St. Molly Ivins

I confess, though I do not repent, that my study of, interest in, and presentation of saints is somewhat academic.  Book knowledge holds great power for me.  I’m affected by it.  There is also the fact that I could not have known Joe Strummer or Dorothy Day, much less Teresa, Francis, Sergius, or Bacchus.  So I gather and present information …

St. Teresa of Avila

Perhaps Teresa of Avila was destined to be a saint.  Her grandfather, Juanito de Hernandez, was a converso, a Jew who had converted to Christianity.  Conversos were always held in suspicion by a Spanish Catholic Church concerned with proper doctrine and busily developing notions of race to export to the New World.  It was thought that Jewish blood made it …