aeternus

I have said before that St. Teresa de los Andes is one of my particular favorite Saints. One can never say why certain souls feel connected, but it is certain that her spirituality in the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel has a definite magnetism for me. I have her on my iPod via Meditations from Carmel Podcast and loaded up on CDs in my car while driving. My children like to hum along to the Queen and Beauty of Mount Carmel theme song at the beginnings of each meditation! It is great then that they have the chance to sing this beautiful hymn (which comes via the Carmel in Boston I believe) during our Novena at the Monastery this week.

Here is a little bit of writing from Teresa. It comes from the Carmelite Proper…

July 13
St. Teresa of Jesus “of the Andes”, Virgin

OC: Optional Memorial
OCD: Memorial

Juanita Fernandez 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 Pope 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 Spiritual writings of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Andes

“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 athrist 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.”

top photos: Teresa’s cell at the Carmel in the Andes Mountains. Also, Pope John Paul II blesses the statue of St. Teresa de los Andes at St. Peters Basilica in Rome.