A group of Salesian Sisters has been following in the footsteps of St Teresa in the beautiful medieval walled city of Avila, 'Town of Stones and Saints'.

They have visited the Convent of St Teresa, on the site of her former home, where a recreation of the room in which she was born has her father's record of her birth painted on the wall: 'On Wednesday, 28th March 1515, Teresa my daughter was born, within half an hour or so of five o'clock in the morning, on the said Wednesday almost at dawn.'

A small garden where she prayed as a child is preserved, and there are many mementos of her in the museum housed in the crypt of the church.

The pilgrimage has also included a visit to the Monastery of St Joseph, where St Teresa established the very first house of her reformed Discalced Carmelite order, beginning with just four novices in 1562, and the Monastery of the Incarnation, where Teresa began her religious life. She lived there for around 30 years, and this is where she received many of her profound religious experiences. Her austere bedroom with its wooden pillow, has been preserved, along with many objects that would be familiar to the saint, and some that would not - for example, the chair used by St John Paul II on his visit to Avila to comemmorate the 400th anniversary of Teresa's death.

In Avila, the sisters have also been praying for the intentions of many members of the Salesian Family.

Thank you, and a safe journey home, Sisters!

Photos: Sr Gill McCambridge FMA