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.

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