She is bathed in the glory of her Lord, and her face shines with the radiance of heaven, with the moral beauty which the greatest of Spanish painters represents on his canvas.  And she is beloved by everybody, is universally venerated for her virtues as well as for her spiritual elevation.  The greatest ecclesiastical dignitaries come to see her, and encourage her, and hold converse with her, for her intellectual gifts were as remarkable as her piety.  Her conversation, it appears, was charming.  Her influence over the highest people was immense.  She pleased, she softened, and she elevated all who knew her.  She reigned in her convent as Madame de Stael reigned in her salon.  She was supposed to have reached perfection; and yet she never claimed perfection, but sadly felt her imperfections, and confessed them.  She was very fond of the society of learned men, from first to last, but formed no friendships except with those whom she believed to be faithful servants of God.

At this period Theresa meditated the foundation of a new convent of the Carmelite order, to be called St. Joseph, after the name of her patron saint.  But here she found great difficulty, as her plans were not generally approved by her superiors or the learned men whom she consulted.  They were deemed impracticable, for she insisted that the convent should not be endowed, nor be allowed to possess property.  In all the monasteries of the Middle Ages, the monks, if individually poor, might be collectively rich; and all the famous monasteries came gradually to be as well endowed as Oxford and Cambridge universities were.  This proved, in the end, an evil, since the monks became lazy and luxurious and proud.  They could afford to be idle; and with idleness and luxury came corruption.  The austere lives of the founders of these monasteries gave them a reputation for sanctity and learning, and this brought them wealth.  Rich people who had no near relatives were almost certain to leave them something in their wills.  And the richer the monasteries became, the greedier their rulers were.

Theresa determined to set a new example.  She did not institute any stricter rules; she was emancipated from austerities; but she resolved to make her nuns dependent on the Lord rather than on rich people.  Nor was she ambitious of founding a large convent.  She thought that thirteen women together were enough.  Gradually she brought the provincial of the order over to her views, and also the celebrated friar, Peter of Alcantara, the most eminent ecclesiastic in Spain.  But the townspeople of Avila were full of opposition.  They said it was better for Theresa to remain where she was; that there was no necessity for another convent, and that it was a very foolish thing.  So great was the outcry, that the provincial finally withdrew his consent; he also deemed the revenue to be too uncertain.  Then the advice of a celebrated Dominican was sought, who took eight days to consider the matter,