Quote of the day, 1 April: St. Teresa of the Andes

To be the bride of Christ is to be crucified. Since just as spouses share joys and sorrows, wealth and poverty, so it is, too, for she who is the bride of the Crucified—He who was obedient unto death, He who had nowhere to lay his head.

Shouldn’t the bride be crucified by the world? Shouldn’t she be obedient until she dies without volition? Shouldn’t she be poor until she has nothing but Jesus’ chest on which to lay her head?

Religious life, my little sister, is nothing but a life of sacrifice. The soul has given itself to God and must give itself entirely, for love leaves nothing for itself; it consumes everything so that from these ashes, one single person may rise: Christ.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Letter 65 to a girlfriend (excerpt)
Undated, ca. February 1919

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Holy Thursday, 1 April 1920

Biographer and scholar of Saint Teresa of the Andes, Father Michael D. Griffin, O.C.D. offers these notes concerning the passion of our saintly Carmelite and her death from typhus:

Holy Thursday was a day always dear to Sister Teresa. On this particular Holy Thursday, the young Sister was beginning to experience the first signs of her illness.

She did not complain nor did she ask to be dispensed from the community exercises. That day, she spent long hours on her knees in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. But that night she felt quite exhausted—too weary, in fact, to fall asleep. She did finally get to sleep but was unable to sleep more than four hours.

The next day she assisted at all community exercises and even attended the preaching of the Seven Last Words.

But late on Good Friday, the Novice Mistress first noticed how ill Sister Teresa was and immediately ordered her to bed. Sister Teresa was running an abnormally high fever. The doctor was summoned immediately but was unable to reduce her fever. His prognosis was very unfavorable.

Sister Teresa had to admit to him that she had not been feeling well for several weeks. Mother Angelica had Sara Urbistondo telephone Señora Lucía [Solar Armstrong] to advise her of her daughter’s condition. She, in turn, dispatched her personal physician, Doctor Diaz Lira, to care for Sister Teresa.

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2021, God, The Joy of My Life: A Biography of Saint Teresa of the Andes With the Saint’s Spiritual Diary, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.