Editing Teresa of Ávila (section)

====Ascetic and mystical practice====
After completing her education, she initially resisted the idea of a religious vocation, but after a stay with her uncle and other relatives, she relented. In 1534, aged 20,{{sfn|Pirlo|1997|p=241}} much to the disappointment of her pious and austere father, she decided to enter the local easy-going Carmelite ''Convent of the Incarnation'', significantly built on top of land that had been used previously as a burial ground for Jews. She took up religious reading on contemplative prayer, especially [[Francisco de Osuna|Osuna]]'s ''Abecedario espiritual'' ("Third Spiritual Alphabet," 1527), a guide on [[examination of conscience]] and "spiritual self-concentration and inner contemplation, known in mystical nomenclature as {{lang|la|oratio recollectionis}}".{{sfnp|Herzog|Schaff|Hauck|1908|p=412}} She also dipped into other mystical [[ascetic]]al works such as the {{lang|la|Tractatus de oratione et meditatione}} of [[Peter of Alcantara]].{{sfnp|Herzog|Schaff|Hauck|1908|p=412}}

Her zeal for mortification caused her to become ill again and she spent almost a year in bed, causing huge worry to her community and family. She nearly died but she recovered, attributing her recovery to the miraculous intercession of Saint Joseph. She began to experience bouts of [[religious ecstasy]].{{sfn|Clissold|1982|p=}} She reported that, during her illness, she had progressed from the lowest stage of "recollection", to the "devotions of silence" and even to the "devotions of ecstasy", in which was one of perceived in "perfect union with God" (see {{slink||Mysticism}}). She said she frequently experienced the rich "blessing of tears" during this final stage. As the Catholic distinction between [[mortal sin|mortal]] and [[venial sin]] became clear to her, she came to understand the awful horror of sin and the inherent nature of [[original sin]]. 

Around the same time, she received a copy of the full Spanish translation of [[Augustine of Hippo]]'s autobiographical work ''[[Confessions (Augustine)|Confessions]]'', which helped her resolve and to tend to her own bouts of religious [[Scrupulosity|scruples]]. The text helped her realize that holiness was indeed possible and she found solace in the idea that such a great saint was once an inveterate sinner. In her autobiography, she wrote that she "was very fond of St. Augustine{{nbsp}}[...] for he was a sinner too".{{sfn|Teresa of Avila|Zimmerman|1997|p=}}