#carmelite — Public Fediverse posts

In an exemplary way, Teresa Mary lived the exhortations of St. Paul, which we read in the liturgy: “from childhood” she allowed herself to be convinced by the truth of God’s word; built on it, she “stood firm” in it.

And as the years went by, she strengthened that inner “steadfastness” and robustness and knew how to “teach” it, convincing and correcting her own spiritual daughters, and training them in righteousness and every good work. Right up to today. And also into the future.

The particularly striking characteristic of Teresa Mary was joy. A woman of exceptional maternal tenderness and poise, her words of wisdom, her very gaze, and her demeanor were able to infuse everyone with so much light, so much comfort and so much hope, that she continually was sought out by people from all walks of life and conditions, who even waited for hours to be received by her in her little convent at the foot of the Bisenzio River embankment, to listen to her words of faith that were able to transfigure suffering and restore peace.

But Teresa Mary’s joy was not the illusory joy of this world. Her joy was the result of a high cost, which, moreover, she paid willingly, because she was driven by love for Christ and for souls.

She had much to suffer: from criticism to calumny; from the martyrdom of a malignant tumor that devoured her with frightful suffering to the anguish of a “dark night” of faith, which tested her in the innermost fibers of her spirit.

But in all this, perfectly abandoned in God’s hands, she knew how to live in peace and seemed almost to repeat Paul’s words when he says, “I overflow with joy in every tribulation” (2 Cor. 7:4).

This is the joy that the new Blessed teaches us. A joy that is truth, fullness, fruitfulness and that opens us to divine life. Today we are in great need of this joy. It is the joy that comes to us from the cross, that cross with which she wished to mark her name as a religious.

Saint John Paul II

Homily, Beatification of Teresa Maria della Croce Manetti (excerpt)
Florence, Italy, 19 October 1986

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

Featured image: Blessed Teresa Maria della Croce Manetti. Image credit: Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/04/22/jp2-beatifmanetti/

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