St. Teresa of the Andes
July 13 is her feast day.
Her pen overflowed when speaking of Jesus and her vocation during the short and intense 11 months she lived in Carmel, “We live for Jesus alone. Just as the angels in heaven incessantly sing His praises, so does a Carmelite echo those praises here on earth, whether near to the tabernacle where God who is Love lives imprisoned, or in the intimate depths of her soul’s heaven, where faith tells her God dwells. Our vocation’s objective is love, the greatest thing a human heart can possess. This love is a bonfire where the soul is consumed and made one with her God. That blazing fire permits nothing to stand in its path … How beautiful our vocation is, my dear sister! We are together with our Savior, redeemers of souls. We’re hosts in which Jesus dwells … (Let. 130). My vocation becomes more dear to me the more I penetrate it. The true Carmelite, as I understand it, does not live. God is the one who lives in her. That is what I try to accomplish: to contemplate unceasingly the Divine Being . . .” - Carmel Clarion
July 14th, 2007 at 7:28 am
I was an exchange student in Chile in 1993 when she was canonized. Unfortunately, I was a clueless Lutheran at the time, but looking back, the popular devotion tinged with honest patriotism was quite impressive. Her image was seen everywhere. It was almost as if Chile had one the World Cup.
July 14th, 2007 at 7:31 am
Phonology trumps orthography. Why did I type “one” for “won”? I’ve had enough to drink.