Saint of the Day: St. Teresa of the Andes

Carmelite Nun (1900-1920)

Her life

+ Juana Fernández Solar was a pious child. As a teenager she recognized that God was calling her to a life of penance and prayer and she entered the Carmel of Los Andes, near Santiago, Chile, in 1919.

+ Inspired by the life of Saint Teresa of Avila, she took “Teresa of Jesus” as her religious name.

+ Sister Teresa experienced many mystical graces and in her prayer she sought to unite herself to Christ, the Divine Victim. Soon after, her health was ravaged by a virulent form of typhus.

+ Even in the midst of extreme suffering, she offered herself to Jesus as a victim-soul, praying for the sanctification of priests and the repentance of sinners.

+ Teresa professed her vows as a Discalced Carmelite nun shortly before her death on April 12, 1920. She was canonized in 1993.

For prayer and reflection

“Perfection of life consists in drawing close to God.”—Saint Teresa de Los Andes

Spiritual bonus

On this day, the Church also remembers Saint Sabas “the Lector.” A lector of a church in Romania, he was murdered by pagan Goths for refusing to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols. Honored as a patron saint of lectors, Saint Sabas died on April 12, 372.

Prayer

God mercy, the joy of the saints,
you set the youthful heart of Saint Teresa
ablaze with the fire of virginal love
for Christ and for his Church;
and even in suffering you 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.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from Proper Office of Carmelite Saints and Blesseds in the Liturgy the Hours)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.