Teresa de Jesús was originally broadcast from 12 March to 30 April 1984, in the following 8 episodes:
Episode 1 : Vida. Teresa is age 23, ill, and travelling to see a local healer. Along the way she is introduced to Francisco de Osuna's book, The Third Spiritual Alphabet, which kindles her spiritual interest. She does not respond to treatment, but meets and helps a troubled local priest.
Episode 2 : Camino de perfección. Teresa's illness continues for 3 years and she experiences a coma for 3 days, but benefits from a miraculous cure she attributes to St. Joseph. She experiences spiritual aridity, but is inspired by reading St. Augustine's Confessions. She experiences mystical visions that provoke distrust and opposition from fellow nuns and priests.
Episode 3 : Cuentas de conciencia. Further mystical visions, and continued opposition. She meets her spiritual guide Peter of Alcantara, and first contemplates the idea of a reform movement within her order, the Carmelites.
Episode 4 : Desafío espiritual. Founding of the first reformed convent, in Ávila, despite strong opposition from the neighborhood residents. First experiences in living by the new rule.
Episode 5 : Fundaciones. Founding of several more reformed convents. Teresa meets a young man who joins her order in its first monastery. He was later to become St. John of the Cross.
Episode 6 : Visita de descalzas. Teresa is appointed against her wishes as prioress of her original convent, and she continues visiting and managing challenges of the newly founded reformed houses. She meets her confessor Father Jerónimo Gracián, and is denounced to the Inquisition by Princess Eboli, a noblewoman whose unreasonable demands Teresa had resisted.
Episode 7 : Las moradas. Conflicts come to a head between reformed and unreformed orders. St. John of the Cross is imprisoned and tortured by monks of the unreformed order. Eventually, The Pope approves autonomous status for the reformed orders, shielding them from interference from the unreformed.
In 2008, the film was released in the US as a 3-disc DVD set with English subtitles. It included a 16-page booklet with episode summaries, Teresa's biography and timeline, a set of 9 discussion questions, an interview with historian Thomas Dubay, and a bibliography for further reading.
Awards
Teresa de Jesús won several awards:
Antena de Oro
Fotogramas de Plata, Best TV Performer : Concha Velasco
