Saint of the Month - August 2018: Teresa Palminota

The Servant of God

Teresa Palminota

On Fire with Divine Love

Teresa Palminota, Lay-Mystic
& Victim-Soul

This month I'm departing from the norm - rather than featuring a holy person who's been Beatified or Canonized, I'm sharing the life of a little-known laywoman who's still making her way up the tedious ladder of the canonization process.  Her name was Teresa Palminota and in no way am I anticipating the final judgement of the Church in her regards... but I will admit that, personally, I am a believer in Teresa's sanctity.  I think it's because on so many levels, she reminds me of one of my favorite Saints - St. Gemma Galgani (d. 1903).   They even had the same spiritual advisor!  Anyway, I hope readers will enjoy reading about Teresa and be inspired by her, as much as I was... 

Teresa Palminota was born in 1896, the youngest of four children from a family in Bari, Italy.  She came into the world a few months premature, but through the divine providence of God, she survived a precarious infancy but not without being of delicate health for the rest of her life.

According to a biography written by a Fr. Luigi Fizzoti, one of Teresa's confessors, this Servant of God had her first mystical experience at the tender age of 5 - her devout mother often took her to Mass and, to keep her engaged in the church, the mother told her stories of the Christ Child, who lived in the tabernacle.  Captivated by her mother's tales, the girl would sometimes sneak away alone to the church, bringing candy and toys to offer to the mysterious little boy who she'd heard so much about.  It was during one of these innocent visits that the tabernacle opened and the child Jesus appeared in a bright light to Teresa.  A priest who witnessed the child conversing with an unseen being instructed the youngster to not speak of the incident to anyone and the girl complied; only revealing it in her adulthood to her confessor.

Other details of Teresa's childhood are scarce, but I was able to glean from a few biographical sources that she was highly pious growing up.  Her childhood encounter with the Lord left an indelible impression in her soul that filled her with the desire to belong only to God.  In addition, she continued to receive private visits from Jesus, even in Rome, where her family relocated in 1917.  In fact, Teresa's family owned a small "Bambino" statue that was personally dear to her and, as a result of her strong devotion to the Holy Child, the image manifested signs in Teresa's presence that included prayers being answered and the statue, itself, becoming life-like then moving.

In 1919, the Servant of God made an attempt at becoming a nun.  She entered the Institute of the Maria Bambina Sisters in Monza, but her stay with them was short-lived.  She developed severe infections in both ears that lead to total hearing loss, and which disqualified her from religious life.  Teresa returned home disappointed but continued to serve the Lord's interests by actively participating in her parish's charitable organizations; by joining Catholic Action; by becoming a Third Order Franciscan.  In conjunction with all this, her inner spiritual experiences were also intensifying.

Sometime in 1924, a significant grace was granted to Teresa - Christ Crucifed appeared to her and from his wounds rays of light burst forth, which struck the maiden in her hands, feet, and chest - thus, she was effectively stigmatized.  At first, open wounds were imprinted on the spots where the rays touched her body but in a few hours they were completely healed although the pain remained.  For the most part the stigmata were invisible, but on occasion blood issued from them as witnessed by her spiritual director, Fr. Fizzoti, to whom she confided everything.  Interestingly, concerning her dealings with her confessor, despite being completely deaf, Teresa was mysteriously able to hear Fr. Fizzoti's words whenever they conversed on spiritual matters (amazing!).

The list of other miraculous gifts allegedly granted to Teresa is extensive; too long to go into detail in a short blog.  But to give readers an idea of how remarkable her spiritual life was, here's a summary of her most notable charisms:

+ Familiarity with her Guardian Angel

Teresa regularly experienced the visible presence and aid of her Guardian Angel.  She saw him frequently and fondly referred to him as her "little angel".   The angel advised her and informed her of distant events that were pertinent to her; helped her with small tasks (e.g. once typed a letter for her [for Teresa's sister] when the pain of the hand-stigmata prevented her from doing so); and accompanied her in the form of a striking white butterfly that fluttered about her whenever she left the house to attend Mass or run errands (the butterfly was seen by many others too).

+ Incendium Amoris ("Fire of Love")

God provided tangible evidence of the great degree of Love burning within Teresa's heart.  Her hidden stigmata emanated an unusual warmth, in particular her heart gave off an intense heat that sometimes scorched the mystic's clothing in the area of the chest but without burning her skin.  Apparently, this "Flame of Love" was first gifted to her in the church of S. Gioacchino ai Prati in Rome, where during Eucharistic Adoration, Teresa saw the Host emit a brilliance that penetrated into her chest.  The Divine Love that surged into her heart caused it to enlarge and a few ribs surrounding it were also displaced in such a manner so as to form an arch over the now-bigger heart.  The mystic lived with this physical abnormality for the rest of her life but without any pain or discomfort from it (St. Gemma also experienced this mystical dilation of the heart). 

+ Perpetual Fasting

For the last three years of her life, Teresa fasted continuously from earthly food, per a direct request from our Lord, as a voluntary sacrifice for sinners.  Jesus allegedly told her, "I will be feeding you, Myself." and indeed it was so, as she survived on just the Eucharist alone.  At times, when she was too ill to leave her bed, Holy Communion was brought to her by her guardian angel or by Christ, himself.

+ Prophecy

There were many examples of Teresa's ability to foresee future events.  One notable prediction she accurately made was the onset of the Spanish Civil War, which ravaged Spain and claimed the lives of many faithful Catholics.

A piece of fabric showing scorch marks after

it covered the invisible, but inexplicably hot,

stigmatic wound in Teresa's chest.

With the above being shared, it's important to make clear that Teresa's personal holiness will not be evaluated by the Church solely on her mystical gifts.  Rather, her sanctity will be assessed mainly on her character and conduct.  I gathered from reading her biography that she was genuinely devout; simple and straightforward in her interaction with others; imbued with the spirit of charity and self-sacrifice; humble and modest; and was obedient to her confessors, Monsignor Volpi (a former director to St. Gemma Galgani) and the already mentioned Fr. Fizzoti.  It's clear that Teresa's spirituality was Christ-centered through the Blessed Sacrament, as many of her special graces were triggered by the Eucharist - her life testified to the sublime truth of it.

Lastly, Teresa never sought fame or personal gain, but instead, she maintained strict discretion when it came to her personal charisms.  In general, only her confessors were privy to her intense and hidden spiritual life.  All that were described about her personality and behavior are good indications of a genuine mystic guided by the Holy Spirit, rather than a soul under the spell of evil... or an intentional perpetrator of deceptions.

As she had predicted prior, Teresa died in 1934.  She was only 38-years-old at the time of her passing in Rome.  At this point in time, Teresa Palminota is considered a "Servant of God", a potential Saint whose Cause for Canonization is still at the very earliest stages of the Sainthood Process.  Please join me in praying for her speedy canonization, if it be for the greater glory of God and for the good of the Faithful.

Teresa Palminota,

pray for us!