An angel pierces the heart of Santa Teresa d'Avila

Saint Teresa of Avila, who founded the religious order of the Discalced Carmelites, invested a lot of time and energy in prayer and became famous for the mystical experiences she had with God and his angels. The culmination of the angelic encounters of Santa Teresa occurred in 1559 in Spain, while praying. An angel appeared who pierced his heart with a spear of fire that sent the pure and passionate love of God into his soul, he remembered Saint Teresa, sending her into ecstasy.

One of the Seraphim or Cherubim Angels appears
In her autobiography, Vita (published in 1565, six years after the event), Teresa recalled the appearance of a flaming angel, from one of the orders that are closest to God: the seraphim or the cherubim. Teresa wrote:

“I saw an angel appearing in bodily form near my left side ... It was not large, but small and extremely beautiful. His face was on fire so much that it seemed to be one of the highest degrees of angels, what we call seraphim or cherubim. Their names, angels never tell me, but I am well aware that in heaven there are great differences between the different types of angels, although I cannot explain it. "
A burning spear pierces her heart
Then the angel did something shocking: he pierced Teresa's heart with a flaming sword. But that apparently violent act was actually an act of love, Teresa recalled:

“In his hands, I saw a golden spear, with an iron tip at the end that seemed to be on fire. He immersed it in my heart several times, up to my bowels. When he pulled it out, it seemed to attract them as well, leaving everything on fire with love for God. "
Intense pain and sweetness together
At the same time, wrote Teresa, she felt both a strong pain and a sweet ecstasy following what the angel had done:

“The pain was so strong that it made me moan several times, yet the sweetness of the pain was so amazing that I couldn't have wished to get rid of it. My soul could not be satisfied with anything other than God. It was not a physical pain, but a spiritual one, even if my body felt it considerably […] This pain lasted many days and during that period I didn't want to see or speak to anyone , but only to love my pain, which gave me greater happiness than anything created could give me. "
Love between God and a human soul
The pure love that the angel injected into Teresa's heart opened her mind to get a deeper perspective of the Creator's love for human beings that she created.

Teresa wrote:

"So delicate but powerful is this courtship that takes place between God and the soul that if someone thinks that I am lying, I pray that God, in his goodness, will give him some experience."
The effect of his experience
Teresa's experience with the angel had a significant impact on the rest of her life. Every day he set out to dedicate himself completely to the service of Jesus Christ, who believed perfectly exemplified in the love of God in action. He often spoke and wrote about how the suffering suffered by Jesus redeemed a fallen world and how the pain that God allows people to experience can achieve good goals in their lives. Teresa's motto became: "Lord, let me suffer or let me die".

Teresa lived until 1582-23 years after the dramatic encounter with the angel. During that time, he reformed some existing monasteries (with stricter rules of piety) and founded some new monasteries based on stricter sanctity standards. Remembering what it was like to feel pure devotion to God after the angel stuck the spear in his heart, Teresa tried to give God the best and to urge others to do the same.