Religious vocation & the family's sacrifice

Fear not offering your children back to God. He will reward you in unimaginable ways.

** Please keep in mind that this is just a clip. Many scenes have been cut out.

Memorial of St Teresa of the Andes

 "July 13, 2000, was the centenary year of the birth of St. Teresa of the Andes (Juanita Fernández Solar). This centenary year fell within the great jubilee, which gives greater enhancement to the anniversary of the birth of the Chilean Carmelite. There have already been articles about Teresa of the Andes, so I limit myself by way of introduction to some following brief biographical notes for the benefit of those readers less familiar with Teresa of the Andes.

 

Juanita Fernandez Solar was born in Santiago, Chile, on July 13, 1900, to a family of Santiagan lineage. Her parents were Don Miguel Fernández Jaraquemada and Doña Lucía Solar Armstrong. The children of this marriage were Lucía, Miguel, Luis, Juana (who died a few hours after birth), Juanita (St Teresa of the Andes), Rebeca, and Ignacio. From her earliest years, she knew the suffering that came to the family due to her father’s bankruptcy. This came about perhaps from his poor administration of the great patrimony that the Fernandez Solar family had inherited. One after another, he lost all their properties. This situation caused a gradual distancing between Don Miguel and Doña Lucía.  He lived in the countryside attempting to administer the inherited properties while Doña Lucía lived in Santiago with her six children, trying to give them an education corresponding to their high position in society and trying to survive on the little money the father was able to provide. The most painful thing for Juanita was not the lack of money but the tension this caused between her parents. She herself was very caring and sensitive and a veritable angel of peace in the bosom of the family.

For eleven years, she was a student at the College of the Sacred Heart, or of “the English nuns,” as the sisters who ran the place were called. Of these eleven years, she spent three as an internal student. Especially at the beginning, it was a real martyrdom for her to be separated from her family, even though her sister Rebeca shared this internship with her. At the age of eighteen, she entered the Carmel of the Holy Spirit in Los Andes, where she spent only eleven months. A brief sickness ended her life on April 13, 1920.  On April 3, 1987, his Holiness John Paul II beatified her during his apostolic visit to Chile; and on March 21, 1993, he canonized her in Rome.

Today her mortal remains lie in the Sanctuary of Auco, a veritable citadel that has been built in honor of the saint and for the thousands of pilgrims who come there every month.

 

Another Carmelite Mystic

The Carmelite Order is clearly contemplative. It has its origins in Israel in the twelfth century and was reformed by St Teresa of Avila. It has been a seed-bed of saints and mystics who have been nourished by the charisma of St Teresa and St John of the Cross. But within this charisma, there is great diversity. In fact, each Carmelite lives it in the light of his or her own personal vocation. Numbered among the saints and mystics have been Teresa Margaret Redi, the little Florentine saint of the eighteenth century; Thérèse of the Child Jesus and Elizabeth of the Trinity, French women of the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries; St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), a German Jewess martyred in 1942 and recently canonized by his Holiness John Paul II. This is just to mention a few of the more well-known ones and without reference to the Carmelite friars. All these lived the charisma of the Order completely, but each one lived it according to their own time and according to their own personal temperament; moreover, each one had his or her own concrete mission within the Church.

Different from St Thérèse and Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity, who arrived at the highest degrees of union with God by a simple path, with few mystical phenomena, Teresa of the Andes had a rather extraordinary spirituality from her earliest years. She did not write her autobiography and so, to be able to understand her experience of God, all we have is her diary, sometimes interrupted by long time lapses; her letters, particularly those written to her spiritual directors Fathers José Blanch, CMF; Artemio Colom, SJ; some testimonies from those who knew her better like Mother Angélica, prioress of Los Andes and her mistress of novices; Father Avertano of the Most Holy Sacrament, OCD, her confessor in Carmel; and an extract from a letter of Father Fauvert, which tells of an ecstasy and levitation of Juanita described by Father Félix Henle, a Redemporist and eye witness of the event. Nevertheless, these few facts are sufficient to approach a little into the mystical phenomenology of Teresa of the Andes. But it is important to keep in mind that what interests a person approaching a mystic is not a kind of phenomena that has been experienced, but the experience of God, the acceptance of God’s will, and the work brought about by God in this person.

Let us not imagine that Juanita was born a saint. Like every human being, she had defects and limitations of which she was aware. She had a strong character, a great sensitivity; she had tantrums that at times she could not control; but none of this prevented her from modeling her personality according to the rhythm of God’s demands. Neither let us believe that her life was boring; on the contrary, she was a joyful young person with many friends, given the leadership in her temperament. She was very much into sports and enjoyed horseback riding, swimming, and tennis. She played the piano and had a beautiful voice. She was admired by many young people; but even though she accepted friendship, she never wanted to be enamored of anyone because from her childhood, she was enamored of God. This young woman whom we might call “modern” had nevertheless from her earliest years begun to perceive special graces that God bestowed on her. In a letter to Father Falgueras, she says: “From the age of seven, more or less, a great devotion to my Mother, the Most Holy Virgin, was born in my soul. I told her everything that happened to me, and she would speak to me …” (Letter of April 24, 1919).  From her tenth year and from the day of her first Communion, it is Jesus himself to whom she speaks and whom she is allowed to see. But Juanita didn’t see these things as exceptional, because she believed that everyone experienced the same thing. It was only when she told Mother Ríos, a religious of the Sacred Heart, about it that she was made to see that she was dealing with extraordinary graces; and on that account, she would have to be very generous in her response.

 

These mystical graces were building up the personality of this youth, and the work of God in her was not made to wait. She quickly began to struggle with her strong temperament—to make an effort with her studies and to avoid any friction with her siblings and her cousins. She was becoming gentler and was a sewer of peace."

-- Originally published in Spanish in Teresa de Jesús  and reprinted in Carmelite Digest by Sr Helena Esquerra, ocd

** This is the only photo of St Teresa as a novice in the monastery. 

Make me Yours always

“I keep myself closely united to Our Lord within the home of my soul.  Whenever I go out on the street or to the theater or to take a walk, I tell Our Lord: “My Jesus, although perhaps no one here is thinking about You, but here is a heart that belongs completely to you.  I adore You, I love You.  Make me Yours always.”  In this way I keep myself recollected and removed from worldly things and every time we must go out, we must promise to remain united to Our Lord in the cells of our souls.”


-- From a letter from St Teresa of the Andes to Mother Angelica Teresa, prioress of the Monastery of the Holy Ghost in Los Andes, Chile

I am alone on the altar for your love

"One day I was alone in my room.  Because of my illness they spoiled me so that I could not remain alone.  That day Lucita was sick and Elisea-a servant who took care of my dear grandfather, went to be with her. I then 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 telling me: 'What!  I, Juanita, am alone on the altar for your love, and you cannot even suffer for a moment?'   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"


-- From the Diary of St Teresa of the Andes, ocd

Heaven is a never-ending Communion

"I want to tell you about my happiness.  Yes, I want you to feel for just a moment, the happiness of belonging entirely to God, but there's no human language that can express the divine feelings in which my soul finds itself submerged.  I've given Him everything, it's true, but I've also come to posses the One who is Everything.  If your love and sacrifices make you love Him more, what can I tell you, when in God love knows no limit and His immolation of self can never be greater since His Wisdom has exhausted every possibility. Oh, though I want to love Him in an infinite degree; I feel more and more my inability and my flaws.  I wish I could exhaust myself and die very quickly in order to love Him.  But the sight of the sinful world, of the glacial coldness surrounding the altar keeps me back.  Seeing it I would rather "suffer and not die."  Yes, to suffer and not die that I may weep with the Divine Prisoner and console Him in His exile.  I wish I could help people understand that the Eucharist is a heaven.  Given that "heaven is only a tabernacle without doors, a Eucharist without veils,"  heaven is a never-ending Communion."

-- From a letter of St Teresa of the Andes, ocd

I should live only by seeing God and my soul in all things

"I felt a strong impulse to go to prayer. I began with my spiritual Communion but in making my thanksgiving my soul was dominated by love. One by one the perfections of God were presented to me: His goodness, His wisdom, His immensity, His mercy, His holiness and justice. There was a moment when I did not know anything. I felt that I was in God. When I contemplated the justice of God, I began to be fearful. I would have wanted to flee or to hand myself over to His justice. I saw hell, whose fire was enkindled by the anger of God, and annihilating myself I begged for mercy and felt that I was filled with it. I saw how horrible a thing sin is. I want to die before committing it. I promised to see God in His creatures and to live in great recollection. He told me to strive to be very perfect and in a practical way He explained to me each one of His perfections. I should do all my actions with perfection so that between Him and me there would be unity, since I would not have it if I did something imperfect. Afterward I remained as though not knowing what was going on in my head, and I was afraid to present myself before the others, because I believed I still had something that would make me conspicuous. I believe that more than an hour went by. In the evening I did not have much fervor but I was recollected.

-o-

I made my prayer. I felt love and union with God, but I had very little recollection. For a long time I kept on without thinking of anything. I just remained there passively receiving the rays of the Divine Sun. Our Lord asked that I should obey through faith. He told me that He desired for me the greatest purity possible. I should live without worrying about things of the body, as though the body did not exist. I should look for no comfort. I should live only by seeing God and my soul in all things... Afterward I felt the pain of separation and even fear of such an austere life that I am going to live. But then I grew calm by putting my confidence in God." -- St Teresa of the Andes

-- God the Joy of my Life by Fr Michael D Griffin, ocd

Hand yourself over to Him and you will be transformed

"[L]et yourself be invaded by God. Live in Him through faith. Hand yourself over to Him passively. He won't fail to take possession of your whole being. He is love; and we exist only because of His infinite Goodness. Let's breathe in, to put it that way, the divine milieu in which we live. God is in us, and in every created thing. Let's adore Him with faith. Everything changes when we look at the Divine Sun. May faith be the lens that reveals to you your Creator. A soul that has faith has everything, because it has God. Sufferings are transformed by faith.

The important thing is not to concentrate on the external. We should examine the source from which things are born, and faith will make it known: it's God's love which tries, refines and purifies our soul. When you're suffering, look at Jesus. He is loving you with tenderness, because you are participating in His cross, in the cross He carried in His most divine Heart from Bethlehem to Calvary. Place yourself and everything around you in that Heart of Jesus. Live abandoned to His holy Will. From that abandonment, oneness with God will be born."

Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes translated by Fr Michael D Griffin, ocd

At each moment resolve to fulfill God's will, and you can live in perpetual communion with Him

"We can live in perpetual communion with Love by making ourselves one with His will. May the divine will never find resistance in our soul. There must always reign in our soul a faith-filled spirit. Amid this pure air, the voice of God which should always rule over us is never lost. May our soul be like a participation in Him. God within Himself always accomplishes what He wills. May we, lost as insignificant things amid His immensity, also accomplish everything He desires. How shall we become more like Him except by doing His divine will? In loving and embracing it, we love and embrace a good that is infinitely pleasing to God; a good that contains within itself eternal reason; a good in which eternal wisdom is present; a good in which there is infinite power; a good in which there is present, in a condensed way, all the love and holiness of our God. In carrying out that good, are we not working together with God? And in working as God would have us, we are another God. In a word, we become Him.

For this reason, we must put up with everything, love everything as an expression of the will of God who wishes to sanctify us, for Jesus Christ has already told us that it is God's will that we be holy. And I think that the way most suited to our miserable condition is to look to the present, that is, at each moment to resolve to fulfill God's will perfectly accepting everything He sends us, whether prosperity or adversity, whether proceeding from ourselves, from circumstances around us, or from other people."

-- Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes translated by Fr Michael D Griffin, ocd

He is my unending wealth, my bliss, my heaven

"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."

-- St Teresa of the Andes

Feast day of Saint Teresa of the Andes

"Let us love the Divine Little Child who suffers so much

without finding consolation in His creatures.

May He find refuge in our souls, a haven where He can heal in the

midst of the hatred of His enemies and a garden of delights where

He can forget the forgetfulness of His friends."

-- St Teresa of the Andes

"Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes was born in Santiago, Chile, on July 12, 1920. Her secular name was Juanita Fernández Solar. Her father was Miguel Fernández and her mother was Lucía Solar de Fernández. She was baptized at the parish Church of Saint Ann in Santiago on the vigil of the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which is Chile's titular feast. At baptism the little girl was named Juana Enriqueta Josefina of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

The Fernández family was a religious family. The young girl was surrounded by evidence of Christian virtues. From the time she was six, her mother and aunt Juana took her to daily Mass. Juanita loved to assist at Mass and was most eager to receive the Eucharist. She made her first Holy Communion at ten. She noted in her Diary: 'It was on that day that I heard the sweet voice of my Jesus for the first time' (D6).

Her parents enrolled their gifted daughter in schools conducted by the Religious of the Sacred Heart so that she would be given a sound academic education, where her character would be formed according to the ideals of the Christian faith and where she would grow in holiness.

When she was eighteen, Juanita entered the Carmel of Los Andes, Chile, and was given the name Sister Teresa of Jesus in honor of the great Carmelite saint of Avila. Overcome with humility by the grace of being called to the religious life, she wrote to a friend, 'What has God seen in us, that He loves us to the point of wanting us to be His friends and brides of His Heart' (L51).

Sister Teresa lived in the Monastery of Los Andes for eleven months, wore the habit of Carmel less than five and then was stricken with typhus. In danger of death, she was permitted to make her religious vows and thus died as a professed Carmelite Sister.

Immediately after her death in 1920, extraordinary things began to happen. People from all walks of life were moved by God to see in this young Chilean girl a model of perfect holiness. Many also found her to be a wonderful friend and intercessor before God. The fame of her holiness grew. As a result, she was beatified on April 3, 1987, in Santiago and solemnly canonized in Rome by the same Pope on March 21, 1993. On that occasion, Pope John Paul II called her 'an eminently contemplative soul' and proposed her as a model for youth. A short time later, the bishops of Chile declared her the patroness of children, especially homeless children or children in juvenile prisons." -- Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes translated by Fr Michael D Griffin, ocd

St Teresa of the Andes, pray for us!

Learn more about St Teresa of the Andes, visit the Shrine's website (Spanish only).