A charity benefit

The Monastery of the Annunciation of Our Lord in Alba de Tormes was Saint Teresa of Avila’s eighth foundation. This Teresian dovecote or “palomarcito” was established 450 years ago on January 25, 1571 in the Ducal Village of Alba de Tormes located in the province of Salamanca.

It was at this monastery that Saint Teresa spent the last 15 days of her life, and it is where she arrived in obedience and to fulfill a promise made to her friend the Duchess of Alba, María Enríquez. “Oh my God, daughters, how tired I feel! I am so broken down that it seems to me that I have not a healthy bone in my body”…these were the words with which Saint Teresa greeted the nuns at the convent when she arrived on September 20, 1582 and was never to depart from there.

Saint Teresa died in Alba de Tormes on October 4, 1582 at 9 o’clock in the evening. The following day, which according to the Gregorian calendar changes became October 15, this foundress was buried in the convent church. From that day forward until now, this monastery in Alba de Tormes has always been a place of special veneration for the bodily remains of Saint Teresa of Avila.

The community of Discalced Carmelite nuns at this monastery, are not only dedicated to a life of prayer, but they also attend to the pilgrims that arrive from all over the world to this town to venerate the body of Saint Teresa of Avila. Due to the present situation of the COVID 19 pandemic, this Teresian community of nuns finds itself in precarious economic straits and is in need. The International “Exceptional Woman” Conference of the 50 Year Anniversary Doctorate for Saint Teresa of Avila has organized a fund drive to help them.