The Assumption of the Virgin, ca. 1337–39, Bernardo Daddi, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Today, the Feast of the Assumption, I asked my Mother to give me her heart. With this treasure, I will have everything, given that in it is Jesus and all virtues.
The First Holy Communion of St. Teresa of the Andes
It is impossible to describe what took place between my soul and Jesus.
I asked Jesus a thousand times that He would take me, and I experienced His dear voice for the first time. “Oh Jesus I love You, I adore You!” I prayed to Him for everybody. I felt the Virgin near me. Oh, how my heart expanded! For the first time, I experienced a delicious peace.
After making our thanksgiving, we went to the patio to share things with the poor, and each girl went to embrace her family. My Daddy kept kissing me. Being so happy, he lifted me up in his arms. Many little girls came to the house that day. What can I say of the gifts that were given to me? The bureau and my bed were filled.
Shortly after that time, we moved from that house (at 475 Ejercito Street). Since that first embrace, Jesus did not let me go but took me for Himself. Every day I went to Communion and talked with Jesus for a long time. My special devotion was to the Virgin. I told her everything. The earth no longer held any attraction for me.
Every year, I used to become sick on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Once when I was sick, I was looking at a picture of the Sacred Heart, and I heard a very sweet voice say to me: “I am alone on the altar for your love, and you can’t even suffer for a moment?”
From that time, the dear Jesus spoke to me, and I spent entire hours conversing with Him. That is the reason I enjoyed being alone. He went on teaching me how I should suffer and not complain and about intimate union with Him. Then He told me that He wanted me for Himself, that He would like me to become a Carmelite. Ah! Mother, you cannot imagine what Jesus was doing in my soul. At that time, I did not live in myself. It was Jesus who was living in me.
Saint Teresa of the Andes From her autobiographical writings at age 15
St. Teresa’s First Communion Portrait
Explore our blog posts concerning Saint Teresa of the Andes here.
The Writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes: An Abridgement, Edited by Barbara Haight Garcia, OCDS
Translated by Father Michael D. Griffin, OCD. New Life Publishing Company, 2003
July 13 SAINT TERESA OF JESUS “OF LOS ANDES” Virgin
Memorial
Juanita Fernandez Solar was born at Santiago, Chile, on July 13, 1900. From her adolescence she was devoted to Christ. She entered the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns at Los Andes on May 7, 1919, where she was given the name of Teresa of Jesus. She died on April 12 of the following year after having made her religious profession. She was beatified on April 3, 1987, at Santiago, Chile, and canonized on March 21, 1993, by Saint John Paul II and proposed as a model for young people. She is the first Chilean and the first member of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America to be canonized.
From the Common of Virgins, except the following:
Office of Readings
Second Reading Diario y cartas (Los Andes, 1983), 373, 359, 376
From the Spiritual writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus
Jesus alone is beautiful; He is my only joy. I call for Him, I cry after Him, I search for Him within my heart. I long for Jesus to grind me interiorly so that I may become a pure host where He can find His rest. I want to be athirst with love so that other souls may possess this love. I would die to creatures and to myself, so that He may live in me.
Is there anything good, beautiful or true that we can think of that would not be in Jesus? Wisdom, from which nothing would be secret. Power, for which nothing would be impossible. Justice, which made Him take on flesh in order to make satisfaction for sin. Providence, which always watches over and sustains us. Mercy, which never ceases to pardon. Goodness, which forgets the offenses of His creatures. Love, which unites all the tendernesses of a mother, of a brother, of a spouse, and which, drawing Him out of the abyss of His greatness, binds Him closely to His creatures. Beauty which enraptures… what can you think of that would not be found in this Man-God?
Are you perhaps afraid that the abyss of the greatness of God and that of your nothingness cannot be united? There is love in Him. His passionate love made Him take flesh in order that by seeing a Man-God, we would not be afraid to draw near Him. This passionate love made Him become bread in order to assimilate our nothingness and make it disappear into His infinite being. This passionate love made Him give His life by dying on the cross.
Are you perhaps afraid to draw near Him? Look at Him, surrounded by little children. He caresses them, He presses them to His heart. Look at Him in the midst of His faithful flock, bearing the faithless lamb on His shoulders. Look at Him at the tomb of Lazarus. And listen to what He says of the Magdalene: “Much has been forgiven her, because she has loved much.” What do you discover in these flashes from the Gospel except a heart that is good, gentle, tender, compassionate; in other words, the heart of a God?
He is my unending wealth, my bliss, my heaven.
Responsory
R/. I have come to rate all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge
of my Lord Jesus Christ: I am racing to grasp the prize * since I have been grasped by Christ Jesus. V/. I give no thought to what lies behind but push on to what lies ahead
as I run toward the prize to which God calls me on high * since I have been grasped by Christ Jesus.
Prayer
God of mercy, joy of the saints,
you set the young heart of Saint Teresa ablaze
with the fire of virginal love for Christ and for His Church;
and even in suffering made her a cheerful witness to charity.
Through her intercession,
fill us with the delights of your Spirit,
so that we may proclaim by word and deed
the joyful message of your love to the world.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Let us praise the Lord and give Him thanks for the great favor He has bestowed on your little daughter. I have permission, and with God’s help, I will fly to the dear little dovecote on May 7.
My father gave me his permission last Sunday. Saint Joseph was the one who wrought this miracle. Yesterday, I went to Communion for the first time since receiving his permission. I assure you that I could not keep from weeping in the face of such a great favor from my dear Jesus. I am at the peak of happiness and pain. When I consider the favor Our Lord granted me and on the other hand, when I see my misery and unworthiness, I am filled with confusion. Then, I throw myself into the arms of the One who is all mercy and, casting myself there, remain completely surrendered to my celestial Bridegroom.
He does everything in me. All I do is love Him and this so imperfectly. I love Him and for Him I am going to give up everything. That everything, however, is such a small thing in comparison with the everything of His love.
Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes Letter 80
Juana Enriqueta Josefina of the Sacred Hearts Fernandez Solar entered the Carmel of the Holy Spirit in the township of Los Andes, some 90 kilometers from her home in Santiago de Chile on 7 May 1919 | Photo: Discalced Carmelites
Read the Vatican biography of Saint Teresa of the Andes here
The Writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes: An Abridgement
Edited by Barbara Haight Garcia, OCDS
Translated by Father Michael D. Griffin, OCD
New Life Publishing Company, 2003
It was shortly after the 1906 earthquake that Jesus began to claim my heart for himself.
Saint Teresa of the Andes
Commemorative oil painting of Teresa of Jesus of the Andes that was used to create the banner for the Mass of Beatification in Santiago, 3 April 1987 during Saint John Paul II’s apostolic journey to Chile
Diary n. 3, p. 26
St. Teresa of the Andes died 12 April 1920 in the Carmel of Los Andes, Chile
Commemorative oil painting of Teresa of Jesus of the Andes that was used to create the banner for the Mass of Beatification in Santiago, 3 April 1987 during Saint John Paul II’s apostolic journey to Chile | Philippus2011 / WikimediaCommons
This is her message: happiness is in God alone; only God is infinite joy.
The Church today proclaims Sister Teresa de los Andes to be Blessed and, as of this day, she venerates her and invokes her with this title.
Blessed, blissful, happy, is the person who has made the Gospel’s beatitudes the center of her life; that she has lived them with heroic intensity.
In this way, our Blessed, having put into practice the beatitudes, incarnated in her life the most perfect example of holiness that is Christ. Indeed, Teresa of the Andes radiates the happiness of poverty of spirit, the goodness and meekness of her heart, the hidden suffering with which God purifies and sanctifies his chosen ones. She hungers and thirsts for justice, loves God intensely and wants God to be loved and known by all. God made her merciful in her total immolation for priests and for the conversion of sinners; peaceful and conciliatory, she sowed understanding and dialogue all around her. She reflects, above all, the bliss of purity of heart. Indeed, she gave herself totally to Christ and Jesus opened her eyes to the contemplation of his mysteries.
God also permitted her in advance to taste the sublime joy of living beforehand on earth the bliss and joyfulness of communion with God in the service of others.
This is her message: happiness is in God alone; only God is infinite joy. Young people of Chile, youth of Latin America, discover in Sister Teresa the joy of living the Christian faith to its very extreme! Take her as a model!
Saint John Paul II
Homily, Mass of Beatification of Sister Teresa of the Andes (excerpts)
Parque O’Higgins, Santiago de Chile
Friday 3 April 1987
Saint John Paul II waves farewell to the faithful at the conclusion of the Mass of Beatification of Teresa of Jesus of the Andes in Parque O’Higgins, Santiago, Chile, 3 April 1987 | Photo: Santuario Teresa de los Andes
Explore Saint John Paul II’s 1987 Apostolic Journey to Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina here
English translation of St. John Paul II's homily is the blogger's own work; do not reproduce without permission.
God made the light of his Son, Jesus Christ, to shine admirably in her
Light of Christ for the whole Chilean Church, Sister Teresa of the Andes, Teresa of Jesus, is the Discalced Carmelite nun and the firstfruit of holiness of the Teresian Carmel of Latin America, who today is incorporated into the number of the Saints of the universal Church.
As we heard in the first reading from the book of Samuel, the figure of Teresa stands out not because of “his appearance or his great stature”. “The Lord sees not as man sees,” the scripture tells us; “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”. For this reason, in her young life of just over 19 years, in her 11 months as a Carmelite, God made the light of his Son, Jesus Christ, to shine admirably in her, so that she serves as a beacon and guide with the radiance of the divine to a world that seems to have become blinded.
The life of Blessed Teresa cries quietly from the cloister:
“Sólo Dios basta — God alone is enough!
To a secularized society that lives with its back turned on God, this Chilean Carmelite, who with lively joy is presented as a model of the perennial youth of the Gospel, offers the limpid testimony of an existence that proclaims to the men and women of today that loving, adoring, and serving God are the greatness and joy, the freedom and the full realization of the human creature. The life of Blessed Teresa cries quietly from the cloister: “Sólo Dios basta — God alone is enough!”
And she especially cries out to young people, hungry for truth and in search of a light that gives meaning to their lives. To young people who are hounded by continuous messages and stimuli of an eroticized culture, and a society that confuses genuine love, which is giving, with the hedonistic use of the other person, this young virgin of the Andes today proclaims the beauty and bliss that emanate from pure hearts.
A Carmelite never forgets
In her tender love for Christ, Teresa finds the essence of the Christian message: to love, to suffer, to pray, and to serve. In her family, she learned to love God above all things. And in feeling herself to be the exclusive possession of her Creator, her love for her neighbor becomes even more intense and definitive. This is stated in one of her letters: “When I love, it is forever. A Carmelite never forgets. From her small cell, she accompanies the souls that she loved in the world.”
Her enkindled love leads Teresa to desire to suffer with Jesus and like Jesus: “To suffer and love, like the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” she tells us. She wants to be an immaculate host offered in continuous and silent sacrifice for sinners. “We are co-redeemers of the world,” she will say later, “and the redemption of souls is not accomplished without a cross.”
The Carmelite is the priest’s sister
The young Chilean saint was eminently a contemplative soul. For long hours at the tabernacle and before the cross that had a prominent place in her cell, she prays and worships, pleads and atones for the redemption of the world, animating the apostolate of missionaries with the power of the Spirit and, especially, that of priests. “The Carmelite,” she will tell us, “is the priest’s sister.”
However, being contemplative like Mary of Bethany does not exempt Teresa from serving like Martha. In a world where one shamelessly struggles to excel, to possess, and to dominate, she teaches us that happiness is in being the last and the servant of all, following the example of Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life for the redemption of many.
We are co-redeemers of the world
Now, from eternity, Saint Teresa of the Andes continues interceding as an advocate for an endless number of brothers and sisters. She who found her heaven on earth espoused to Jesus, now contemplates him without veils or shadows, and from her immediate closeness, she intercedes for those who seek the light of Christ.
Saint John Paul II
Excerpts from his homily for the Mass of Canonization of Teresa of Jesus of the Andes and Claudine Thévenet 21 March 1993
Perdóname | Santuario Santa Teresa de los Andes | Claudio Quezada Ibáñez / Flickr
See more photos from Claudio Quezada’s Flickr album from the Santuario here
Gaze at Him tirelessly, gaze at Him in your little heaven and ask Him, when you are gazing there, to give you the virtues that will make you beautiful in His divine eyes.
St Teresa of the Andes The Writings of St Teresa of Jesus of the Andes
The Carmelite often sees herself surrounded by darkness that hides her Beloved. She sees herself rejected and unprotected. Is it possible that there is any greater suffering for a soul who has abandoned all to follow the God she loves than to see herself alone without Him?
St Teresa of the Andes The Writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes
Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us. May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Reading – Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, from her Writings
Do everything for love of Him. Do not seek to please others. They are so mistaken in their judgments! God sees deeply within you at every moment, as though you were the only person alive. Be aware that as you sleep, as you work and live, there is an infinite Being concerned with giving you life, with loving you eternally and infinitely!
How I wish I could fill you with these thoughts, which make everything else pale in comparison, so that there is nothing before you but God! Then, what peace, what joy we might experience. We would understand that God is our center. We would be living the life of love, the life of heaven. Novena Prayer
O Most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein that you are my Mother. O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succor me in this necessity. There are none that can withstand your power! O help me and show me herein that you are my Mother. Our Lady, Queen and Beauty of Carmel, pray for me and obtain my requests! Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands!
July 13 SAINT TERESA OF JESUS “OF LOS ANDES” Virgin
Memorial
Juanita Fernandez Solar was born at Santiago, Chile, on July 13, 1900. From her adolescence she was devoted to Christ. She entered the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns at Los Andes on May 7, 1919, where she was given the name of Teresa of Jesus. She died on April 12 of the following year after having made her religious profession. She was beatified on April 3, 1987, at Santiago, Chile, and canonized on March 21, 1993, by Saint John Paul II and proposed as a model for young people. She is the first Chilean and the first member of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America to be canonized.
From the Common of Virgins, except the following:
Office of Readings
Second Reading Diario y cartas (Los Andes, 1983), 373, 359, 376
From the Spiritual writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus
Jesus alone is beautiful; He is my only joy. I call for Him, I cry after Him, I search for Him within my heart. I long for Jesus to grind me interiorly so that I may become a pure host where He can find His rest. I want to be athirst with love so that other souls may possess this love. I would die to creatures and to myself, so that He may live in me.
Is there anything good, beautiful or true that we can think of that would not be in Jesus? Wisdom, from which nothing would be secret. Power, for which nothing would be impossible. Justice, which made Him take on flesh in order to make satisfaction for sin. Providence, which always watches over and sustains us. Mercy, which never ceases to pardon. Goodness, which forgets the offenses of His creatures. Love, which unites all the tendernesses of a mother, of a brother, of a spouse, and which, drawing Him out of the abyss of His greatness, binds Him closely to His creatures. Beauty which enraptures… what can you think of that would not be found in this Man-God?
Are you perhaps afraid that the abyss of the greatness of God and that of your nothingness cannot be united? There is love in Him. His passionate love made Him take flesh in order that by seeing a Man-God, we would not be afraid to draw near Him. This passionate love made Him become bread in order to assimilate our nothingness and make it disappear into His infinite being. This passionate love made Him give His life by dying on the cross.
Are you perhaps afraid to draw near Him? Look at Him, surrounded by little children. He caresses them, He presses them to His heart. Look at Him in the midst of His faithful flock, bearing the faithless lamb on His shoulders. Look at Him at the tomb of Lazarus. And listen to what He says of the Magdalene: “Much has been forgiven her, because she has loved much.” What do you discover in these flashes from the Gospel except a heart that is good, gentle, tender, compassionate; in other words, the heart of a God?
He is my unending wealth, my bliss, my heaven.
Responsory
R/. I have come to rate all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge
of my Lord Jesus Christ: I am racing to grasp the prize * since I have been grasped by Christ Jesus. V/. I give no thought to what lies behind but push on to what lies ahead
as I run toward the prize to which God calls me on high * since I have been grasped by Christ Jesus.
Prayer
God of mercy, joy of the saints,
you set the young heart of Saint Teresa ablaze
with the fire of virginal love for Christ and for His Church;
and even in suffering made her a cheerful witness to charity.
Through her intercession,
fill us with the delights of your Spirit,
so that we may proclaim by word and deed
the joyful message of your love to the world.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Before I go, I want to leave you my statue of the Most Holy Virgin as a sign of our perpetual union. It has been my constant companion. She has been my intimate confidante from the youngest years of my life. She has listened to me tell of my joys and sorrows. She has often comforted my heart broken by sorrow. I am leaving the statue with you to take my place. She has listened to me tell of my joys and sorrows. Talk to her, heart to heart, just as you do to me. When you feel lonely, as I often do, look at her and you will see her smiling face, telling you, “Your mother will never leave you alone.” When you are sorrowful and feeling down and cannot find anyone to whom you can unburden yourself, run to her presence and you Mother’s sorrowful gaze will tell you “There is no sorrow like mine.” She will comfort you, placing in your soul a drop of the consolation that springs from her wounded heart.
She has listened to me tell of my joys and sorrows. Talk to her, heart to heart, just as you do to me.
The Writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes: An Abridgement
Letter 81
Translated by Michael D. Griffin, OCD
Edited by Barbara Haight Garcia, OCDS
New Life Publishing, 2003
Photos by Chema Concellón from his coverage of Holy Week in Valladolid, Spain, 2007
The Writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes: An Abridgement
Translated by Michael D. Griffin, OCD
Edited by Barbara Haight Garcia, OCDS
New Life Publishing, 2003
I have also reflected on how the Blessed Virgin Mary was a perfect Carmelite. Her whole life was to contemplate, suffer, and love. She did it all in silence and in solitude.
Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes
The Annunciation Alexander Murashko (Ukrainian, 1875 – 1919) Oil on canvas, 1909 National Art Museum of Ukraine
The Writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes: An Abridgement
Edited by Barbara Haight Garcia, OCDS
Translated by Father Michael D. Griffin, OCD
New Life Publishing Company, 2003
On 7 May 1919, Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery of the Holy Spirit in the township of Los Andes, roughly 90 kilometers from her family in the capital of Santiago, Chile.
Years later, her brother Luis testified for her process of beatification and canonization:
“Juanita chose the poorest Monastery of Los Andes out of the spirit of poverty. She could have entered a Carmelite cloister in Santiago which, while austere, had more comforts and a better appearance. Nevertheless, Juanita preferred the poorest one.
“Juanita entered religious life at the age of eighteen. The whole family traveled with her to Los Andes and was present when she entered the convent. Juanita bade farewell to each of us in the midst of a huge electrical storm. The rain was exceedingly heavy. She said goodbye to me last, hugged me and whispered in my ear, ‘God exists, brother, and never forget that.’ At this point, my sister, Rebecca, was so upset that she fainted.”
The Writings of Saint Teresa Of Jesus of the Andes: An Abridgement
Edited by Barbara Haight Garcia, OCDS
Translated by Reverend Michael D. Griffin, OCD
Published by New Life Publishing Company, 2003
Featured photo: Peregrinación de Santa Teresa de Los Andes
Km 19, Cerro Chacabuco
Benjamín Mejías / Flickr
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