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Day 4 · Ávila
The Grace of New Beginnings
Retreat Pilgrimage with St Teresa of Ávila · 10–16 October 2026
The pilgrimage continued in Ávila, the home of Teresa. Behind its great walls she was born, prayed, struggled, and began again more times than she could count.
Two of our pilgrims spoke about the road so far, through Toledo, Segovia and now Ávila. One sentence from their sharing stayed with the whole group:
“The more you go inward, the further you go outward.”
It is Teresa’s teaching in a single line. The journey into the castle of the soul is never a retreat from the world. The deeper we go towards the King at the centre, the wider our hearts open to everyone outside.
In the afternoon we stood within the walls of the Monastery of the Incarnation. Teresa entered here as a young woman in 1535 and lived here for many years, often half-hearted in prayer, until the Lord broke through. Before an image of the wounded Christ she finally surrendered, and from then on His invitation to a deeper friendship would not let her go.
In that place the invitation sounded ever more strongly, and not only for Teresa. As He invited her, He invites us today. The words of the psalm were in our hearts: O that today you would listen to His voice; harden not your hearts (Psalm 95).
Pause and pray
What is the Lord’s invitation to friendship saying to you today? Is there a place where your heart has quietly hardened?
Watch on Instagram: Two pilgrims in Ávila · At the Incarnation
Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass; God never changes.
Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices. — St Teresa of Jesus