#st-teresa-of-the-andes — Public Fediverse posts

Quote of the day, 29 July: St. Teresa of the Andes

The house of Bethany was the delight of Jesus when He was on earth; it was His favorite dwelling. There He was intimately known by Lazarus, served by Martha and madly loved by Mary.

The Carmelite being close to Jesus reproduces that intimate life now. She learns to love Him and serve Him according to His will. She is His refuge in the midst of the world; she, with His chosen ones, is His favorite dwelling place.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Her intimate spiritual diary
58. The life of a Carmelite. Resolutions. (excerpt)

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.

Featured image: Christ in the House of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (detail), oil on canvas painting, ca. 1577 by Venetian artists Jacopo and Francesco Bassano. Image credit: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (public domain).

Quote of the day, 13 July: St. Teresa of the Andes

I was born in 1900 on the 13th day of July. My mother is Lucía Solar de Fernández, and my father is Michael Fernández Jaraquemada.

We lived with my grandfather, who was already quite old (Juanita was born and lived 7 years in the house of her maternal Grandfather at 1352 Rosas Street in Santiago, Chile. The house has since been demolished).

You can say that he was a saint, since one could see him praying his rosary all day long. His name was Eulogio Solar.

Jesus did not desire me to be born poor like Himself; I was born in the midst of riches, spoiled by all.

I was the fourth child in the family. The first was named Lucía, who was 7 years old; Miguel, the second, was 6 years old and Luís, the third, was 3.

My aunt Juanita Solar lived in my grandfather’s house with her four children. My uncle, Luís Albert Domínguez, had already died. The eldest of my cousins was 13 years old, and the youngest was 5.

My aunt Teresa Vicuña also lived there with her two children. One of her boys died in childhood. Her older child was called Thomas Bernardo (the name of my uncle). And Teresita, her second, was 8 years old.

My uncle Francis (Francisco Solar Armstrong), who was a bachelor, also lived there. He was 23 years old.

A short time later, Rebecca was born, and there was a difference of 1 year and 8 months between us (In 1910, her last brother, Ignacio, came into the world; he died at Santiago, November 2, 1976).

Though quite spoiled, I was very timid. Rebecca was the opposite. We were both very spoiled. We could do whatever we pleased with my Granddaddy, and we used to trick him with our kisses and caresses.

From the time I was small, they used to say that I was the prettiest of my brothers and sisters, but I paid no attention to this. But they kept repeating these same words to me as I grew older, unbeknownst to my mother, since she didn’t like this.

God alone knows what it cost me to overcome this pride or vanity that took possession of my heart as I grew older. My character was timid, my heart sensitive. I used to cry for any reason, but my disposition was extremely gentle; I never used to get mad at anyone.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Her intimate spiritual diary, 2

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.

Featured image: Saint Teresa of the Andes, not long before she entered the Carmel of Los Andes. Original photograph: Discalced Carmelites (used by permission). Artistic treatment by Carmelite Quotes using Paintt.

13 July: Saint Teresa of Jesus Fernández Solar

July 13
SAINT TERESA OF JESUS FERNÁNDEZ SOLAR
Virgin

Memorial
In the houses in Chile: Feast

Juanita Fernández 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,
God, for ever and ever.

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

Quote of the day, 27 June: St. Teresa of the Andes

Only God can satisfy us. He is truth and unchangeable good. He is eternal love.

Oh, my Jesus and my Mother, may I belong to Him forever. May nothing on earth claim my attention but the tabernacle. Preserve me pure for Yourself so that when I die, I can say: how happy I am now that at last I can lose myself in the infinite Ocean of the Heart of Jesus, my adored Spouse.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Griffin, M, Teresa de los Andes, S 1991, Testimonies to Blessed Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, translated from the Spanish by Griffin, M, Teresian Charism Press, Washington DC.

Featured image: Nuestra Señora de Refugio (Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners) is a popular devotion to the Virgin in Latin America.

Quote of the day, 12 June: St. Teresa of the Andes

One day I was alone in my room. Because of my illness they spoiled me so that I couldn’t remain alone. I want to relate that one day Lucita (Lucía, her older sister) was sick and Elisea — a servant who took care of my dear grandfather — went to be with her.

Then I became envious and troubled and began to cry. My tearful eyes began to fix themselves on a picture of the Sacred Heart, and I heard a very sweet voice say to me:

“What! I, Juanita, 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’s the reason I enjoyed being alone. He went on teaching me how I should suffer and not complain, and about intimate union with Himself. Then He told me that He wanted me for Himself, that He would like me to become a Carmelite.

Ah! Mother, you can’t imagine what Jesus was doing in my soul. At that time I didn’t live in myself, it was Jesus who was living in me. I used to get up at seven o’clock, at the time Rebecca was going to school. I kept to a schedule for the whole day and I was doing all things with Jesus and for Jesus.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Her intimate spiritual diary, 7

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.

Featured image: Andrés López, The Sacred Heart of Jesus adored by angels, 1785, oil on copper. Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. PI 4459B. Source: Ojeda, A 2005-2025, Project for the Engraved Sources of Spanish Colonial Art (PESSCA), viewed 16 August 2025, https://colonialart.org.

Quote of the day, May 7: St. Teresa of the Andes

I beg you, Rev. Father, to do me the favor of judging whether or not I have a true vocation to be a Carmelite sister, based on the reasons I have for feeling this is God’s will for me. I believe our Lord will enlighten you.

The life of prayer and union with God is what I love most of all, because I find it the most perfect; because it is a life of heaven, in a certain way, since a Carmelite is concerned only with being united to God and contemplating Him always and singing His praises. That thirst for prayer continually grows in me; my recollection is always continuous now, because whatever I do, I do with my Jesus and offer it to Him with love. When, for any reason whatever, I’m unable to make my prayer, I suffer at not being able to be with my God….

Now I will tell you why I want to go to Los Andes:

1. Because the monastery consists of nuns who are very observant of their Rule. The spirit of Saint Teresa is very evident among them.

2. I’ve seen that God grants them everything (almost everything) they ask for, since God has answered everything I recommended to their prayers…

5. I am used to the climate at Los Andes… I don’t know if I told you that they’ll call me Teresa of Jesus if I go there… Because I’ll be called after the great Saint Teresa, I am also very much under the obligation of becoming a saint by God’s grace… I have also reflected on how the Blessed Virgin Mary was a perfect Carmelite. Her whole life was to contemplate, suffer and love. And she did it all in silence and in solitude. This life was recommended by Our Lord to the Magdalene, when He told her she had chosen the better part, even though Martha served Him with love [here Teresa conflates Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene]. Our Lord spent 30 years in that life of recollection, and only three years evangelizing….

I beg you, Rev. Father, as an act of charity to tell me what you think of my vocation: whether I am or am not to become a Carmelite.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 58 to her spiritual director, 3 February 1919

Note: 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.

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This striking image of Chile’s national patroness, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, was taken on her feast day, 16 July 2010, at the Votive Church of Maipú. Image credit: Municipalidad de Maipú / Flickr (Some rights reserved).

Quote of the day, 21 March: St. Teresa of the Andes

Pray, Rev. Mother, for this poor exile that she may become a holy Carmelite soon.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Teresa of the Andes—Teresa of Jesus, a Discalced Carmelite and the first flowering of holiness from the Teresian Carmel in Latin America—is a light of Christ for the whole Church in Chile. Today she is inscribed among the saints of the universal Church.

As in the first reading we have heard from the book of Samuel, Teresa’s greatness does not lie in “her appearance or her stature.” “The Lord’s gaze,” Sacred Scripture tells us, “is not like that of man: man looks at appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Thus, in her young life of just over nineteen years, and in her eleven months as a Carmelite, God caused the light of His Son Jesus Christ to shine forth in her in a remarkable way, so that she might serve as a beacon and guide for a world that seems to be blinded by what only appears to be divine.

To a secularized society that lives turned away from God, this Chilean Carmelite—whom I present with great joy as a model of the perennial youth of the Gospel—offers the clear witness of a life that proclaims to the men and women of today that in loving, adoring, and serving God are found the greatness and joy, the freedom and the full realization of the human person. From within the cloister, the life of the blessed Teresa cries out in silence: “God alone suffices!”

And she proclaims this especially to the young, who hunger for truth and seek a light that gives meaning to their lives. To a youth surrounded by the constant messages and stimuli of an eroticized culture, and to a society that confuses genuine love—which is self-gift—with the hedonistic use of others, this young virgin of the Andes proclaims today the beauty and blessedness that radiate from pure hearts.

In her tender love for Christ, Teresa discovers the very essence of the Christian message: to love, to suffer, to pray, to serve. Within her family she learned to love God above all things. And in recognizing herself as the exclusive possession of her Creator, her love for neighbor became all the more intense and definitive. As she writes in one of her letters: “When I love, it’s forever. Especially, a Carmelite never forgets. From her cell, she accompanies souls she loved in the world.”

Saint John Paul II

Homily, Canonization of Claudine Thévenet and Teresa of Jesus of the Andes
Sunday, 21 March 1993

Note: On 21 March 1993, St. John Paul II presided at the canonization of Teresa of the Andes in St. Peter’s Basilica

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

John Paul II, 1993. Canonizzazione di Claudine Thévenet e di Teresa de Jesús de los Andes. Omelia di Giovanni Paolo II, Domenica, 21 marzo 1993. Vatican.va. Available at: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/it/homilies/1993/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19930321_thevenet.html (Accessed: 19 March 2026).

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

Featured image: Detail from a photo of Saint Teresa that was taken a few months before she entered the Carmel of Los Andes. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (by permission).

Quote of the day, 22 January: St. Teresa of the Andes

I’ve been in Carmel 6 months, Isabel, 6 months of heaven, undisturbed by anything on earth, 6 months of living hidden in my adored Word, listening to His Word of life, contemplating His infinite beauty.

If I could but explain to you the immense void in which I live as far as anything having to do with the world is concerned, you’d envy me.

It’s Jesus, my Isabel, who is the only attraction in my life. It’s He, with His charms and sweetness, who leads me to forget everything.

Still, there are times—believe me—when a person suffers. And don’t think that a Carmelite’s sufferings are of any ordinary type. And yet in her suffering it’s as though a Carmelite rejoices, isn’t that so, sister dear? Especially when it is Jesus Himself who crucifies us, who breaks us to pieces. We find ourselves happy to be His plaything.

You understand all too well the language of the cross; I don’t need to tell you to love the cross; for it is on the cross that our soul’s transformation in God is accomplished. But don’t think that because of this that I suffer, for believe me, I wish I could suffer much more.

The best thing of all is to love God’s will. It is there that we find the cross better than in any other place. It is there that this blessed tree grows correctly, without hindrance, for it is without our choice, without any personal satisfaction whatsoever.

Do you feel in your soul this love for God’s will?

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 149 to Elisa Valdes Ossa, November 1919 (excerpts)

Note: This lengthy, undated letter also reflects—especially in its later paragraphs—the spiritual influence of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity on Teresa, the young Carmelite. On this date in 1986, Saint John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroicity of her virtues, by which she received the title Venerable.

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: 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. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (by permission).

#cross #JesusChrist #StTeresaOfTheAndes #suffering #willOfGod

Quote of the day, 14 January: St. Teresa of the Andes

The life of the Carmelite consists in loving, contemplating, and suffering. She lives only with her God. Between her and Him, there are no creatures; there is no world—there is nothing. Thus her soul attains the fullness of love, becomes one with His divinity, and reaches perfection through contemplation and suffering.

She contemplates God alone and, like the angels in heaven, sings the praises of the Being par excellence. Solitude, detachment from all earthly things, and the poverty in which she lives are powerful means that foster the contemplation of God, who is Love. Finally, intense suffering purifies her.

The Carmelite silently endures the trials of the spirit, which may be even more terrible than those of the body. Jesus Christ, in His Passion, did not complain even once; yet when His soul bore the weight of suffering, He could not refrain from saying: “My soul is sorrowful even unto death. My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want” (Mt 26:38–39). What sorrow, then, must the soul experience when the spirit undergoes a suffering that the Man of Sorrows declared sufficient to cause death!

At another moment, Jesus cried out from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). The Carmelite often finds herself surrounded by darkness that hides her Beloved. She feels rejected and without protection. Is there any suffering greater for a soul who has left everything to follow the God she loves than to find herself alone, without Him?

The Carmelite has no distractions to draw her away from her pain. She lives for Him, and nothing can make her forget her suffering for even an instant. She remains in solitude.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Her Intimate Spiritual Diary, 47 (1919)

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.

Featured image: A Carmelite nun holds her rosary as she walks through the monastery. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission).

#CarmeliteSpirituality #CarmeliteVocation #contemplation #solitude #StTeresaOfTheAndes

Blessings for the New Year 2026

Thou crownest the year with thy bounty…
Psalm 65:11

#greetings #NewYear #Psalms #StTeresaOfTheAndes

Quote of the day, 27 December: St. Teresa of the Andes

I’d love, my Isabel, to converse with you about my Jesus, I’d love to inflame you in His love, for I still don’t love Him enough; but I can’t do it.

I wish, my sister, that you could see in Jesus, in the Word, the love He has demonstrated for us; but I don’t dare to cross that infinite abyss in which I lose myself, especially since you have already delved into it more deeply than I have myself.

Let’s look for nothing but love in Him, for God is love. Love is His essence, and in love all His infinite perfections are found.

After the holidays, I will tell you how we celebrate Christmas in Carmel. Do you remember how, last year, Jesus through His birth brought to birth in me peace of soul? I’ll keep you there very close to Him tonight, or better still, I’ll pray that He lets you kiss His little Feet.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 149 to Elisa Valdes Ossa, November 1919 (excerpts)

Note: This undated letter reflects the influence of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity on the spirituality of Teresa, the young Carmelite. Earlier in the letter, Teresa notes that she has been in Carmel for six months.

Featured image: Nativity scene in Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna. Image credit: Daniel Furxer, Pfarrmedien Österreich / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#Christmas #friendship #love #peace #StTeresaOfTheAndes

Quote of the day, 9 November: St. Teresa of the Andes

I am reading Elizabeth of the Holy Trinity. I love her. Her soul is similar to mine. Although she was a saint, I will imitate her and be a saint. I want to live with Jesus in the depths of my soul. I want to defend him from his enemies.

I want to live a life of Heaven, as Elizabeth says, being a praise of glory:

1. Living a divine life. Loving with a pure love of God. Giving myself to Him without reserve. Living in an intimate communion with the Spouse of my soul.
2. By fulfilling God’s will in everything. How? By fulfilling my duty at every moment, with joy. Nothing should disturb me. All must be peace, like that which floods the angels in heaven.
3. Living in silence; for thus the Holy Spirit will bring forth harmonious sounds and the Father, together with the Spirit, will form [in me] the image of the Word.
4. Suffering, since Christ suffered all His life and was the praise of His Father’s glory. I will suffer with joy for my sins and for sinners.
5. Living a life of faith. Looking at everything from the supernatural point of view. Reflecting Christ in our actions like a mirror.
6. Living in a continuous thanksgiving: may our thoughts, desires and acts be a perpetual thanksgiving.
7. Living in continuous worship, like the angels; repeating: “Sanctus, sanctus”, etc. And since we cannot constantly be in prayer, at least before each exercise renew the intention, and thus we shall be a praise of glory and live a life of Heaven. Moreover, we must become more inflamed in the zeal of divine glory.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Diary, 15 July 1917

Donoso Brant, PS n.d., Diario escrito por Teresa de Los Andes, viewed 7 November 2025, https://www.santateresadelosandes.cl/DIARIO%20ESCRITO%20POR%20TERESA%20DE%20LOS%20ANDES.pdf.

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

Featured image: The Andes mountains are always a stunning view in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. The Cuernos del Paine are one of the features that await tourists to the nation’s Southern Patagonia region. Image credits: St. Teresa of the Andes and St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Discalced Carmelites (By permission); Torres de Paine National Park, Adobe Stock (Stock photo)

#diary #holiness #resolutions #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #StTeresaOfTheAndes

Quote of the day, 24 October: St. Teresa of the Andes

Today, ever since I got up, I feel very sad. It seems that suddenly my heart is breaking.

Jesus told me that He wants me to suffer with joy. […] He told me that He joyfully ascended Calvary and laid His head on the cross for the salvation of humankind.

“Is it possible that you are the one searching for Me and that you want to be like Me? Then, come with Me and take up the cross with love and joy.”

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Her Intimate Spiritual Diary
24 October 1915

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.

Featured image: St. Teresa of the Andes before she entered the Carmel of Los Andes. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission), modified with AI tools by Carmelite Quotes

#CrossOfChrist #joy #love #StTeresaOfTheAndes

Quote of the day, 13 July: St. Teresa of the Andes

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

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: St. Teresa of the Andes is depicted in this collage against the backdrop of the Chilean Andes. Image credit: Carmelite Quotes

#familyLife #Jesus #mercy #StTeresaOfTheAndes #vocation

13 July: Saint Teresa of Jesus Fernández Solar (Not observed in 2025)

July 13
SAINT TERESA OF JESUS FERNÁNDEZ SOLAR
Virgin

Memorial
In the houses in Chile: Feast

Pastoral note: In the year 2025, this Memorial gives way to the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Juanita Fernández 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,
God, for ever and ever.

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

#DiscalcedCarmelite #JuanitaFernandezSolar #LiturgyOfTheHours #Memorial #StTeresaOfTheAndes #virgin

Quote of the day, 11 June: St. Teresa of the Andes

J.M.J.T.
June 11, 1919
My dear Luís:

May the love of Jesus take possession of your soul.

I don’t think you’ll blame me for not answering your two little letters immediately, since my time is not my own. I gave away everything I had—even my own will! I must do everything Our Lord asks of me moment by moment, so that it’s only now that I’ve read your last letter. What a joy!

How happy I find myself in sacrificing everything for God! It’s all nothing in comparison with the way Our Savior sacrificed Himself from the cradle to the Cross and from the Cross to the point of annihilating Himself under the form of bread till the end of time. Oh, how great is this infinite love—a love unknown, a love not returned by most of humanity.

Luís dear, throughout these days I have kept you here with me in this retreat…. How I’d like to share with you what I feel, little brother of my soul. How I’d love to show you the lovely infinite, the horizon beyond creation that I experience and contemplate.

I love God now a thousand times more than I did before, because I hadn’t known Him. He reveals and makes Himself known to souls that really seek to know and love Him. Everything on earth, Luís, seems to shrink, to lose value before the Divinity which, like an infinite Sun, continues to shine upon my miserable soul with its rays.

Oh, if you could go to the depths of my soul even for an instant, you’d see me captivated by that Beauty, by that incomprehensible Goodness. How I’d love to bind the hearts of creatures and surrender them to divine Love!

You’ve never known the heaven that I, through God’s mercy, possess in my heart. Yes. I have a heaven in my soul, because God is there, and God is heaven.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 107 to her brother Luis (excerpt)
11 June 1919

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Andes mountains are always a stunning view in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. The Cuernos del Paine are one of the features that await tourists to the nation’s Southern Patagonia region. Image credit: Adobe Stock (Stock photo)

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
When has God helped you recognize that He is living within you, creating a heaven in your soul?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#divineLove #happiness #heaven #retreat #StTeresaOfTheAndes

Marie du jour, 28 May: St. Teresa of the Andes

From the solitude of my cell, I will pray for you to the Virgin so idolized, that she may reveal herself as a true Mother for the brother I love so much.

United in thought here on earth, our united souls will find themselves together again forever there in heaven after this sorrowful exile has ended.

Then we’ll understand the value of our separation during this time of exile, which will have won our eternal communion there in that homeland where there’s true life.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 81 to her brother, Luis
14 April 1919

Note: Luis (affectionately known as “Lucho”) was the beloved brother and confidant of St. Teresa of the Andes. The two were inseparable during childhood and adolescence, and he cherished her deeply. Lucho was also a friend of St. Alberto Hurtado, the renowned Chilean Jesuit. Luis testified at two sessions during his sister’s beatification process, offering vivid personal memories that many found moving. The three surviving letters Teresa wrote to him are considered among her most beautiful and profound.

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This striking image of Chile’s national patroness, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, was taken on her feast day, 16 July 2010. The feast is celebrated at the Votive Temple of Maipú, beloved by Chileans. The statue of the Virgin of Carmel is the focal point of the basilica, consecrated by St. Paul VI on 23 November 1974—nearly 70 years after the original votive church, commissioned by General Bernardo O’Higgins, was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. Image credit: Municipalidad de Maipú / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How do I entrust those I love to the care of the Blessed Virgin—especially in times of separation or suffering?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#CarmelOfLosAndes #familyLife #OurLadyOfMountCarmel #solitude #StTeresaOfTheAndes #vocation

Quote of the day, 11 May: St. Teresa of the Andes

You who created me, save me. Since I’m unworthy to pronounce Your most sweet name because it would bring me consolation, I dare, being annihilated, to implore Your infinite mercy.

Yes, I’m ungrateful. I acknowledge this. I’m a rebellious bit of dust. I’m a criminal nothingness.

But are You not the Good Shepherd? Are You not the One who came in search of the Samaritan woman to give her eternal life? Aren’t You the One who defended the adulterous woman and the One who wiped away the tears of Mary the sinner?

It’s true that they knew how to respond to your tender looks. They recognized Your words of life. And I—how many times have I not been transported by Your love, how many times have I not felt Your Heart beating without my own by listening to Your melodious accents—yet still I don’t love You.

But pardon me. Remember that I’m a criminal nothingness, that I’m only capable of sin.

Oh, my adored Jesus, by Your divine Heart, forget my ungratefulness and take me to Yourself completely. Free me from all that’s going on around me. May I live by always contemplating You. May I live submerged in Your love, so that it will consume my miserable being and transform me into You.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Prayer, Retreat of September 1919

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.

Featured image: The Good Shepherd is an oil on canvas painting by American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937), which was created ca. 1902–1903. It is part of the Art of the Americas collection at Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University. Image credit: Google Arts & Culture via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
Do I trust the Good Shepherd enough to let His mercy consume and transform my whole life?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#dust #love #mercy #prayer #repentance #retreat #sin #StTeresaOfTheAndes #tenderness

Marie du jour, 7 May: St. Teresa of the Andes

Carmel presents itself with all the attractions needed to fill my soul. Besides, Our Lord has manifested to me so many times that I am to become a Carmelite.

When I’m in prayer, Our Lord tells me that He has chosen me for that life which is so perfect and so filled with union with Himself because He loves me greatly among those chosen by his Divine Heart.

To Magdalene, He said, “You have chosen the better part,” although Martha served Him with love.

The Most Holy Virgin, my Mother, was a perfect Carmelite. She always lived contemplating her Jesus, suffering and loving Him.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Her Intimate Spiritual Diary, 47 (1919)

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.

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How can I imitate Mary’s contemplative love—suffering and loving Jesus as she did?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#BlessedVirginMary #Carmelite #contemplation #love #perfection #silence #solitude #StTeresaOfTheAndes #suffering

Quote of the day, 15 April: St. Teresa of the Andes

I want you to know that I’d give anything to preach to the whole world blind abandonment into God’s hands.

Believe me, I’ve felt Him within me as I work along, since I’ve asked Him for nothing but what He wants and nothing more.

I’ve told my Jesus that He’s the Captain. Let Him give the orders. His soldier will follow Him to death, as long as He helps me with His grace.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 86 to Mother Angelica Teresa of the Blessed Sacrament, O.C.D. (excerpt)
20 April 1919

Note: Father Michael Griffin, O.C.D.—translator and editor of the Letters of St. Teresa of the Andes—comments on her correspondence with the prioress of the Carmel of the Holy Spirit at Los Andes, Mother Angelica Teresa:

At age seventeen, Juanita began corresponding with Mother Angelica Teresa in hopes of being admitted to the Carmel of Los Andes. All in all, she wrote Mother Angelica Teresa twenty letters. These letters shed great light on Juanita’s understanding of the Carmelite vocation and show how earnestly she wanted to become “the perfect friend and bride of the Lord’s heart” (L 51).

One is especially struck by the complete honesty and sincerity with which the aspirant allowed Mother Angelica “to read her soul” to the point that she can say, “Rev. Mother, you can’t complain that your little daughter doesn’t talk to you heart-to-heart” (L 30).

Assuring Mother Angelica of her great desire to enter the Order and to “be able to wear the habit of Carmel with honor” (L 36), she never hesitated to manifest her faults, some of which she felt could disqualify her from this beautiful vocation.

What were these possible impediments to her vocation? For one thing, Juanita did not feel she was holy enough. Furthermore, she was afraid she might not have the health required for such an austere vocation.

There is no doubt but that Mother Angelica was powerfully impressed with Juanita’s letters. In fact, she told Juanita she was a “born Carmelite.” Just how impressed she was can be garnered from a reading of the outstanding Circular Letter Mother Angelica wrote to the other Carmels immediately after Sister Teresa’s death. Mother Angelica was fully convinced “that her knowledge of the Carmelite vocation did not come from her intelligence and reflection alone. These thoughts came, she said, from an understanding which God put in her soul concerning the vocation to which He was calling her.”

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This striking image of Christ Pantocrator—inspired by the style of Viktor Vasnetsov—shows Jesus blessing with His right hand while holding the Gospel open in His left. The Slavonic text and iconographic details suggest it originates from a Russian or Serbian Orthodox church. Image credit: oleg_ru / Adobe Stock (Used under license).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
What helps you trust Jesus as your Captain—even when you don’t know where He’s leading?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#abandonment #CarmeliteSpirituality #grace #SequelaChristi #soldier #StTeresaOfTheAndes #willOfGod

Quote of the day, 7 April: St. John Paul II

“I am the light of the world” (Jn 8:12)

Sister Teresa of the Andes—Teresa of Jesus, a Discalced Carmelite—is a light of Christ for the entire Church in Chile. She is the first canonized saint of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America and is now enrolled among the saints of the universal Church.

As in the first reading from the Book of Samuel, Teresa does not stand out because of her appearance or stature. The sacred text reminds us: “The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). And so, in a short life of just over 19 years—and in only eleven months as a Carmelite—God allowed the light of his Son, Jesus Christ, to shine through her in an extraordinary way. She now serves as a beacon and guide for a world that has grown blind to divine radiance.

To a secularized society that lives turned away from God, this young Carmelite from Chile—whom I joyfully present as a model of the Gospel’s enduring youth—offers the clear testimony of a life that proclaims to today’s men and women: in loving, adoring, and serving God, we find human greatness and joy, true freedom, and the fullness of our calling. From the silence of the cloister, the life of Blessed Teresa quietly cries out: “God alone suffices!”

And she proclaims this especially to young people, who are hungry for truth and searching for a light that gives meaning to life. To a generation bombarded by constant messages and the pressures of an eroticized culture—to a society that confuses real love, which is self-giving, with the hedonistic use of others—this young virgin of the Andes proclaims the beauty and joy that flow from hearts that are pure.

Now, from eternity, Saint Teresa of the Andes continues her intercession as an advocate for countless brothers and sisters. She who found her heaven on earth in espousing Jesus now beholds him face to face, and from that place of intimacy, she prays for all who seek the light of Christ.

Saint John Paul II

Canonization Homily for Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes
Sunday, 21 March 1993

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

Featured image: Photographer Juan Jose Napuri captures this stunning image of Laguna Torres in Torres del Paine National Park, a famous landmark of Patagonia in southern Chile. Image credit: peruphotoart / Adobe Stock (Asset ID# 304107267)

💠 Appreciate these quotes from the Carmelites?
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💠 Reflection question:
Where do you see Christ’s light shining in today’s world—and how are you called to reflect it?
Share your thoughts in the comments.

#canonization #Christ #contemplation #homily #light #purity #StJohnPaulII #StTeresaOfTheAndes #translation #youth

Quote of the day, 16 March: St. Teresa of the Andes

The Carmelite must ascend the Tabor of Carmel and be clothed with the garments of penance that will make her more like Jesus. And, as He, she wants to be transformed, to be transfigured in order to be converted into God.

The Carmelite must ascend Calvary. There she will immolate herself for souls. Love crucifies her; she dies to herself and to the world. She is buried, and her tomb is the Heart of Jesus; and from there she rises, is reborn to a new life and spiritually lives united to the whole world.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Her Intimate Spiritual Diary, 58

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.

Featured image: The featured image is a detail from a stained glass window depicting the Transfiguration, located in the Church of Saint-Thurien in Plogonnec, Finistère, France. Created in the early 16th century, the window has undergone restorations in 1912 and 1956. Source details retrieved from pop.culture.gouv.fr. Image credit: Musée de Bretagne (Some rights reserved).

💜 Transformation comes through surrender. How is Christ calling you to be transfigured today?

#Calvary #Carmel #HeartOfJesus #immolation #penance #StTeresaOfTheAndes #Tabor #Transfiguration

Quote of the day, 14 March: St. Teresa of the Andes

Resolutions For 1917

1. To accept sacrifices interiorly without murmuring or being discouraged.
2. I must be more hidden.
3. I must strive to work for the happiness of others.
4. I will try to practice virtue in an amiable way for the sake of others. I must forget myself:
   • By uniting myself to Jesus;
   • In being charitable to my neighbor;
   • In not giving my opinion unless asked;
   • In suffering humiliations with joy by being nice to those who cause me humiliations;
   • By living with Jesus in the depths of my soul, which must be His little home where He can repose. I will adore Him and offer Him mortifications, sufferings and humiliations. To live with God, isn’t this heaven on earth?

To live with Him in unity of thoughts, sentiments, and actions so that in looking at me the Father will find the image of His Son. And the Holy Spirit, in seeing the Father and Son residing in me, will make me His bride, and the three Persons will come to make their abode in me.

I must contemplate Jesus Crucified in my soul. I will imitate Him and receive the Blood of my Jesus at the foot of the cross, which I will preserve in my soul and which I must communicate to the souls of my neighbors so that, through the Blood of Christ, they may be washed clean.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Her Intimate Spiritual Diary (excerpt)

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.

Featured image: Discalced Carmelites bear witness to the virtue of charity each and every day. You can find this photo and others like it in our 2020 slideshow of scenes from daily life at Maryton Carmel at Liverpool, England. Image credit: Maryton Carmel Liverpool and the Association of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (by kind permission)

#charity #DiscalcedCarmelite #familyLife #love #monasticLife #nuns #reconciliation #sacrifice #StTeresaOfTheAndes

Quote of the day, 8 March: St. Teresa of the Andes

My goal is to love and serve God. For if I love God, I’ll fulfill His divine will.

What is His Will? That I follow Him and be perfect.

How can I most easily attain perfection? By means of the evangelical counsels: obedience, chastity and poverty.

I must follow Jesus Christ wherever He calls me, since that is my salvation.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Resolutions, Retreat of 1918

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.

Featured image: The Calling of Saint Matthew, Caravaggio (Italian 1571–1610), oil on canvas, ca. 1599–1600, Contarelli Chapel, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

#Call #DivineWill #evangelicalCounsels #followingJesus #goal #love #perfection #salvation #StTeresaOfTheAndes

Quote of the day, 7 January: St. Teresa of the Andes

Mommy, there’s no need to worry, since I’m always on vacation with Jesus. Besides, from Christmas, the 25th until January 6, we had several recreation days which we might call a Carmelite’s vacation time.

Nevertheless, Mommy, nothing seems to distract a soul that’s searching for God alone. I myself am shocked when I see my indifference over what had previously filled me with enthusiasm. My only happiness now is to live for my Jesus alone. In Him I find everything my soul desires in an infinite degree.

I never tire, Mommy dear, of thanking God for having chosen me for Himself, despite my sinfulness; and may the vocation of your Carmelite always help you to love and praise Him more.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 157 to her mother
18 January 1920

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Andes mountains are always a stunning view in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. The Cuernos del Paine are one of the features that await tourists to the nation’s Southern Patagonia region. Image credit: Adobe Stock (Stock photo)

#Carmelite #Jesus #recreation #StTeresaOfTheAndes #vocation #monasticLife #happiness #GodAlone #Christmas

Advent III — Joy

SCRIPTURE

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.
The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
as on a day of festival.

Zephaniah 3:14-18a

READING

“To live always joyfully. God is infinite joy” (14 May 1919).

“When one loves, everything is joy. The cross doesn’t weigh down. Martyrdom isn’t felt. One lives more in heaven than on earth. The life of Carmel is to love. This is our vocation” (May 1919).

Saint Teresa of the Andes

From the writings of St. Teresa of the Andes

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.

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.

Featured image: Photographer Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. captures this image of a rose vestment and Advent wreath. Image credit: Lawrence Lew O.P. / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#Advent #Carmel #joy #love #StTeresaOfTheAndes #vocation

Quote of the day, 18 November: St. Teresa of the Andes

What you must strive for is to be more and more with God each day; to empty out your heart of everything that is not Him; to have no other love; not to worry about anyone and, when those thoughts of creatures come to you, to reject them that you may think of God.

Let’s respond to Him with our whole being. Oh, may everything belong to Him from this moment. Let’s live for Him alone.

For this, let’s live in intimate union with our Jesus in the depths of our souls. When we serve creatures, let’s serve Him in them with a love and perfection worthy of Him. Whatever we do, may it be for love of Him. He, at every moment, acts lovingly within us.

Tell Him: “I’m worn out: I don’t feel like working, but I’ll do it for love of You. Lord, everything I do is for You alone. It doesn’t matter whether people praise or look at me, for even if they weren’t there, I’d do it for You just the same. I desire only to be seen by You, my Love.”

Tell Him this as often as you can.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 146 to a girlfriend
November 1919

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Detail from the last photo taken of St. Teresa of the Andes, where she is embroidering a purificator. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

#GodAlone #intimacy #love #prayer #StTeresaOfTheAndes #unionWithGod

I am the happiest person with my vocation and never tire of thanking God for having brought me to this little corner of heaven.

I live for God alone. My sole concern is to know Him that I may love Him more. I have begun the life of heaven here on earth, a life invented and thought of by God through all eternity; a life of love alone and of ceaseless praise.

If you could see but for an instant what’s in the soul of this Carmelite postulant, you’d understand the happiness of living always near the tabernacle. Alone with Him in His aloneness, I am there at the chapel grates or in my humble cell.

There is nothing between Him and His creature now. I hear His divine voice always. I gaze on always and contemplate His infinite beauty. I feel always the beating of my God’s Heart, begging me for love because He knows that love contains everything: sacrifice and souls.

Sister dear, without doubt, as Jesus Himself said to Magdalene, He has chosen for me “the best part.” A Carmelite is to be concerned with her God alone. She’s to live, no longer on earth, but in God. She is to move and to work and to breathe far from people, far from earthly things. We are to remember the world but only in order to pray for it and for people but without letting ourselves be influenced by them, without breathing in their impure atmosphere.

Jesus has imprisoned me here to unite Himself with me, nothing disturbing this gaze, this vision of this adorable Face of His which one day I shall possess in its fullness there in heaven. I often imagine that I am like a queen; for while others serve the King in the apostolate of action, I, like a queen, am by His side, listening to Him, contemplating Him, praying together with Him, and joining Him in His own suffering. He exchanges His own feelings with my own, by divinizing them. He surrounds me with His divine light, beautifying my soul with His teachings.

Oh, how good is this Jesus to me, His poor creature. He does not want to be separated from me for a moment. He seeks comfort and rest in my soul. He has made me like unto Himself by transforming me into a host.

Yes, a Carmelite is a host who carries Jesus within herself. She is not the one acting. It is He. He sacrifices her, offers her up in silence, just as He sacrifices and immolates Himself silently on the altar. She prays always with Jesus at the altar; she saves souls but by looking to Jesus. She sheds her heart’s blood by denying herself in all things. She has sacrificed everything for Jesus.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 141 to Amelia Montt Martinez (excerpt)
October 1919

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Image credit for the photo of St. Teresa of the Andes goes to the Discalced Carmelites.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/20/andes-ltr141/

#CarmelOfLosAndes #contemplativeLife #happiness #Jesus #postulant #prayer #StTeresaOfTheAndes #vocation

October 15
Feastday of my Holy Mother, Saint Teresa of Avila

I wrote to Carmel. I asked Saint Teresa to allow me to celebrate her feastday in Carmel next year. Yesterday I spoke with Him; and He told me that three things are needed to come to complete union within myself:

1. I should never speak about myself, or give my opinion unless they seek it;
2. I should prefer all others to myself, and consider myself as the least one and as the servant of all;
3. I should consider the little I am worth and humiliate myself interiorly, seeing how miserable I am;
4. I shouldn’t take pleasure in anything but give thanks to Him when any sacrifice is asked of me.

With my neighbor:

1. In all my dealings with people, I should always maintain a spirit of faith, seeing God in my neighbor;
2. Whenever I converse with any young man I have Him present and see His beauty.

With God:

1. Humble, annihilated before Him.
2. Loving and seeking charity.

Saint Teresa of the Andes

Her Intimate Spiritual Diary, 46 (1918)

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.

Featured image: St. Teresa of the Andes before she entered the Carmel of Los Andes. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites, altered with AI tools by Carmelite Quotes

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/15/andes-15oct18/

#CarmelOfLosAndes #charity #humility #prayer #service #spiritualGrowth #StTeresaOfAvila #StTeresaOfTheAndes #vocation

With every passing day, Rev. Father, I love our Lord more and I unite myself more to Him in everything. All I do is directed to Him with love, since this is the strength that enables me do even things for which I feel the greatest repugnance.

In prayer I have greater fervor, so that sometimes I spend twenty minutes completely immersed in Him, as if in a great ocean, where I lose myself and at other times, as though drawn by His immensity. Then I feel a great desire to be united with Him.

Oh, how good Our Lord is! At each moment it seems I can touch and hold Him close to my heart. So close to Him do I feel that at times, when my eyes are closed, I imagine I’ll see Him when I open them.

Still, Rev. Father, don’t think that everything is joy. I’m in such an atrocious state of doubt that I don’t even know how to make a decision as to whether I should become a Carmelite or a Sacred Heart Sister. That’s why I’m searching for light.

You, Rev. Father, know me well. Since I’ve allowed you to read everything in my soul, you will be able to advise me. I only want to do God’s will.

A Carmelite needs to be united to God and completely filled with Him, but she keeps this spirit; while a Sacred Heart Sister must be filled with God and give Him to souls. She, therefore, needs greater union; for, if she doesn’t possess it, she’ll remain without God and will have nothing to give to souls.

But what terrifies me, Rev. Father, is that I don’t remain united to God when dealing a great deal with creatures. For I’ve learned from experience that by dealing a little more with them, I grow colder in my love for God.

I also think that Our Lord has very clearly made known to me that I should become a Carmelite, even though I don’t know any Carmelites. But I believe this because I’ve already read the Life of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus.

What I’m perfectly sure of is, that ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to join a very austere community and have no dealings with the world.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 45 to Father José Blanch, C.M.F. (excerpts)
13 December 1918

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Andes mountains are always a stunning view in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. The Cuernos del Paine are one of the features that await tourists to the nation’s Southern Patagonia region. Image credit: Adobe Stock (Stock photo)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/09/22/andes-ltr45/

#autobiography #Carmelite #cloisteredLife #discernment #SacredHeart #spiritualDirection #StTeresaOfTheAndes #StThérèseOfLisieux #unionWithGod #vocation

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.

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

Note: St. Teresa of the Andes made her First Holy Communion on 11 September 1910 in the chapel of Sacred Heart private school in Santiago. Bishop Ramón Ángel Jara Ruz presided at Holy Mass.

of the Andes, T 2003, The Writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes: An Abridgement, translated from the Spanish by Father Michael D. Griffin, OCD, New Life Publishing Company.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/09/10/andes-1commun/

#alone #FirstCommunion #Jesus #love #mysticalExperience #peace #soul #StTeresaOfTheAndes #suffer #union #voice

Join us as we observe the feast day of St. Teresa of the Andes on July 13. Our blog has all the prayers from the Discalced Carmelite breviary. Celebrate her ardent love for Christ and joyful witness to charity. #StTeresaoftheAndes

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/07/11/andeslit24/

July 13
SAINT TERESA OF JESUS FERNÁNDEZ SOLAR
Virgin

Memorial
In the houses in Chile: Feast

Juanita Fernández 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,
God, for ever and ever.

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

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#DiscalcedCarmelite #JuanitaFernandezSolar #LiturgyOfTheHours #Memorial #StTeresaOfTheAndes #virgin

J.M.J.T.

Convent of the Holy Spirit
Los Andes, May 8, 1919

Don Miguel Fernández J.

May the grace of the Holy Spirit rest in the soul of my dear Daddy:

Our Rev. Mother had the great kindness of letting me converse a bit with my Daddy whom I love so much. Thanks, a million thanks for your generous permission [to enter Carmel]. You can’t imagine how happy I am being here. I’ve found heaven on earth at last.

Although it’s true that yesterday I left my family with my heart in tatters, today I enjoy unalterable peace.

You can’t imagine, Daddy dear, you can’t imagine our Rev. Mother’s affection and real maternal care; the same is true of each dear Sister’s affection. I can never thank them enough.

Now I’m writing to you from my little cell which, although quite poor, I wouldn’t trade for the dwelling of the richest people on earth. I feel happiness in the midst of poverty, because I have God, and God alone is enough for me.

I’ve already begun my mission of constantly praying for my own family. I’ll never forget you in my prayers, not for a moment. May God accept my prayers and grant you whatever you need.

I’m so happy that, despite my not having met the Sisters before, I feel as if I had always lived in their midst.

Goodbye, my beautiful Daddy. Be consoled, amid this separation, by knowing that you will always have someone praying to Our Lord for you, now that you’ve given your daughter what makes her happy. I’ll never be able to repay you.

Farewell, Daddy. At the feet of Our Lord, your Carmelite daughter is still closely united with you and loves you so.

Teresa of Jesus, Carmelite

Greetings to Adelaida and the rest.

Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

Letter 94

Note: The day after Teresa entered the Carmel of Los Andes, she wrote two letters: this letter to her father and another to her mother.

Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2023, The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Photographer Benjamín Mejías Valencia captures the scene at kilometer 19 (Cerro Chacabuco) of the annual youth pilgrimage, “From Chacabuco to Carmelo, a Path of Holiness,” organized by the Archdiocese of Santiago through its Vicariate of Esperanza Joven (Hope Youth Ministry) in conjunction with the Shrine of St. Teresa of Los Andes in Auco. This event brings together a large number of young people from across Chile each year, fostering religious devotion and providing pastoral attention to the participants.

The pilgrimage covers 27 km, starting from the town of Casas de Chacabuco and ending at the Carmelite shrine, following the Chacabuco slope as the route. Along the way, institutions associated with the youth ministry set up refreshment stations to support the pilgrims on their journey.

At the conclusion of the pilgrimage, a grand Eucharist is celebrated on the shrine’s esplanade. The Mass is presided over by the Cardinal Archbishop of Santiago, concelebrated by the Bishop of San Felipe, the Rector of the Shrine, and other priests and communities in attendance.

The pilgrimage is typically held on the third Saturday of October each year, with the date confirmed annually by the youth vicariate. Image credit: Benjamín Mejías Valencia / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

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#affection #Carmelite #familyLife #God #mission #monastery #monasticLife #nuns #poverty #prayer #StTeresaOfTheAndes

St. Teresa of the Andes called herself "a rebellious bit of dust," offering a heartfelt prayer to Jesus, clinging to his love, tenderness, and mercy: "forget my ungratefulness and take me to Yourself completely... May I live submerged in your love."

✝ On this Ash Wednesday, read her prayer:
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/02/21/andes-dust/

#ashwednesday #stteresaoftheandes #dust #ashes #prayer #jesus #love #tenderness #mercy #trust #carmelites #quotes

At her beatification, St John Paul II lifted up the example of Teresa of the Andes as a model for holiness for all the laity, especially the youth.

Visit our blog to read an excerpt from his homily:
http://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/01/28/jp2-andes/

#stteresaoftheandes #stjohnpaulii #beatitudes #joy #perfection #example #jesuschrist #homily #santiagodechile #beatification #mass #catholic #carmelite #quotes #inspiration