Saint of the Month - March 2020: Saint Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

St. Teresa Margaret

of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

She fell in love with LOVE

Feast: September 1st

Anna Maria Redi entered this world on July 15, 1747.  Her parents were nobility from the Italian city of Arezzo and they produced thirteen children of which only eight survived past childhood.  Anna Maria was the second oldest and she was described as beautiful, having bright blue eyes and golden tresses.  The family was a happy one and, apparently, the Redis were an exceptionally devout couple because all their grown children consecrated themselves to God as priests and religious - WOW!!!

Out of all the Redi siblings, Anna Maria was the clear standout. Biographies mention her as being conspicuously devout from an early age, but with a high-spirited temperament - she once confided to her spiritual director that from her childhood she "never longed for anything other than to become a saint."  The girl was also gifted with a precocious understanding of matters of faith, which her father, Ignazio, noticed early on and took it upon himself to nurture with his own mature piety.  He introduced her to the Sacred Heart Devotion and, on her part, Anna Maria responded by beginning an elementary regimen of prayer and spiritual reading, sometimes bribing her younger siblings so they would leave her alone during her personal devotions.

"Lord, I shall be yours,

whatever the cost, despite

all repugnance."

~ Words of St. Teresa Margaret

At aged 9, Anna Maria was sent to a boarding school run by Benedictine nuns in nearby Florence.  With these good sisters, she received her First Holy Communion at 10, after which her faith and virtues were further developed under their influence.  For a while our saint seriously considered joining them, but she changed her mind and decided on the Discalced Carmelites after being impressed by a friend who was leaving for Carmel.  A mystical visit from the great St. Teresa of Avila (d. 1582) solidified her decision - the founder reportedly said to her, "I am Teresa of Jesus and I want you among my daughters."

On September 1, 1764, Anna Maria entered the Florentine Carmel with her parent's blessing.  Despite a break in her postulancy due to surgery on an infected knee abcess, she was professed on March 12, 1766.  She was 17-years-old at the time and she changed her name to Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Ignazio, who was her first spiritual mentor, was reportedly overcome with sorrow at her profession ceremony, but was also resigned through a premonition that God had great things in store for his daughter.

In Carmel, Teresa Margaret continued her steady progress in sanctity - she was obedient and humble but it was the path of Love she walked that really distinguished her.  Prior to entering the monastery she had heard a phrase during a sermon - "GOD IS LOVE" (from 1 John 4:8) - and it hit her like a ton of bricks!  I can only speculate she completely surrendered herself to the sublime implications of those words... and, through a singular grace from the Holy Spirit, it brought her to an instantaneous and profound realization of God's unconditional love; also igniting the flame of Divine Love within her soul.  The joy and fulfillment Teresa Margaret experienced motivated her to respond to God by sharing the gift of Love she received with others through the active expression of it to all who she came into contact with.

... and after being appointed the community's assistant infirmarian, our saint had lots of opportunities to share God's love.  She lavished affection on the sick and never complained despite the often-difficult tasks assigned to her.  Her desire was to pass unnoticed among her companions in her personal faith-journey, but the other nuns caught glimpses - external signs - of the supernatural love burning within Teresa Margaret.  For example, there was a deaf elderly nun who was dying in the infirmary and she grew very fond of the Saint.  Whenever this nun expressed a need for her beloved nurse, Sr. Teresa Margaret inexplicably knew regardless where she was in the monastery; she would promptly arrive to render assistance.  Furthermore, the two could easily converse since the sick nun was mysteriously able to hear her friend's voice!  This phenomenon was only observed when Sr. Teresa Margaret spoke and not when the other Sisters did.

"I propose to have no

other purpose in all my

activities, either interior or

ex­terior, than the motive

of love alone..."

~ Words of St. Teresa Margaret

Still, at other times, Teresa Margaret was observed in prayer, unconscious of her surroundings; her complexion glowing with an unusual shade of purplish-red, as though she was illuminated from within by fire.  After a while she would then appear a pale shade of grey before regaining her normal skin tone and awakening.  These raptures happened frequently enough that the other nuns documented their occurrences in their archives.

In spite of the extraordinary graces she was granted, the Saint wasn't free of trials.  For a time she was subjected to the painful, but purifying, "Dark Night" of the soul during which she felt herself separated from God; she passed through it with an even greater level of virtue.

Apparently, Sr. Teresa Margaret was not destined long for this world.  She died suddenly on March 7, 1770, at the tender age of 22.  Her death was from peritonitis due to a strangulated hernia, likely caused by her lifting patients in the infirmary.  Because of the manner of her death, her body quickly began deteriorating - her abdomen swelled and her stiffening corpse took on an unsightly, blackish color.  However, within two days, the decomposition was mysteriously reversed - the skin resumed the color of life; the limbs regained flexibility; the swelling in the abdomen went away; and an exquisite floral scent began emanating from the nun's corpse that filled the funeral vault.

The incorruptible body of St. Teresa

Margaret of the Sacred Heart.

The beauty of Teresa Margaret's lifelike body so impressed the nuns they notified Church officials to come witness the miracle.  A painter was also hired to preserve her features for posterity - hence, the image at the top of this blog - but it actually wasn't necessary since the body remained incorrupt after its transformation.

What's more is the report that Teresa Margaret's various personal belongings in the monastery and in her family home also began emitting the same fragrance as her body, which brought a measure of comfort to Ignazio after he learned of her passing.

The Church declared Sr. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart of Jesus a Saint on March 19, 1934.  Her perfectly preserved body is venerated today in the chapel of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Florence, Italy.

"Anyone who does not

love does not know God,

because God is love."

~ 1 John 4:8