Nativity of St. John the Baptist - June 24 - Solemnity

Also called St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, she was a Saint who loved God so much that her defining contemplative moment was hearing the words “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8 and 1 Jn 4:16).  She lived them out being the Infirmarian, in charge of caring for anyone in the Carmel who was sick.  She was devoted, kind and caring even to those who were difficult.  Certainly, Our Lord had prepared her for this as the oldest of 8, whose mother’s fragile health required that she care for younger siblings from an early age. Her life spanned only a few short years:  from 1747 to 1770.  At age 9, Maria Christina Redi, also called Anna Maria, was sent to a Benedictine boarding school as her family was of lower nobility and moderately wealthy.  She was a simple, unassuming child who could be mischievous at times, and who received her Sacraments at early ages, not in the order we are accustomed to receive them now:  Confession at 7, Confirmation at 9, and Eucharist at 10.  Her Father, Ignatius, had recognized her depth of piety and, as a pious person himself, began to provide her with spiritual direction as she began to ask about God and engage in conversations reflecting on the meaning of the Gospel they had heard at Mass. He served as her first spiritual director from 1757 to 1761.  Since she left their home to attend school in 1756, this direction took place by letter.  She said of him later as a Sister:  "So great was the good my father has done to my soul that I can truly claim that he has been my father twice over.”  What a beautiful way for a child to see her parent!  Interestingly, all but one of her siblings became either a religious or a priest.  Her father even gave up the status of having a coach to afford to send them all to school, and this sacrifice certainly showed young Anna Maria what it meant to love God more than worldly things. Her father was of great assistance to her, as she desired not to stand out at the school, and taking extra time in Confession for direction would have made her be noticed.  Yet, her piety was observed and the Sisters moved her First Communion up to a year sooner than usual.  When she went on a retreat, the priest there Dom Pelligrini, realized her piety and became her spiritual director.  He instructed her in mental prayer and in growing virtues.  She constantly strove to grow in holiness while remaining unnoticed as different from anyone else.  Apparently, she succeeded, for other students said she was good but ordinary. The call to Carmel came in an unusual way.  Anna Maria felt called to the religious life and loved the Benedictine Sisters who had educated her.  A casual friend returned to the school to say goodbye before entering Carmel and asked Anna Maria to speak with her.  Yet the two girls had no chance to talk. So they said a silent goodbye with a hand clasp as the friend was leaving.  When Anna Maria returned to her room, she heard a voice say:  “I am Teresa of Jesus and I want you among my daughters.”  When 17-year-old Anna reacted by going into the Church and kneeling before the Tabernacle, she heard the same words again.  She returned home from boarding school that year, 1763, and by September of 1764, at age 18, she was accepted into the Carmel of Florence.  Her progress as a postulant was rapid, for God was preparing her for contemplative graces and service beyond self before her death only 6 years later in 1770.  Her writings reveal a deep interior life, where she suffered from a longing to love God more deeply, and yet in her eyes saw only her failing to love Him even as she was growing in love for Him. As Infirmarian, she was able to give herself in loving service to others.  And it is in that giving, as she was lifting the body of a nun who had passed away, a hernia happened.  She asked her then spiritual director, Fr. Ildefonso, for a general confession and to make Communion.  This was her Last Viaticum as her death process was so quick that when a priest was called, all he got to do was anoint her.  Although she died bloated with grayed extremities, after death, her stiffened body became supple and her skin returned to normal tones, becoming so lovely that a painter was called to paint her in the 18 days between her death and her burial.  The Archbishop of Florence, who was called to examine her, declared that the smell there was “the odor of sanctity.” He referred to the beautiful scent that had become noticeable in the room where she was in the coffin.  Her mother also noticed and reported it in parts of the villa where she spent her childhood.  To this day, she remains incorrupt.  Her body was placed in the nuns choir in the Florence, Italy Carmel in 1805 and can be venerated there.  Miracles occurred and a cultus to her took place soon after her death.  The decree of heroic virtue took place in 1839, her beatification in 1929, and her canonization on the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 1934.     A quote to take to heart: "Always receive with equal contentment from God's hand either consolations or sufferings, peace or distress, health or illness. Ask nothing, refuse nothing, but always be ready to do and to suffer anything that comes from His Providence." Her feast day is September 01.   St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, pray for us, that we may progress in mental prayer, the virtues and longing to love God as you did!  

Doctor of the Church, and inspirer of so many through her autobiographical work, Story of a Soul, written in obedience to her Mother Superior (who happened to be her sister!), St. Therese of Lisieux is a go-to Saint for those who are young, or young in their spiritual life and those who are further along in their spiritual life.  She reveals deep treasures of love for even those most advanced souls.  When anyone spends time with her in prayer by meditating on her writings; she brings them to a simple knowledge of the love Jesus has for us.  For both points on the spiritual path, those beginning and those well-experienced with the climb, we offer the following little thoughts about her on her Feast.  May you give her a white rose in prayer, and may she shower you with her heavenly blessings in return, taking you in the elevator to Jesus! James 4:7 Draw near to the Lord, for He will draw near to you.   St. Thérèse understood this to mean that God gives us a desire for Him, and He will respond when we respond to that desire.   2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me"   In her examination of conscience and refusal to close in upon herself in false humility, she exemplified this saying of St. Paul’s.  In her Little Way, she did not try to escape the faults and flaws that she could see; rather, she accepted this reality and trusted God to come to her where she was and bring her to where He wanted her to arrive.  It is in this confidence that she teaches us to see desolation, realize that it is heavy, and it is a normal occurrence, and not one of which we should be ashamed.  Most importantly, she teaches that we must ask the Lord’s help to fight against the heaviness that surrounds us.     St. Teresa of Calcutta said that the reason St. Thérèse was canonized derived from her ability to do small things in great love.  And so Mother Teresa advocated for all her Missionaries of Charity to emulate St. Thérèse.  Doing these small things with great love is not simple, nor is it just a light-hearted lark.  For St. Thérèse, it sometimes entailed praying for those who belittled her and who did not see her as a valuable member of the community.  As she carried out the assigned the task of laundry, enduring being splashed; she prayed for those who splashed her and refused to think about whether it was purposeful or not.  As she helped the novices, as she carried out the tasks designated for her in that environment lacking many conveniences many of us consider indispensable, she realized the huge value all our acts on earth.  Yet, she did all of those acts so simply and so lovingly that when she was in the infirmary, she came to overhear a conversation where two of her fellow sisters commented that they did not know what would be written about Sister Thérèse because she was so unremarkable. St. Thérèse made a pilgrimage to Rome when she was 15, during which she could gaze upon the amazing Alps of Switzerland.  And later, this memory served her to explain that God was lost in the summit shrouded by clouds and she was like a little grain of sand trampled underfoot at the bottom.  When she uses the beauty of nature to explain her relationship to God, she teaches us that He is constantly seeking to deepen the relationship He wishes to share with us.  In the enclosed atmosphere of the Carmel at Lisieux, she allowed Him to fill her with love and use her memories in a way to express just how far a journey it is to Him.  Had she done what many do, she would have sought Him in more and more experiences pursued without reflection or the purpose of deepening our relationship with the Lord.  And the heights of love she experienced within the Carmel, in a life of reflection, where seeking His love and to love Him in all those around her would have been lost to all of us.  In her short life, she left us with so many lessons, and to not beleaguer you, here this reflection ends.  May you seek her wisdom in loving all around you in simplicity and trust, asking the Lord for help at every turn, never relying upon yourself, but upon Him and all those around you.  May you seek to love Him and want to go to Him as she did, and in that seeking climb up the mountain with great joy, even though you may feel like a grain of sand.  Most certainly, our Good Lord will provide that you become stuck in the sandal of a climber who is going up to Heaven, where He desires you to be with Him for all eternity. Alps picture from Igor Melaschenko via Pexels St. Thérèse and her sister Celine in 1881 from records of the Carmel of Lisieux