Dr. William Marra considers St. Teresa of Avila one of the most sympathetic figures of Church History. Like her fellow Spanish mystics, and the Jesuits as well, she was deeply aware that nature could be raised, here and now, to a closer union with God. As a great, practical religious reformer, she also recognized the difficult, daily obstacles to the construction of the Interior Castle, and knew how to deal with the foibles of all human beings, noble and ordinary. Taken from: Protestant Rebellion and Catholic Reform (1517-1648) - 1997 VonHildebrand Institute