Saints & Relics Presentation (Family Edition): St. John Vianney Church, 11-1-2025

Today’s presentation was especially fitting for All Saints’ Day, our great Feast that reminds us that holiness is possible for everyone — not just for a few extraordinary individuals, but even for families; for parents and children together; for siblings ... walking the same road toward Heaven.

The CCD Team at St. John Vianney Church organized a Saints-themed faith formation event at their parish and invited this ministry to give this presentation, and so the message naturally centered on the family as the seedbed of sanctity.  I wanted to show that sainthood is not confined to one person in a household — it can flourish among several members of the same family when faith and virtue take root in the home.

To emphasize this truth, I shared the inspiring example of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, who made it a point to raise their children "to populate Heaven".  Their daughter, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, known to the world as "The Little Flower", is one of the Church’s most beloved Saints.  And now, one of her sisters, Léonie Martin, is also on the path to canonization after living a deeply holy life as a Visitation nun.

   

Families honoring the Saints through relic veneration.

We also reflected on St. John Paul II, whose parents, Karol Sr. and Emilia Wojtyła, are both being considered for sainthood in Kraków, Poland.  Their faith and example clearly shaped the heart of the future pope.

And there was St. Gianna Beretta Molla, the modern-day Saint, wife, and mother.  Her holiness was nourished within a family of faith — two of her brothers became priests, one sister a nun, and her brother, Fr. Alberto Beretta, has already been declared Venerable.

Finally, there is Bl. Karl of Austria, the last Emperor of the Austria-Hungary Empire, who with his wife - Empress Zita - vowed on their wedding day to help each other to get to Heaven.  She is now a Servant of God.

A moving sight - a little girl praying and reaching

out to St. Joseph and his relic.

All of these examples of sanctity — powerfully represented by the presence of their sacred relics — illustrated the beauty of All Saints’ Day: the truth that the Saints form one great family in Heaven, and that our own families here on earth are called to join their company through everyday holiness.

Other holy persons/relics featured during the event included St. Bartolo Longo, St. Bernadette of Lourdes, St. Carlo Acutis, Ven. Domenica Lazzeri, St. Peregrine Laziosi, St. Padre Pio, Our Lady & St. Joseph — witnesses of God’s grace in every age and state of life.

The audience was wonderfully attentive and appreciative, and it was particularly touching to see all of the families approach the relics to pay their respects and to pray.  It felt like a special grace for this All Saints’ Day gathering.

The St. John Vianney Church Saint Parade!

And the children's "Saints Parade" costume contest that followed was a delight to see!  There were three Carlo Acutis contestants (including one of the dads!), which showed just how popular he is with our youngsters!

It was a great way to celebrate our Feast of All Saints!  All thanks and praises be to God, to our Blessed Mother, and to all the Saints — our heavenly family who continue to inspire us to live holy lives right where we are!

Saint of the Month - November 2025: Teresa Helena Higginson

Servant of God

Teresa Helena Higginson

The Hidden Mystic of England

Teresa Helena Higginson was born on May 27, 1844, in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, into a pious Catholic family of English descent.  Her parents, devoted to their faith during a time when Catholicism was still viewed with suspicion in Protestant England, nurtured in her an early love of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Holy Eucharist.  From her earliest years, Teresa displayed extraordinary piety and an unusual sensitivity to the presence of the Divine.  Her childhood was marked by an innocence and purity that impressed all who knew her.  She was said to spend hours in silent prayer, even as a young girl, often found kneeling before the family crucifix absorbed in contemplation.

Educated at the convent school of the Sisters of Mercy in Liverpool, Teresa showed great intelligence and humility.  Her teachers noted her deep reverence for the Blessed Sacrament and her remarkable understanding of spiritual matters.  After completing her studies, she felt drawn to a life of service and became a schoolteacher.  She served faithfully in several schools, including those in Bootle, Orrell, and Neston, where she was known for her patience, kindness, and zeal for the moral and religious formation of her pupils.  Her teaching was not merely academic; she saw it as a sacred calling, a way to bring souls closer to Christ.

It was during these years that Teresa began experiencing spiritual phenomena that would mark her as one of England’s greatest mystic souls.  She possessed profound charisms, among them the gift of Ecstasies, Healing, Bilocation, Mystical Communions, visits from Christ and the Saints, physical battles with demonic spirits, and visible Stigmata.  Witnesses recounted that on certain Fridays, especially during Lent, Teresa bore on her body the marks of the Passion — wounds corresponding to those of Christ crucified.  Her hands, feet, and side would bleed, and she suffered intense physical pain offered in reparation for sins and for the sanctification of priests.  Yet she bore these sufferings with great serenity and secrecy, desiring only that they might remain hidden and serve the greater glory of God.

Teresa Helena (circled) as a Schoolteacher

The gift of Bilocation attributed to her was particularly extraordinary.  Accounts circulated among her fellow teachers and spiritual directors that Teresa had been seen in two places at once — instructing children in one classroom while simultaneously visiting and comforting the sick elsewhere.  She even claimed that she was sent by God on several occasions to a tribe in Africa to teach the Gospel to a chief and his subjects.  Such manifestations, though never publicly displayed, were quietly acknowledged by those who knew her intimately as further signs of divine favor.  Despite these extraordinary experiences, Teresa remained deeply humble.  She sought no recognition and lived a life of simplicity and obedience, completely surrendered to God’s will.

Teresa’s spiritual mission became more clearly defined through her mystical communications with Christ, who revealed to her the devotion to His Sacred Head as the Seat of Divine Wisdom.  Jesus made known to her His desire that this devotion be spread throughout the Church as a means to honor the source of all holy knowledge and to make reparation for the misuse of the intellect.  Teresa faithfully recorded these revelations under obedience to her confessor.  In them, Our Lord promised abundant graces to those who would venerate His Sacred Head — particularly for teachers, students, and all who sought wisdom and understanding.  This devotion became central to Teresa’s spirituality and remains one of her enduring legacies.

Throughout her life, Teresa endured intense trials: misunderstandings, physical ailments, and the spiritual darkness common to souls chosen for a high degree of union with God.  Her mystical sufferings often mirrored the Passion of Christ.  She accepted these crosses with heroic patience, finding joy even in affliction.  Her correspondence and spiritual writings reveal a profound interior life centered on the Eucharist and the Holy Trinity.  She possessed a burning love for Jesus and a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, often calling her “my sweet Mother.”

Our Lord revealed to Teresa Helena his

desire for a devotion to His Sacred Head

as the "Seat of Divine Wisdom".

In her later years, Teresa continued her teaching quietly, hidden from worldly acclaim but radiant with supernatural charity.  Those who knew her described her as gentle, deeply prayerful, and filled with an unearthly peace.  She had the gift of discernment and could read the hearts of those who came to her for counsel.  Many experienced conversion or consolation after speaking with her.  Despite her frail health, she remained devoted to her vocation until the end.

Teresa Helena Higginson died on February 15, 1905, at Chudleigh, Devon, at the age of sixty.  Word of her sanctity spread slowly, as she had lived a hidden and humble life.  However, her reputation for holiness and the accounts of her mystical gifts inspired great devotion among the faithful.  In 1937, her cause for beatification was opened, and she was declared a Servant of God by the Catholic Church.  Her incorrupt body was discovered in 1928, a further sign to many of her sanctity.

Today, Teresa Helena is remembered as a mystic and victim-soul who offered her life for the reparation of sin and the sanctification of priests and teachers.  Her promotion of the Devotion to the Sacred Head of Jesus as the Seat of Divine Wisdom remains a spiritual gem for the Church (click here to learn more about this devotion).  Though not yet canonized, she stands as a powerful intercessor for all who seek humility, wisdom, and fidelity to God’s will.  Her life exemplifies the quiet grandeur of hidden holiness — a life consumed by Divine Love, illuminated by mystical grace, and offered for the salvation of souls.

Teresa Helena Higginson,

pray for us.