profound way the mysteries of the redemption worked by Christ for humanity. A man of God, he united constant prayer to apostolic action. He dedicated himself to preaching and to the more frequent practice of the sacraments, concentrating his commitment on improving the formation of candidates for the priesthood, of religious and of lay people, with a view to a fruitful reform of the Church". According to the Apostolic letter for the proclamation to Doctor of the Church, John of Ávila explained that "Christian spiritual life, as a participation in the life of the Blessed Trinity, begins with faith in the God who is Love, is grounded in God's goodness and mercy as expressed in the merits of Christ, and is wholly guided by the Spirit". More than a venerable professor, "Father Master Avila" was primarily a preacher and closely friend of Ignatius Loyola. John of Ávila authored a "prayerful and sapiential" theology, based on the "primacy of Christ and of grace in relation to the love of God, for which he showed "a profound knowledge of the Bible", without setting forth a systematic synthesis. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments fixed his optional memorial as 10 May. Works English translations John of Avila, Audi, filia = Listen, O daughter, translated and introduced by Joan Frances Gormley; foreword by Francisco Javier Martínez Fernández, (New York: Paulist Press, 2006) Spanish editions San Juan de Avila, Obras completas: Nueva edición crítica, vols 1–2, ed L Sala Balust and Francisco Martín Hernández, (Madrid: BAC, 2000-1) [the new critical edition of John's works] San Juan de Avila, Obras completas, vols 1–6, ed L Sala Balust and Francisco Martín Hernández, (Madrid: BAC, 1970) El Maestro Avila: Actas del Congreso Internacional, (Madrid: Conferencia Episcopal Española, 2000) Fray Luís de Granada, Vida del padre maestro Juan de Avila y las partes que ha de tener un predicador del evangelio, (Madrid: Edibesa, 2000) References Further reading Rady Roldán-Figueroa, The Ascetic Spirituality of Juan de Ávila (1499–1569), (Brill, 2010) External links John of Ávila in the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University 1500 births 1569 deaths Spanish people of Jewish descent 16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians 16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic priests Complutense University of Madrid alumni Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Seville Burials in the Province of Córdoba (Spain) Canonizations by Pope Paul VI Spanish Roman Catholic saints Roman Catholic mystics Doctors of