A Sister of Charity of St. Elizabeth (1901-1927)
Her life
+ Miriam Teresa was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, to Slovak immigrant parents and was raised in the Byzantine-Ruthenian Rite.
+ After completing high school, she studied to become a teacher and eventually served at St. Aloysius Academy in Jersey City and the public high school.
+ Miriam Teresa entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth in 1925. Known in religious life as “Sister Teresa,” she was recognized as a graced soul and was invited to deliver a series of reflections to community’s novices, although she herself was still in initial formation as a sister.
+ Sister Teresa died in her community’s motherhouse in Convent Station, New Jersey, on May 8, 1927, from complications related to myocarditis and acute appendicitis. She was beatified in 2014.
+ In 1928, the year after her death, her religious community published the conferences she gave to the novices under the title Greater Perfection. The foundation of her spirituality was her commitment that everyone was called to holiness.
For prayer and reflection
“God’s purpose in my life is this in general: To teach men that Our Lord’s promise ‘If any man love Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make our abode with him’ is held out to every soul regardless of calling; and is the perfect realization of His prayer and ours: Thy kingdom come…”—Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich
Spiritual bonus
On this day, we also remember Blessed Marie-Catherine of St. Augustine. As a young woman, she became an Augustinian canoness of the Hospitaller Sisters of Mercy and served in that community’s hospital in Bayeux, France. In 1648, she volunteered to travel to Quebec to provide medical services to the people of New France (now, Canada). Known for her tireless service to both the settlers and the indigenous peoples, she died in Quebec on May 8, 1668. Known as one of the “Six Founders of the Catholic Church in Canada,” she was beatified in 1989.
Prayer
O God, who called blessed Miriam Teresa to seek your Kingdom in this world through the pursuit of perfect charity, grant, we pray, through her intercession that we may advance with joyful spirit along the way of love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For Religious)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
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