?

Yes. The one of Granada, as I could not go personally, Mother Ana of Jesus went there with a group of sisters and Fr. John of the Cross, the first Discalced Carmelite Priest.

How did the foundations take place?

With countless works and sacrifices, crossing the paths of Spain, together with the sisters, always in carriages pulled by horses. Sometimes the cold or the heat were too severe, other times the roads were dreadful...in short, it all went with courage and confidence, as we had the eyes in The One who was sending us, and who waited for us in our destination

For whom are the prayers of the Carmelites?

Our prayer should embrace all mankind, all those who, throughout the world, need it most, and those who come daily to the Carmelite Convents asking for the prayers of the sisters; nevertheless, we have especialy in mind two great intentions: the conversion of sinners (those who are away from God, who offend Him most and who condemn themselves by their onw acts), and the sanctification of priests. These intentions that the Lord inspired me to ask the carmelites to have present in their prayers are still of the most importance, most urgent and most needed in the 21st century.

It was in those times that you started writing...

I started writing when I was still in St. Joseph's, at the request of the sisters and by the will of my confessors. It was not without some sacrifice that I made it, among the hard works of the foundations, the illness and the lack of time, but I did it obbeying the Will of God and always with the desire of helping those who would read it, using  my experience of life.

Without counting the poetry, the letters and other little works, how many books did you write?

The first one was "The book of Life", my autobiography; then I wrote " the way of Prefection", especialy dedicated to my sisters, who would ask me constantly to write about prayer, then "The Book of Foundations", where I write about the most important things that happened in these foundations; "The interior castle", the one I consider one of the biggest "lights" that the Lord gave me; among others...   

At the end of the foundation in Burgos, maybe the most difficult of them all, Teresa arrives at Alba de Tormes exhausted. On October, 4th, 1582, which will become October, 15th by the Reform of the calendar that occured on that day), she enters definitely in life, to take advantage of whole the work she had had for the expansion of the Kingdom of God, and mainly for the good of the Order of Carmel and of the Church itself.

After passing with bravery by adventures, obstacles, negotiations, defamations, threats to herself and to the reform that she started, she leaves happily, saying:

"Finally, I die like a daughter of the Church!"