Halotis Pourtales
Carmelite QuotesQuote of the day, 22 January: Blessed Teresa of Guadalajara
Blessed Teresa of the Child Jesus and St. John of the Cross: Her desires for martyrdom
Let us begin by recounting the episode that happened to Sister Teresa when the parish priest in her hometown of Mochales headed a letter to her in (he thought) a joking and witty way, and wrote, “Viva la Republica!” (“Long live the Republic!”).
Sister Teresa, with her characteristic ardor, responded:
“To your ‘Viva la Republica!’ I answer with a ‘Viva Cristo Rey!’ (“Long live Christ the King!”), and I hope someday to be able to shout it or say it before a firing squad!”
Her desire was to turn into a prophecy, and the prophecy did indeed have its bloody fulfillment. The letter to her friend, Sister Maria of Saint Teresa… was indeed headed with the words “Viva Cristo Rey!” Other letters had this heading too. It seems that this was a dress rehearsal, in ink, of the final cry of her life, which would be empurpled with her generous blood.
Concerning Sister Teresa, always the intrepid one, another nun commented:
“I remember that she used to voice her desire for martyrdom; she and I used to vie for the honor of breaking through the turn and going to save the Blessed Sacrament, if the Reds were to enter the monastery.”
During one of the last meals that the community ate in the monastery, Sister Teresa said with great enthusiasm, “We must eat a lot in order to have plenty of blood to shed for Cristo Rey.”
Throughout her religious life, Sister Teresa manifested her desire for martyrdom many times. She aroused her ardor by reading of the blessed fight waged by the Catholics in Mexico during the “Cristero” rebellion. On extraordinary recreation days, when the younger sisters would present performances of a spiritual nature, she loved to act out scenes of the Mexican martyrs, who died with the cry, “Viva Cristo Rey!” Here we see another rehearsal of what awaited her.
It is not surprising that we find a holy card of the Martyrs of Compiègne among the mementos of Sister Teresa.
José Vicente Rodríguez, o.c.d.
Chapter 5, Martyrdom
Blessed Teresa of the Child Jesus and St. John of the CrossImage credit: Discalced Carmelites
Rodriguez, J 2016, The Dialogues of the Carmelites of Guadalajara: The Story of Three Martyred Carmelite Nuns of the Spanish Civil War, translated by the Carmel of St. Joseph, Carmelite International Publishing House, Trivandrum.
Featured image: The Blessed Martyrs of the Carmel of Guadalajara, Spain are depicted in this painting. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites
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