Ávila prepares to celebrate the upcoming October 15th feast of Saint Teresa of Jesus with an extensive program of liturgical and cultural events that will take place mainly at the Cathedral of the Savior and the Basilica of the Saint. Among the planned celebrations, the presentation of the Order of Isabella the Catholic medal to the image of Saint Teresa stands out.
The ceremony will take place this Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. at the Basilica, as part of the traditional novena being celebrated these days in honor of the city’s patron saint. The event will be presided over by the Bishop of Ávila, Mons. Jesús Rico García, and will be attended by the Provincial of the Discalced Carmelites in Spain, Father Francisco Sánchez Oreja.
The events will continue over the coming days. On Saturday, October 10, the Basilica will host a recital dedicated to Saint Teresa of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross at 8:45 p.m., while on Monday the 12th, the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, the Rociera Mass will once again be celebrated, a tradition revived in 2024 after several years of absence. The celebration will begin at 1:00 p.m. and will feature the participation of the choir of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Rocío of Ávila.
The image of the Saint will be transferred to the Cathedral
On the eve of the feast, Wednesday, October 14, the solemn recitation of Vespers will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Basilica of Saint Teresa. The attendance of the Bishop of Ávila and the Cathedral Chapter is expected, accompanied musically by the Ciudad de Astorga Excelsior Choir.
Once the celebration concludes, the image of Saint Teresa, a work by Gregorio Fernández, will be transferred from the Basilica to the Cathedral of the Savior, where the main Mass of the festivities will take place the following day.
The Eucharist on October 15 will begin at 11:00 a.m. and will be presided over by Mons. José Luis Serrano Pentinat, Bishop of the Seo of Urgell and co-prince of Andorra. Among others, the Bishop of Ávila, Mons. Jesús Rico García, will concelebrate.
At the end of the Mass, the traditional procession through the city center will depart with the images of Saint Teresa and Our Lady of Charity. Members of the Quartermaster Corps, of which the saint from Ávila is patron, will also participate.
The presence of Our Lady of Charity refers to an episode narrated by Teresa herself in the Book of Her Life. After losing her mother as a child, she went before an image of the Virgin to ask her to be her Mother from then on.
The farewell of the images will close the day
The procession will conclude at the Basilica of Saint Teresa, where both images will remain during the afternoon. At 7:00 p.m., the final day of the novena will be celebrated, accompanied by the Gregorian Choir of the Saint.
Afterwards, the traditional farewell of the images will take place in the Plaza de la Santa: the image of Saint Teresa will remain in the Basilica, while Our Lady of Charity will return to the Cathedral.
With these events, Ávila will once again concentrate a large part of its October religious celebrations around the figure of Saint Teresa of Jesus, patron saint of the city and one of the great figures of Spanish spirituality.