Hearth & Altar

Paul opens his letter to the Ephesians by naming something extraordinary: God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Not after we did anything right, not after we'd proven ourselves worthy of the choosing. Before the world even existed, before there was anyone around to earn or deserve anything at all.

Today is the memorial of Teresa of Ávila, a Doctor of the Church known for writing honestly about prayer, including how hard and distracted it often is, even for someone who would later be recognized as one of the great teachers of the spiritual life. She died in the middle of the night between October 4 and October 15, 1582, and the ten days in between simply don't exist on the calendar. That year, Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the calendar itself to correct a drift that had built up over centuries, and October 4 was followed straight by October 15, with those ten days erased from history in every country that adopted the change.

Teresa spent decades struggling with distraction in prayer before she became known for teaching others how to pray well. Pair that with Paul's reading tonight: she was chosen before the foundation of the world too, distraction and all, the same as anyone else at this table.

• That we'd trust we were chosen before we ever did anything to deserve it, we pray to the Lord.
• Through Saint Teresa of Ávila's intercession, for everyone who struggles to pray, we pray to the Lord.
• For the grace to keep praying even when it feels distracted or dry, we pray to the Lord.
• For the family calendar of saints in our home, and the name days it holds, we pray to the Lord.

Pull out or hang a Catholic calendar of saints tonight. Find each family member's name day and mark it. Tell the story of the ten missing days of 1582, when Teresa was buried, and let the kids do the math on how strange it is that ten real days simply don't exist for anyone.

Teresa of Ávila wrote that prayer, for her, was often more struggle than sweetness, and she kept doing it anyway for decades before writing the books that made her famous as a teacher of prayer. Tell your kids that directly: even a saint the Church calls a "Doctor," an official teacher of the whole Church on this exact subject, found it hard most days and said so honestly in her own writing.

Ask your kids if prayer ever feels boring or hard for them. Let them say so honestly, without rushing to reassure them it shouldn't feel that way. Tell them that's normal, and that it didn't stop Teresa either, who kept a regular prayer life for years before it ever felt easy or consoling.

If your family keeps a calendar of saints, use tonight to actually look ahead at the coming months and mark a few more feast days worth watching for, not just tonight's.