St. Teresa of Avila Prayer: Let Nothing Disturb You

St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582), the Carmelite reformer and mystic, was the first woman named a Doctor of the Church, and she is one of the great teachers of prayer. Her short prayer “Let nothing disturb you,” found written in her breviary after her death, has comforted anxious hearts for more than four centuries. Below is that prayer in English and in her own Spanish, a prayer to St. Teresa by St. Alphonsus Liguori, prayers to her for a life of prayer and for the sick, what she taught about prayer, and her life and feast day.

“Let nothing disturb you”: St. Teresa’s Bookmark

Found in her breviary after her death, it is known as St. Teresa’s Bookmark. The English translation printed in Father Lasance’s With God (1911):

Let nothing disturb thee,
Let nothing affright thee.
All things are passing;
God only is changeless.
Patience gains all things.
Who hath God wanteth nothing —
Alone God sufficeth.

Her original Spanish, Nada te turbe:

Nada te turbe;
nada te espante;
todo se pasa;
Dios no se muda,
la paciencia
todo lo alcanza.
Quien a Dios tiene,
nada le falta.
Solo Dios basta.

The last line, Solo Dios basta, “God alone is enough,” sums up her whole life. Pray it slowly in moments of anxiety, repeating the line that speaks to you.

A prayer to St. Teresa by St. Alphonsus

St. Alphonsus Liguori, who chose St. Teresa as his special patron, composed this prayer to her. From The Raccolta (1910):

Seraphic virgin, St. Teresa, beloved spouse of the Crucified, thou who didst burn with such great love of God while on earth, and now burnest with a still purer and brighter flame in Heaven; thou who didst so greatly desire to see Him loved by all men, obtain for me too, I pray thee, a spark of that holy fire, whereby I may oppose the world, creatures, and myself; and grant that all my thoughts, desires and affections may be ever employed in pursuing, whether in the midst of joys or of sufferings, the will of the Supreme Good, who deserves our unbounded love and obedience. Oh, obtain for me this grace, thou who art so powerful with God, that, like thee, I may be all on fire with divine love. Amen.

A prayer for a life of prayer

Written for this page:

St. Teresa of Jesus, you found God in the castle of your soul
and taught us to pray as friends speak with a friend.
When prayer feels dry, help me to persevere;
when I am distracted, bring me back gently to the Lord;
when I am afraid, remind me that God alone is enough.
Pray for me, that I may grow in friendship with Jesus every day. Amen.

A prayer to St. Teresa for the sick and for headaches

Teresa suffered from serious illness and constant headaches for much of her life, and she is invoked by the sick and by those who suffer from headaches and migraines.

St. Teresa, you knew pain and weakness in your body,
yet you never stopped trusting God.
Pray for me (for name) in this illness and this pain.
Ask the Lord for relief and healing, if it is his will,
and for patience and peace in the meantime. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. See the Catholic prayer for healing and the patron saints of healing.

What St. Teresa taught about prayer

Teresa struggled with prayer for almost twenty years before her conversion, and she wrote about prayer with honesty and humor. In her Life she gives her famous definition of mental prayer, in David Lewis’s translation: “mental prayer is nothing else, in my opinion, but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him Who, we know, loves us” (Life, chapter 8). The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes the same passage in its teaching on contemplative prayer (CCC 2709).

Some of her key lessons:

Prayer is friendship. Speak to Jesus simply, as to a friend who is present.
Begin with the humanity of Christ. Picture Jesus in a scene of the Gospel, especially his Passion, and keep him company.
Persevere. Dryness and distraction are not failure. Whoever keeps praying will reach the goal.
Humility is the foundation. In The Interior Castle she describes the soul as a castle with many rooms; we enter by prayer and self-knowledge, and God dwells at the center.

Her Life is above all a hymn to God’s mercy, in the spirit of the Psalm:

The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever. I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation.

“Christ has no body but yours”

The well-known poem beginning “Christ has no body now on earth but yours” is often attributed to St. Teresa of Avila, but it does not appear in her writings, and its origin is uncertain. Her authentic prayer is the Bookmark above.

The life of St. Teresa of Avila

Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada was born in Ávila, Spain, on March 28, 1515. As a child she ran away with her brother to seek martyrdom among the Moors, but an uncle brought them home. In 1535 she entered the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation in Ávila. For many years she lived a divided life, often ill, sometimes giving up prayer, until in 1554 she was deeply moved by an image of the wounded Christ and gave herself wholly to God.

She received extraordinary graces in prayer, including the piercing of her heart by an angel’s fiery dart, the scene Bernini sculpted in Rome. In 1562 she founded the small monastery of St. Joseph in Ávila, the first convent of the Discalced Carmelites, returning to a life of poverty, enclosure and prayer. Despite opposition and poor health she founded seventeen convents across Spain and, with St. John of the Cross, began the reform of the Carmelite friars.

Her books, including her Life, The Way of Perfection, The Interior Castle and The Foundations, are classics of Spanish literature and of Christian spirituality. She died at Alba de Tormes on the night of October 4, 1582, the very night the Gregorian calendar was introduced in Spain, so that the next day became October 15. Her last words included “Lord, I am a daughter of the Church.” She was canonized in 1622 and in 1970 Pope St. Paul VI declared her the first woman Doctor of the Church.

Feast day and patronage

Feast day: October 15. A novena to St. Teresa can run from October 6 to 14.
Patron of: Spain, the sick, people suffering from headaches, those who pray, and those who are ridiculed for their piety.
Symbols: the Carmelite habit, a book and quill, a heart pierced by an arrow, and a dove above her head.

Frequently asked questions

What is St. Teresa of Avila’s most famous prayer?

Her Bookmark, “Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you; all things are passing; God never changes,” ending “God alone is enough.”

What is St. Teresa of Avila the patron saint of?

Spain, the sick and people with headaches, and all who seek to grow in prayer.

Did St. Teresa of Avila write “Christ has no body but yours”?

No. The poem is widely attributed to her, but it is not found in her writings.

What is the difference between St. Teresa of Avila and St. Thérèse of Lisieux?

Teresa of Avila (1515–1582) was a Spanish Carmelite reformer and Doctor of the Church. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897), the “Little Flower,” was a French Carmelite inspired by her, and also a Doctor of the Church. See the St. Thérèse prayer.

More prayers

Texts and sources

St. Teresa’s Bookmark: F. X. Lasance, With God (1911), Day Prayers, public domain (Wikisource). Spanish text: Spanish Wikisource, Nada te turbe.
Prayer of St. Alphonsus to St. Teresa: The Raccolta, or Collection of Indulgenced Prayers and Good Works (London: Burns and Oates, 1910), no. 383, public domain (archive.org).
Definition of prayer: The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, translated by David Lewis, third edition (London: Thomas Baker, 1904), chapter 8, public domain (archive.org); Catechism of the Catholic Church 2709.
Scripture: Psalm 88:2 (89:2 in modern Bibles), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
The other prayers were written for this page.