Marie du jour, 14 May: St. Teresa of St. Augustine

O loving Queen, Mother of might most holy,
O deign to place us all within thy breast!
For in thy power, thy children all, though lowly,
Do set their hope, trusting in thy behest.

Saint Teresa of St. Augustine

Excerpt from a Christmas carol

Note: Saint Teresa of St. Augustine, the prioress of the martyred Discalced Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, was born Marie Madeleine Claudine Lidoine in Paris on 22 September 1752. When she presented herself as a candidate for formation in the Carmel of Compiègne, she lacked the necessary dowry that postulants were expected to provide to support the community’s needs.

At that time, the prioress of the Carmel of Saint-Denis was Venerable Mother Teresa of St. Augustine—lovingly remembered by her baptismal name, Madame Louise—the daughter of King Louis XV. Upon learning of the young candidate’s financial difficulty, Madame Louise generously supplied the remaining funds needed for Madame Lidoine’s admission.

In gratitude for her benefactor’s generosity, the novice took the same religious name: Teresa of St. Augustine. That generosity would be repaid in sanctity. As prioress of Compiègne, Mother Teresa of St. Augustine led her sisters joyfully and courageously to the scaffold in revolutionary Paris on 17 July 1794. On 18 December 2024, the Church declared them Saints by equipollent canonization.

Virgin and Child, Anthony van Dyck (1620)

Bush, W. 1999, To quell the terror: the mystery of the vocation of the sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne guillotined July 17, 1794, ICS Publications, Washington, D.C.

Featured image: Virgin and Child by Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641), oil on wood, ca. 1620. Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (Public domain)

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How can I entrust my hopes to Mary, asking her to hold me close within her heart?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

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