Many thanks to all of you who have taken the trouble to make suggestions - I have been reading about the lives of the Saints and had begun to despair that I would find one I could relate to (perhaps I should have asked St. Jude for his help!)
I think I have finally decided on St. Teresa of Avila. She seems to have been a very down to earth, practical person. As a child of 5 years old she persuaded her older brother to run away "to the land of the Moors", fortunately they were found by their uncle and returned home. As a teenager she was more interested in boys and clothes than religious life and her strict father confined her to a convent when she reached 16. Initially not liking the convent life decided they were less strict than her father! She writes about the difficulty in concentrating on prayer. "I was more anxious for the hour of prayer to be over than I was to remain there"
When the time came to decide between matrimony or the religious life she decided to remain in the convent as she felt it was the safest place for someone as prone to sin as she was.
She also appears to have had a sense of humour, one day complaining to God about the hostility that surrounded her Jesus said "That is how I treat my friends" she replied "No wonder you have so few friends"
She decided to start her own convent dedicated to a simple life of poverty and prayer. She believed in obedience to God rather than penance "if you do something wrong don't punish yourself - change"
When invited by an Archbishop to found a convent she arrived in the pouring rain, only for him to send her away she commented "and the weather so delightful"
