Dreams & Visions: St. Avila of Jamestown

[Caracosa]

"I was in this state from time to time, whenever it was our Lord's pleasure to throw me into those deep trances, which I could not prevent even when I was in the company of others..." (Santa Teresa de Ávila)

 

 

 

 

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These are the dreams and visions of Ávila Maria Zavala Navas, daughter of the failed bandit Alejandro Zavala, daughter of the failed student Teresa Navas, youngest sister of the Sureno brothers Aaron, Andres, and Alonso, who also failed to be what they were supposed to be. This is the story of the whore, the lover, the saint, the girl who was many things to many people but nothing to herself. This is the beginning of her story and the story of her many beginnings.
 

 

 
 

We are blessed by God: this is what Ávila's father Alejandro was always saying. He settled with his wife in Los Santos in the 1980s, after surviving cartels and corrupt Mexican police. He said God blessed him with grey hairs, because only God's chosen could survive the hell of the criminal underworld, and now he could use his luck and wisdom to thrive in Rancho.
 

I want to go home: this is what Ávila's mother was always saying. Her mother was always looking for an escape. Teresa was born in Mexico City to an old Conquistador family (she claimed) that had fallen on hard times, she had dropped out of school to feed her family, but Alejandro promised to create new glories worthy of that heritage in Los Santos, so they immigrated together. She was named after the Spanish mystic Saint Teresa of Ávila. Names were powerful to Teresa and Alejandro, they believed names were destiny. Alejandro believed the "A" in "Saint Teresa of Ávila" meant Teresa was born to marry Alejandro, so he told her to name every child with an "A" like his.
 

The first three children were all boys, all born in South Los Santos, all sucked into the Sureno cycle of street life and prison. Their father encouraged it and their mother grew disenchanted. But their fourth and final child was a girl.
 

So Teresa of Mexico named the girl "Ávila" after Teresa of Ávila's birth place. Alejandro thought this meant Teresa was totally devoted to their family's destiny. But this was a code to Teresa of Mexico. To Teresa, Avila's name really meant "Mexico" or "I want to go home."
 

Those were the people who set Ávila's destiny in motion.

[Caracosa]

"And so you can see, hearing Him hurts much more than not being able to hear Him… God calls to us in countless little ways all the time. Through illnesses and suffering and through sorrow He calls to us." (Santa Teresa de Ávila)

 

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Edited August 15, 2019 by Caracosa

[Caracosa]

"It is foolish to think that we will enter heaven without entering into ourselves." (Santa Teresa de Ávila)

 

 

  

Edited August 15, 2019 by Caracosa