Quote of the day, 7 December: St. Teresa of Avila

Her undaunted spirit first began to show signs of itself when she was only seven and decided to set off with her brother Rodrigo for the land of the Moors to have her head cut off for Christ.

Kieran Kavanaugh, o.c.d.
The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Introduction

My brothers and sisters did not in any way hold me back from the service of God. I had one brother about my age. We used to get together to read the lives of the saints. (He was the one I liked most, although I had great love for them all and they for me). When I considered the martyrdoms the saints suffered for God, it seemed to me that the price they paid for going to enjoy God was very cheap, and I greatly desired to die in the same way. I did not want this on account of the love I felt for God but to get to enjoy very quickly the wonderful things I read there were in heaven. And my brother and I discussed together the means we should take to achieve this. We agreed to go off to the land of the Moors and beg them, out of love of God, to cut off our heads there.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Book of Her Life, ch. 1, no. 4

The Fascinating Story of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of El Viejo

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of El Viejo is the patroness of Nicaragua. The town of El Viejo was named in honor of one of St. Teresa of Avila’s brothers, who lived there in his old age. Many accounts suggest it was her brother Rodrigo.

Rodrigo shared one of St. Teresa’s earliest spiritual adventures. At seven years old, the young Teresa believed the quickest way to heaven was to travel to Moorish lands and be martyred for the faith. She persuaded Rodrigo, four years her senior, to embark on this mission with her. Thankfully, their uncle found the siblings and brought them back to their parents, much to the relief of their family—and the entire Church.

Decades later, Rodrigo, now an elderly man, traveled to Central America. He intended to go to Peru, but a storm forced his ship to land, and Rodrigo ended up in Chamulpa, Nicaragua, where he stayed.

When Rodrigo set sail for the Americas, he brought with him a statue of the Blessed Mother, believed to have belonged to St. Teresa. The people of Chamulpa quickly developed a deep devotion to the statue and were disappointed when Rodrigo decided to continue his journey to Peru, taking the statue with him. Once again, bad weather intervened, forcing the ship to return to Nicaragua with the statue.

This event convinced the people of Nicaragua that Our Lady had chosen them and desired to remain among them. The town of Chamulpa was later renamed El Viejo in honor of Rodrigo.

The statue first arrived in Nicaragua in the 16th century. It was solemnly crowned by the people in 1747. Pope John Paul II approved its papal coronation in 1989 and granted the shrine the status of a Minor Basilica in 1995. In 2001, the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference declared her the country’s patroness.

Documents linking the statue to St. Teresa of Avila and her family date back to the early 17th century. While most versions of the story agree on its essential details, some differ—such as whether Rodrigo reached Peru or remained in Nicaragua with the statue until his death. One version attributes the story to Lorenzo de Cepeda y Ahumada, another of St. Teresa’s brothers, who is said to have brought the statue to Nicaragua.

Even though the exact details remain uncertain, the connection between the statue and St. Teresa’s family is well-established.

When the image found its home in Chamulpa, local Franciscan friars encouraged people to visit the statue and bring it offerings of sweets and fruit. Over time, the blessings and favors received through Our Lady’s intercession far surpassed these simple gestures. To this day, local sweets are distributed to children every December 8 in honor of the Immaculate Conception of El Viejo.

Immaculate Conception of El Viejo, pray for us!

Ellen Mady, Aleteia

¿Conoces la conexión entre santa Teresa de Ávila, Nuestra Señora, y Nicaragua?
Aleteia, 8 March 2018

https://flic.kr/p/37P44h

Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

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

Featured image: The Immaculate Conception by Italian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770) was one of the last paintings created by Tiepolo before his death. This majestic image was part of a cycle of seven altarpieces commissioned in 1767 for the new royal church of San Pascual Bailón at Aranjuez, founded by Charles III in the same year. The anonymous portrait of St. Teresa comes from the 16th century. They both flank the traditional blue and white flag of Nicaragua. Image credits: Museo del Prado, Discalced Carmelites (Public domain)

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