Saint Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart was born into a large devout family in Arezzo Italy in 1747. From the earliest days of her childhood, Anna Maria[1] was filled with a deep love of God questioning the adults around her as to “Who is God”? Already she was dissatisfied with answers given her. Only the contemplative life of a Carmelite nun could begin to quench her thirst to know and give her self completely to God. Her entire life was driven by the desire to “return love for love”. She entered the Carmelite convent in Florence at the age of seventeen, advanced rapidly in holiness and died an extraordinary death at twenty-two. Her spiritual director reflecting on her death remarked “she could not have lived very much longer so great was the strength of the love of God in her”.
The cornerstone of St. Teresa Margaret’s spirituality was to remain hidden, to appear just like everyone else in spite of her heroic virtue. To our loss, she has remained very much hidden even after her death. Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen commented “This is an odd fact, for we do not hesitate to rank her among the primary figures who represent the glory of Carmel – among Teresa of Jesus, John of the Cross, and Thérèse of the Child Jesus.”
Though St. Teresa Margaret led a life of exquisite holiness and purity, it was also a life that is wholly imitable. In her were combined Martha and Mary as she served her community as infirmarian while reaching the heights of contemplation. No one will come to know St. Teresa Margaret without their own spirit being renewed and reinvigorated.
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[1]St. Teresa Margaret’s name in the world was Anna Maria Redi. There was a nun in her convent named Mother Anna Maria who is mentioned several times in this web site who should not be confused with our saint.

Quotes from and about Saint Teresa Margaret[1]

“Lord,I shall be yours, whatever the cost, despite all repugnance.” Page 41.

Preparing to enter Carmel

… the Prioress suggested that, for one intending to enter Carmel, she could think of no better practice than “to accustom herself to mortify her own will in all things, however trifling, and to yield willingly her own rights in order to convenience others, pleasantly agreeing with their opinions, treating all with a genuine kindness, thus making a continual and entire sacrifice of the self to God.” … Anna Maria (St. Teresa Margaret) had now, from an authoritative source, the secret of the essential spirit of Carmel: the holocaust of one’s will, rather than the rigid adherence to exterior acts and mortifications… Page 42

She who is silent everywhere finds peace. Page 74

She who desires peace must see, suffer and be silent. Pages 74 & 109.

Rather than continually dwelling on her misery and worthlessness, she merely let all thought of self fall away before the infinite majesty of God; and truly the most profitable and genuine way of despising self is to forget oneself altogether. Page 79.

However, self-knowledge unlike self-love does not depress with the sight of one’s imperfections. “I can do all things in Him who gives me strength,” she repeated with St. Paul, refusing to be downcast. God could and would supply all she lacked, and Father Ildefonse testified: “The effect of self-knowledge did not discourage her, but rather forced her to throw herself on the goodness and mercy of God. She said to me once, ‘From myself, nothing; from God, everything … the smaller and weak­er I am in myself, the richer and stronger I shall be in Him … He shall be the more glorious in His mercy as I am more despicable in my sins and nothingness.’” Page 80

On her practice of poverty and detachment, Teresa Margaret framed the following counsel: “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.” Page 81

She who does not know how to conform her will to that of others will never be perfect. Page 83

Let the nuns take great care not to excuse themselves for their faults except when absolutely necessary. By acting in this way they will make great progress in humility. Page 84.

“Knowing that a bride cannot be pleasing to her spouse unless she endeavors to become what he wishes her to be … I will always think of my neighbors as beings made in your likeness, produced by your divine love, redeemed at the price of your precious Blood, looking upon them with true Christian charity, which you command. I will sympathize with their troubles, excuse their faults, always speak well of them, and never willingly fail in charity towards them in thought, word, or deed.” Page 97

I am resolved to give complete obedience in everything without exception, not only to my superiors, but also to my equals and inferiors, so as to learn from you, my God, who made yourself obedient in far more difficult circumstances than those in which I find myself.” Page 97

“Habitual examination of conscience”

“I propose to have no other purpose in all my activities, either interior or ex­terior, than the motive of love alone, by constantly asking myself: ‘Now what am I doing in this action? Do I love God?’ If I should notice any obstacle to pure love, I shall take myself in hand and recall that I must seek to return my love for His love.” Page 131

“Since nature resists good, even though the spirit may be willing, I resolve to enter upon a continual warfare against self. The arms with which I shall do battle are prayer, the presence of God, silence; yet I am aware how little I am able to use these weapons. Nevertheless I shall arm myself with complete confidence in you, patience, humility and conformity with your divine will … but who shall help me to fight a continual battle against enemies such as those which make war on me? You, my God, have declared yourself my captain; you have raised the standard of the Cross, saying: ‘Take up the cross and follow in my footsteps.’ To correspond with this invitation, I promise to resist your love no longer; rather, I will follow you to Calvary without hesitation.” Page 132

On the Hidden Life

St. Teresa Margaret can almost be named “the saint of the hidden life,” so thoroughly did she absorb its meaning and mystery. The life of Jesus and Mary at Nazareth is indeed the model par excellence for all religious, but this silent and self-effacing saint penetrated deeply into it, and gave its application such wide horizons that she can really be said to have proposed something essentially original.

It is a commonplace to use the life at Nazareth as a type of the Hidden Life, because the enclosed religious is completely withdrawn from the world. But in this sense Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were not “hidden,” at least not from their neighbors and the inhabitants of Nazareth and its environs. Probably, like small country towns the world over, everybody knew and discussed the least event around the village well, and anything that happened in Joseph’s house would be common knowledge, as with everybody else. But where one can claim that their hiddenness was absolute was that while all their exterior activities were watched, and every visitor noted, so well was their interior life concealed from all eyes, that they passed for the most ordinary and unremarkable among a community that was in itself insignificant. The revelation of miraculous powers in Jesus was received with shocked disbelief. They had known him since childhood and could vouch for his likeableness, kindness, generosity, no doubt – but not sanctity, let alone divinity! This was Teresa Margaret’s method of practicing the “hidden life.” Everyone in the community saw all she did, talked with her, worked with her, and were warm in their praise of her goodness and charity. But the real depths of her interior life were completely hidden and were one day to prove a revelation and surprise to these intimate daily companions. She passed every minute under their very noses, so to speak, but managed to remain unnoticed, keeping her soul’s secret for God alone. Page 75

“Obedience,” said St. Gregory the Great, “is rightly placed before all other sacrifices, for in offering a victim as sacrifice, one offers a life that is not one’s own; but when one obeys one is immolating one’s own will.”… One may leave home, family, friends, renounce social position and material possessions, detach oneself from every created thing, but unless he dispossesses himself of his own will, the sacrifice is worthless … [and Teresa Margaret] developed what one biographer described as “the art of never doing her own will.” … She had a strong character and a warm, ardent nature, and she seemed to sense that the conflict between her own rebellious temperament and her desire for sanctity would be resolved by the perfection of her submission. Pages 85-86

“At the foot of the Cross,” wrote Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D., “suffering becomes more a proof of love than a punish­ment. Teresa Margaret became a saint not through multiplying penitential exercise, but by having effected an uninterrupted adhesion of her will to the crucified Redeemer.” Page 135

Lest the fact that sympathy might provide some consolation – for it is well-known that a trial shared loses much of its cutting edge – she endeavored to conceal from those around her any pain or sorrow she endured, or the discomfort of fatigue, the weather, minor indispositions, or the small misunderstandings and inevitable frictions of community life. She continued to practice the incessant mortification of consistently presenting a smiling and serene exterior no matter how harassed she might be by interior sufferings or trials. Page 136

The grace of Deus caritas est

One Sunday after Pentecost, on the 28th of June, 1767, when Sister Teresa Margaret was officiating in choir, she read out the little chapter at Terce: “Deus caritas est.” She had heard these words repeatedly, Sunday after Sunday, for the past three years, but now it seemed as though she understood them for the first time – or rather, her understanding of them was raised to an entirely different plane. The verse struck her with the force of a revelation: “God is love; he who dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.” This dwelling had been the goal of all her striving, seeking as she did to imitate the interior life and hidden operations of Christ. From that day onwards the necessity of proving her love by deeds became so compelling a force that it was obvious to her sisters that some special grace had been given her. “Nobody comes to the Father except through Jesus,” she said. “To come to God who is everything and consequently all good, no fatigue must seem to us too great; we must not be put off either by the difficulties we meet on the way, but accept bitterness and welcome every kind of cross with eagerness. By these means, which are precisely those of Jesus Christ, it is not difficult to come to the true God, to live in charity, to walk in love.”

Despite her customary reticence and assiduity in concealing any graces or spiritual favors, the fact that something out of the ordinary had taken place on that Sunday morning was apparent to all. For days the young nun seemed quite out of herself, and the sudden illumination that the words had sent flooding into her soul is difficult to explain, because of the seeming triviality of the incident and her own habitual silence about such things. It marked the beginning of a new stage in her spiritual life, as Father Ildefonse was quick to observe. From this time, he noticed that the quiet, self-possessed and reserved sister appeared to withdraw even more into herself, becoming engrossed in a silent, determined, and conscious awareness of the presence within her, and her endeavors to attain to perfect union with Him. However, this withdrawal was a purely spiritual matter, and there was no suggestion of cutting herself adrift from the community, for she continued to give herself wholeheartedly to all, in her services as infirmarian, in companionship and sympathy at recreation, and in never avoiding her share of work on the grounds of seeking more solitude.

Speaking to Father Ildefonse one day, she tried to express to him something of the significance those words God is love now held for her, but she became almost incoherent in her emotion. “Just as the soul in the state of grace (which is charity) is in God, God is in her. Just as the soul lives the life of God, so does God in a certain way live IN her. And so it is that between them there is but a single life, a single love … God alone! The difference is that God has all by essence, whereas the creature has it only by participation and grace.” And, adds Father Ildefonse, “Note that these words came from a simple child who had never studied and knew no theology apart from what her instinct taught her.” page 128

Father Ildephonse reflecting on her death remarked “she could not have lived very much longer so great was the strength of the love of God in her”. Page 88*

[1] All quotes are taken from God is Love (1964 edition) unless marked with an ‘*’ in which case they are taken from From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity.

Florilegio

St. Teresa Margaret

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Excerpts from The Florilegio of St. Teresa Margaret

I

On the Love of God

I am doing nothing to correspond to love…. I feel within me a continual reproach of the Sovereign Good, and on the other hand everything seems to hinder me from simply rushing forward to God. . . . I find no other remedy but to live by faith. I cannot imagine what painful fare living without love would be for one who burns with desire for this love. (Letter to Father Ildefonse, Dec. 19, 1768)

If I should see hell open for me, I should continue to love the Lord all the same. (Canonical Process: Words of the Saint)

It is enough to keep closed the outside doors, which are the senses; then it seems to me that the soul cannot go elsewhere than to its center which is God. (Canonical Process: Words of the Saint)

I propose, O my God, to have no other aim than love in all my actions, interior as well as exterior, remembering that I ought to render love for love. (Resolutions, 1768)

My only love, I abandon myself entirely to You, so that You alone may act in me according to your designs. (Ibid.)

Dispose of me as is most pleasing to You, provided that I follow You by the way of Calvary: the thornier I find it and the heavier Your Cross, the happier I will be. (Resolutions, 1768)

I believe that I cannot do less than marvel at the loving conduct of our good God in leading me to this holy place [Carmel] …. I thank Him for having rendered me victorious, and for having freed my heart from so many attachments, which would have separated it from the sole object in which it should rest. (To Mother Maria Anna of the Albizi in St. Apollonia’s, January 5, 1769)

We should not be disturbed, whatever the circumstances in which God places us, but let us allow Him to act, uniting ourselves to His intentions; in this way we will love with pureness of love. (Maxims of the Saint)

As he who loves a creature often thinks of her, so the one who loves God is always mindful of Him. (Maxims of the Saint)

All things count for nothing when it is a matter of acquiring true love of God. (Ibid.)

Let us do all for love, and nothing will appear difficult when we reflect that love desires nothing but love. (Ibid.)

To acquire this Love, which is God Himself, no labor should seem too arduous, nor ought one to draw back because of the difficulty one may encounter. (To Mother Anna Maria of St. Anthony of Padua)

The mirror in which we ought to look at ourselves that we may reach divine union is Jesus Christ, because no one can attain it except by means of and through the merits of Jesus Crucified. (To the same)

Consider the grace of God: in these plants He speaks to us without words, and reminds us to love Him. (To the sister near her in the garden)

When a sick Sister, with whom she was staying, urged her to go down to the Choir in time to prepare herself for Holy Communion, she replied: “It might be hard for me to remain here, but on the other hand I believe that since obedience wills me to assist here rather than in Choir, the faithful accomplishment of my duty will be the best preparation for Communion, for God is not restricted either to time or place.” (To Mother Teresa Maria of the Most Holy Conception)

If the actions of our neighbors have a hundred aspects, we ought always to consider them from the best point of view. (To the same)

When an action is blamable, let us excuse the intention. (To the same)

When as infirmarian she had to deny any sick Sister something that could harm her even slightly, she was wont to say: “Now is the time of offer Jesus this sacrifice which He is expecting from you.” (Souvenirs)

Try to be all for God’s with love, our Superiors’ with submission, our neighbor’s with charity. (To one of the Sisters)

Never complain of anyone, but turn the complaints against yourself; because if you do not succeed in doing what you long to do, how can you complain if others fail? (From the writings of the Saint)

I believe that love would render bearable, and even sweet, the torments of hell; because love alone makes one surmount everything, as was demonstrated by the holy martyrs. (To Father Ildefonse)

Love suffers neither delay nor repose, being always eager to suffer for the Beloved. (Maxims of the Saint)

Our good God ardently desires to give us the great treasure of His love; but He wants us to ask Him for it insistently, and to act in such a manner that each work we perform will be a request for this love. (Thoughts)

II

On Love of Neighbor

When one of the Sisters had received a public correction, the Saint went to her most tenderly, and to comfort her said: “Now is the time to accumulate merits for a blessed eternity, making of the unpleasant experience a little bouquet to offer Jesus, not thinking of yourself anymore, excusing and forgiving everyone.” (Souvenirs)

Let us remember that our Holy Mother founded our monasteries principally so that we might help by our prayer those who are laboring to lead souls to God. If we grow negligent in this, we shall completely fall away from her spirit, and the Holy Mother will not consider us as her daughters. (Words which the Saint frequently said to Mother Teresa Maria of the Most Holy Conception)

III

On Faith and Hope

What a beautiful thing to pray to Him who wants so much to give to us! . . . With our good Father it is enough to open one’s mouth and simply show Him our desire in order to be heard. … How can one do less to be heard? (Maxims)

It is extraordinary that our good Jesus, even when we are asleep, when we are amusing ourselves and are not thinking at all of Him or of ourselves, still continues to pray to His eternal Father for us! (Ibid.)

Let us remain quite calm so that however things turn out they will always be to our advantage since God always arranges what is best for us. (To one of the Sisters)

Let us place all our trust in God, and let us remember that it is of faith that God gives us strength in proportion to the work. (To one of the Sisters)

Don’t you see how God helps us, and at the end of the day everything is accomplished? (To one of the Sisters)

I wish to live by faith in You, O Lord …. and I hope in the end to be saved! (Canonical Process: Words of the Saint)

You unbeliever, O you who do not dare draw near to Him, make the test and prove how good and generous is our most loving God! (Canonical Process: Words of the Saint)

IV

On Humility

The poorer and more miserable I am, so much the more am I rich and strong in God. (Canonical Process: Words of the Saint)

God will be more glorious in His mercy, the more vile and contemptible I am in my nothingness, in my sins, and in my weaknesses. (Ibid.)

In what can we not humble ourselves after a God has so humbled Himself for us? (Ibid.)

Especially at the end of her life she was accustomed to say: “If they knew what I am, they would not live with me, because I am so wicked.” (Ibid.)

When something goes well, let us not believe that it is because of our prayers; but when some misfortune occurs, let us think that it is because of our sins. (Thoughts)

The spirit of Jesus is a spirit of subjection, simplicity, humility, and of meekness. (Thoughts)

Let us seek that love which created and redeemed us, and commands us to love Him. If we long to find Him, the way is this: humility of heart and simplicity of spirit. (To the Sisters)

Since love makes lovers conform, therefore we ought to become humble like Jesus, meek like Jesus; and His humility will teach us to rejoice when we are despised and to be silent when nature leads us to excuse ourselves. (To the Sisters)

It is a great thing that our good Jesus, even though He is glorious at the right hand of His Father, takes on Himself our most vile miseries and deigns to intercede continually for us. (Canonical Process: Words of the Saint)

V

On Obedience

She herself declared she wished to live by pure obedience, and therefore in all that she did she endeavored to be able to say to herself: “I am doing this through obedience and with obedience.” (Canonical Process: Deposition of Father Ildefonse)

If they work here [in the monastery] only through obedience, it does not seem to me that God can allow His work to be impeded [namely that exterior occupations would be an obstacle to union with Him]. (To Father Ildefonse)

VI

On Poverty

When she [the Saint] was insistently asked by her father, who wanted to give her a present, what she would like, she replied: “I desire nothing and I need nothing. You have made me such a beautiful gift in allowing me to wear this Holy Habit, that if I remained with my face to the ground from morning to night in gratitude, I should still be doing less that I ought.” (Canonical Process)

In the last hours of her life the doctor ordered some drops of laudanum to be given to her. She received them with gratitude saying that the medicine was too good and precious for a poor Discalced Nun, and that she did not merit so much attention. (Canonical Process: Deposition of Mother Teresa Maria)

VII

On Silence

Whoever desires peace, let her watch, suffer, and be silent. (To the Sisters)

If we wish to become holy, let us work and endure in silence, keeping our soul in peace. (To the Sisters)

When one cannot put oneself right by speaking, it is better to have recourse to prayer and silence; and thus to keep one’s peace alone with God. (To the Sisters)

Whenever there was some trouble in the monastery the Saint was unwilling to talk about it and used to say: “Prayer and silence!” (Souvenirs)

VIII

On Mortification

There is such need to mortify the intellect, the memory, and the exterior senses, so that they become almost spiritual, and then united to the soul they find in God alone their nourishment and their consolation, and they can say: “My heart and my flesh have exulted in the living God.” (Maxims)

The Saint made the resolution never to let pass an occasion that presented itself to suffer, and to suffer as far as possible in silence, keeping it between herself and God. (Canonical Process: Deposition of Mother Anna Maria of St. Anthony of Padua)

IX

On Devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Most Holy Eucharist

The Saint regarded the Sacred Heart as the center of the love with which the divine Word loved us from all eternity, making such devotion consist in loving It unceasingly. She wanted to be called ‘of the Sacred Heart,’ intending by this to wish neither to live nor breathe except to love It with all her strength. (Canonical Process: Deposition of Father Ildefonse)

Yes, my God, You know well that I long only to be a victim of Your Sacred Heart, entirely consumed as a holocaust in the fire of Your holy love! (Resolutions)

Your Heart will be the altar of this, my consummation in You O my God; and You will be the priest who will immolate this victim in the fire of Your holy love! (Ibid.)

Since, O my God, You inspire me to make myself like you in everything, as much as I can, I want particularly to imitate You in those virtues that are so pleasing to Your most loving Heart, namely: humility, meekness, and obedience. (Resolutions)

X

On Devotion to Most Holy Mary

“Let them recommend themselves to God,” the Saint used to say of the religious, “and they will see He will console them. Let them have recourse to the intercession of Most Holy Mary in all their necessities and they will always be heard.” (Canonical Process: Deposition of Mother Teresa Maria of the Most Holy Conception)

The Saint used to place her patients under the care of the Most Blessed Virgin, after which she remained tranquil, saying: “Let them also confide in Her assistance, because they are in good hands.” (Ibid.)

Bless us, O Virgin Mary, Mother of Compassion, Advocate and Consoler of all those who confide in You! (Affections)

Mother of Mercy, give us strength against the enemies of our souls, so that by your aid we may always be victorious. (Ibid.)

XI

On Various Subjects

How is it possible that men can commit what is an offense against God? Oh! It cannot be true, they cannot have had the intention of doing evil! (Words of the Saint)

All things come to an end; therefore take heart, for just as one thing gives way to another, so eternity will come at last. On the contrary seeing how quickly the things of this world end ought to console us, because we are drawing ever nearer to that goal to which all our works ought to tend. (To one of the Sisters)

1. I will perform no action with haste or perturbation.
2. I will fix my eyes in my heart, and raise my heart to God.

III. I will speak softly and only of necessary things. (Resolutions)

“One must take care,” so the Saint used to say, “to make use of spiritual direction for what is just strictly necessary, because many times it happens that one begins the conference on a spiritual plane and ends up in self love.” (Canonical Process: Deposition of Mother Teresa Maria of the Most Holy Conception)

If we live and move in God, it does not seem to me that His company and His love can hinder us from moving and working externally. (To Father Ildefonse)

Lord, give me greater patience that I may be able to suffer still more for You. (Words of the Saint as she was dying.)

[1] The Florilegio of St. Teresa Margaret is a booklet of sayings translated from the Italian by Sister Miriam of Jesus, O.C.D. This booklet is available for sale. Send $2 to:

Carmel of Maria Regina
87609 Green Hill Road
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The Incorrupt Body of St. Teresa Margaret

What follows is an abridged narration of the extraordinary death of Saint Teresa Margaret.[1]

Four months before her death, Teresa Margaret had made a pack with Sr. Adelaide, an elderly nun she was caring for. The pact was that when she died, Sr. Adelaide would ask God “to permit Sister Teresa Margaret to join her quickly in order that she may love Him without hindrance for all eternity and be fully united with the fount of divine charity.” Less than four months after this incident, Teresa Margaret was indeed with Christ in God. No one is sure but it is believed that the cause of Teresa Margaret’s death was strangulated hernia. If the cause of her death actually was hernia, it is more than likely that it was in lifting the heavy, inert body of Sister Adelaide that she strained herself; in which case, it provides a delightful “seal” to their simple pact.

It is not easy to decide that at this stage she had a definite premonition of the imminence of her death, but a strange incident is recorded at about the same time. A former acquaintance, Teresa Rinuccini, who was about to enter the Benedictine Monastery of St. Apollonia, had been doing the rounds of the convents in Florence, making the customary conventional farewell visits. On leaving the Carmel parlor where she had been talking to Teresa Margaret, Teresa said: “Before taking the habit, I will come and see you once more.”

“If you can see me,” was the enigmatic reply.

“Why, what do you mean?” asked the visitor, surprised. “Will Mother Prioress be displeased if I visit you again?”

But Teresa Margaret changed the subject, and would not explain her cryptic remark. Yet her unexpected prediction was fulfilled. Before Teresa could make a second call, Teresa Margaret was dead…

On Sunday, the 4th of March, she asked Father Ildefonse to allow her to make a general confession, as though it were to be the last of her life, and to receive Communion the following morning in the same dispositions. Whether or not she had any presentiment that this was indeed to be her Viaticum one cannot know; but in the event it proved to be so.

Teresa Margaret was twenty-two years and eight months of age, in excellent health, never having had any serious illness or even the threat of one. She was tall, well-built, robust, with a clear, fresh complexion and vivacious manner. The overwork and lack of sleep during the past few years had left no trace of physical exhaustion; she was bright, alert, and active. In fact, many marveled at her resilience and stamina, and Mother Anna Maria once remarked that she seemed to thrive on hard work, which had the effect of strengthening rather than fatiguing her.

Yet in the full bloom of healthy, young womanhood, she suddenly and inexplicably made these elaborate preparations for an imminent and precipitate death.

[It was March] The Lenten fast had not ended, and the evening meal was quickly disposed of. When Teresa Margaret reached the refectory, the community had finished their collation and departed, dispersing to perform their various chores before assembling for evening recreation. There was a piece of fruit and some bread under her folded napkin. She went to the serving hatch and fetched her bowl of soup from the kitchen where it had been left to keep hot and took her seat in the otherwise deserted room. Immediately as she began to eat the simple meal, an acute abdominal pain almost doubled her up. She rose to leave the refectory, but realized that she could not manage to climb the stairs to her cell. Entering a room nearby, she waited until the first violence of the attack had passed, then made her way upstairs. As she closed the door of her cell another spasm overwhelmed her, and she fell on to the floor, unable to reach the bed on the opposite side of the room.

Sister Mary Victoria, who was assistant infirmarian, happened to pass through the corridor just in time to hear Teresa Margaret’s call for help. Entering, she found her lying on the floor, writhing in pain. Within a matter of minutes she had summoned help, and, assisted by many hands, the sufferer was undressed and put into bed and the doctor summoned. He was not alarmed, but merely diagnosed a bout of colic – extremely painful, he agreed, but in no way serious. He prescribed a mild sedative, and advised that she should drink plenty of liquid. Then he left, with the assurance that if she followed these directions the colic would pass and there would be no complications.

Teresa Margaret did not sleep at all during the night, and she tried to lie still so as not to disturb those in the adjoining cells… With her usual exactitude she followed the doctor’s direction quite literally, and consumed an amazing quantity of liquid. Earlier in the evening she had been given broth and barley-water, and during the night two flasks, one of well water and another of mineral water, had been left with her; she drank the entire contents of both. It is hardly surprising that this course of hydro-therapy increased rather than lessened her sufferings. Her face and body were bathed in perspiration, but when Mother Anna Maria came first thing in the morning to see her, she seemed to have taken a slight turn for the better. She was less oppressed by pain, and seemed even inclined to talk a little.

Later in the morning Doctor Pellegrini returned, but as soon as he saw the patient his optimism evaporated. By this time her internal organs had become paralyzed, and after an examination he announced gravely that he would have to call in the services of a surgeon … the remedy for all ills seemed to be, when in doubt, draw some blood. Leeches were applied as relief for the most astonishingly varied ailments from asthma to sunstroke. So now the medicos proceeded to bleed Teresa Margaret’s left foot. A vein was opened, and there was a sluggish flow of congealed blood. And then for the first time it dawned upon Doctor Romiti the surgeon, how grave her condition was. Taking Sister Magdalene aside, he advised that the sister should receive the Last Sacraments without delay. She, however, felt that this was not necessary, and was reluctant to send for a priest because of the patient’s continued vomiting. Also Sister Teresa Margaret’s pain appeared to have lessened, and she suggested that instead of preparing for her death, he should endeavor to cure her. The seeming asperity of this reply was probably due to anxiety, but she passed on his message to the Prioress, who seemed to share the infirmarian’s opinion, for, strangely, none of them made any attempt to have a priest summoned.

The apparent improvement in her condition was, in fact, due to an internal hemorrhage which gave temporary relief to the congested organs, but nobody suspected this. The spasms of pain lessened, but only because she herself was growing rapidly weaker, and her general condition deteriorating alarmingly.

The patient offered no comment, nor did she ask for the Last Sacraments. She seemed to have had a premonition of this when making her last Communion “as Viaticum” the previous Sunday. She held her crucifix in her hands, from time to time pressing her lips to the five wounds, and invoking the names of Jesus and Mary, but she continued to pray and suffer, as always, in silence.

By 3 p.m. her strength was almost exhausted, and her face had assumed an alarmingly livid hue. Thoroughly frightened now, the Prioress sent hastily for Father Covari, a Dominican, who was then extraordinary confessor to the convent. He arrived in time to anoint the young nun, pronouncing in the name of the Church those portentous words of release which down the centuries have echoed for the departing soul the cry of the dying Christ: “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” “Go forth, Christian soul, from this sinful world, in the name of God the Father Almighty who created you; in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who suffered and died for you; in the name of the Holy Ghost, who sanctified you.”

Silent and uncomplaining to the end, with her crucifix pressed to her lips and her head slightly turned towards the Blessed Sacrament, Teresa Margaret took her flight to God.

All the nuns, kneeling huddled against each other in the confined space of the little cell, seemed stunned with the suddenness and unexpectedness of it all. A passing fit of colic … in a few hours they had expected to see her moving once more through the corridors, serene and kindly as ever. The Prioress’ hands trembled as she closed the door after the departing community.

“Mother Anna Maria,” she said quietly, laying a detaining hand on the other’s arm, and drawing her aside. The two stood gazing down on the familiar face, quiet and still now, but almost unrecognizable under that ghastly discoloration. They turned the bedclothes back. The hands and feet were almost black. Her body seemed to be decomposing almost under their eyes.

“You must arrange for the funeral without delay, Mother,” said Mother Anna Maria quietly. “It would be most unwise to leave her body for any length of time.”

“Yes, but the obsequies …?”

“There’s nothing to be done but hurry them forward.”

Deftly, and as quickly as possible, they clothed the already rigid body in the serge habit and enfolded it in the white choir mantle, now to be her shroud. Her billet of profession and crucifix were placed in the still hands folded on her breast, and a wreath of white flowers laid on her head over the black veil.

Suddenly the complete silence that hung heavily over the monastery was shattered by the sound of the house bell. At the summons for which all had been waiting, the community assembled quickly, wearing their choir mantles and holding lighted candles to form a procession in the cell, where the cross-bearer stood at the head of the sister who, twenty-four hours before, had been walking down this corridor. It was not easy to concentrate on the prayers with their reiterated reminders that it is death which, opening onto infinite horizons, gives life its ultimate meaning and purpose.

“Deliver me, Lord, from everlasting death in that dread day when heaven and earth will rock and thou wilt come to judge the world by fire. I tremble and am full of fear as I await the day of reckoning, that day of wrath, calamity, and sorrow…

Reverently they laid the pallet on the simple bier – two trestles covered with a black cloth – at each corner of which stood a large candlestick in which mournful brown candles flickered sullenly. The bare feet were near the open grille, and two of the nuns took their places, kneeling beside the almost unrecognizable head of their deceased sister, to begin the perpetual vigil which would end only when they laid her body in the tomb.

As the Prioress sprinkled the still form with holy water, she uttered a silent, unrubrical prayer that the rapidly approaching corruption of that once lovely body would be arrested until tomorrow, so that no unseemly accident should mar the grave solemnity of the ceremonies.

The bier was raised, and slowly the procession wended its way to the crypt for the burial. And now, after a lifetime of silent self-effacement, God lifted the veil beneath which His humble, unassuming spouse had so long concealed herself from all eyes. She was His, and He had a mission and message to pass on to us through her. This He now proclaimed, in the words of Pope Pius XI, “with that powerful voice of miracles, which is indeed His voice.”

Surely, of all the wonders worked by Almighty God through this most unassuming instrument, none has been more outstanding than the preservation of her own body, after the apparent symptoms of early decomposition that everyone had observed with such alarm. Yet now, as they entered the vault, all noticed that there was another change taking place in the face; the alarming blue-black discoloration was much less pronounced, and, temporarily, the burial was postponed. Within a few hours another examination revealed that face, hands, and feet had regained their natural coloring, and the nuns felt immensely consoled to see that lovely, childlike face looking once more as they had always known it in life.

They begged the Provincial’s permission to leave her unburied until the next day, a request which he, dumbfounded at this astonishing reversal of natural processes, readily granted. The final burial of the body was arranged for the evening of the 9th of March, fifty-two hours after her death. By that time her skin tint was as natural as when in life and full health, and the limbs, which had been so rigid that dressing her in the habit had been a difficult task, were flexible and could now be moved with ease.

This was all so unprecedented that the coffin was permitted to remain open. The nuns, the Provincial, several priests and doctors all saw and testified to the fact that the body was as lifelike as if she were sleeping, and there was not the least visible evidence of corruption or decay. Her face regained its healthy appearance, there was color in her cheeks. Suddenly the real depth and wealth of the hidden, silent, self-effacing life that had been lived in their midst, in charity, humility and never-failing kindness which each had experienced at some time, dawned in full force on the nuns, when they understood the import of what was happening. Mother Victoria, who had been Prioress in 1766 and received the profession of this young nun, and had later been the recipient of her loving ministrations in the infirmary, suggested that a portrait should be painted before the eventual burial. This was unanimously agreed to, and Ann Piattoli,[2] a portrait painter of Florence, was taken down to the crypt to capture forever the features that looked so serenely life-like in death.

The Carmel burial vault was a scene of much coming and going during these days, and had assumed anything but a mournful atmosphere. By the time the painting was completed, a hitherto unnoticed fragrance was detected about the crypt. The flowers that still remained near the bier had withered, and fell to dust when touched. But the fragrance persisted, and grew in strength, pervading the whole chamber. And then, miles away in Arezzo, Camilla Redi also became aware of the elusive perfume of narcissi, so beloved by her Anna Maria, which noticeably clung to certain parts of the house – the room formerly occupied by Anna, the clothes she had worn, the golden hair cut from her head on the day of her investiture … “The odor of sanctity,” Sister Teresa Margaret had once laughingly called this perfume, and indeed it now proved to be so.

Several times her body was visited by the surgeon, Doctor Romiti. On the fourth occasion, which was about a week after her death, he testified that the complete absence of any sign of decomposition was not a natural event, and he advised that the proper ecclesiastical authority should be informed of the prodigy, which must have a supernatural cause.

Mgr. Francis Icontri, Archbishop of Florence, was accordingly approached by a priest attached to the Carmel, Father Augustine Losi. His Grace did not seem particularly impressed, thinking no doubt that the nuns’ imagination had been at work. However, he decided to investigate the matter in person, and either confirm the marvel or squash the rumor. But he allowed another week to pass before taking any action.

On March 21st, a fortnight after Teresa Margaret’s death, he made an official visit, accompanied by a Canon, the Chancellor, and three priests from the Cathedral. There had been ample time for the natural processes of decay and dissolution to complete their work upon the body, and if, as claimed, there was no sign of corruption, it would indeed seem that a supernatural power held them in check.

His Grace descended into the crypt at about 4 p.m., accompanied by his own priests, the Carmelite Provincial and another friar, two doctors and the surgeon. Three nuns were present, including Mother Anna Maria and Sister Magdalene, the infirmarian. The doctors again examined the body, which had the appearance of a child who had just fallen into a relaxed sleep. The incision on her left foot, which had been made for the “bloodletting” was quite fresh, and her skin clear and rosy. The doctors conferred together, and finally informed the Archbishop that the condition of the body could only be regarded as miraculous. Then Mother Anna Maria records an incident which impressed her deeply:

“All were speaking of the prodigy, when the Archbishop arose, and himself uncovered the face of our dead sister. He stood there, looking at it very fixedly, startled to see the blue eyes slightly open and the whole face seemingly relaxed as one in a light but peaceful slumber.”

Did he, one wonders, recall this young girl who had knelt before him only thirteen years previously, when as a student at St. Apollonia’s, he had sealed her with the sacrament of Confirmation?

The surgeon noticed a little moisture that had gathered on her upper lip below the nostril, and wiped it off with a piece of cloth. He then smelled it, with the thought that here indeed would be a definite proof. It emitted so sweet an odor that he immediately offered it to His Grace, who stated that he also perceived “a heavenly fragrance.”

The coffin was then closed and sealed by the Archbishop, who left the crypt to visit the Prioress, at that time indisposed and confined to bed, and give her the consolation of his blessing.

“They are all elated by the great treasure you possess,” he told her, “and I too am very happy that we have so wonderful a thing in our midst. I believe it is indeed a miracle, and yet I do not think that we have yet witnessed the greatest miracle of all. In years to come she will be seen again, and those who will still be alive then shall have a great consolation.”

“Did your Grace perceive anything extraordinary?” the Prioress enquired.

“Extraordinary! Indeed, it is a miracle to see a body completely flexible after death, the eyes those of a living person, the complexion that of one in the best of health. Why, even the soles of her feet appear so lifelike that she might have been walking about a few minutes ago. She appears to be asleep. There is no odor of decay, but on the contrary a most delightful fragrance. Indeed, it is the odor of sanctity.”

That day the coffin was finally closed with twelve nails, and secured by eight episcopal seals in red wax upon black and white linen tapes. It was then placed inside a large cypress coffin, with a parchment giving the name of the deceased. The coffin was firmly placed in a niche over the door of the crypt, and a small metal plate, according to the simple Carmelite custom, recorded:

“Sister Teresa Margaret of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, died on the 7th of March, 1770, in the twenty-third year of her age, and the fourth year of her religious profession.”

 

The incorrupt body of St. Teresa Margaret is on view in her Carmelite Convent at:
Carmelitane Scalze
Via de’ Bruni, 12
50139 Firenze

The home in which St. Teresa Margaret grew up is now a Carmelite Convent at:
Carmelitane Scalze
Via S. Francesco Redi, 17
52100 Arezzo

[1] This narration is taken from the books God is Love (1964 edition) and From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity.

[2] On seeing this portrait the father of St. Teresa Margaret remarked, I found in it all that my Dearest was in life…”

From Her Act of Oblation

“… my God, I do not want anything else other than to become a perfect image of You and, because Your life was a hidden life of humiliation, love, and sacrifice, I desire the same for myself. I wish, therefore, to enclose myself in Your loving Heart as in a desert in order to live in You, with You, and for You this hidden life of love and sacrifice. You know indeed that I desire to be a victim of Your Sacred Heart, completely consumed as a holocaust by the fire of Your holy love. And thus Your Heart will be the altar upon which I must be consumed, my dearest Spouse; You will Yourself be the priest Who must consume this victim by the fire of Your holy love.”

“How confused I feel to see how blameworthy this victim is, O my God, and how unworthy to be accepted by You as a sacrifice; I feel confident, however, that everything will be reduced into ashes by this divine fire. I do not propose, O my God, to have any other motive in any of my actions, whether they be exterior or interior, than love alone; I shall check myself in this constantly by recalling that I must strive to return love for love.” Apparently here she referred to the care which she would take to acquire pure love. She realized that she could attain it only by God’s working within her: “I abandon myself completely to You so that You alone work in me according to Your designs: there is nothing that I want except what You want.” Later on she felt that she must repeat this abandonment once more: “I have abandoned my free will to You so that henceforth You alone will be the possessor of my heart and Your holy Will the rule of my actions. I desire to love You with a patient love, a love dead to self – that is, a love which completely abandons me to You; an active love; to sum it all up, a solid love with no division within itself and which will stand regardless of what may happen.” Page 54.

These excerpts are taken from From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity.

Bibliography

English

… as in a desert
Discalced Carmelite Monastery
of St. Teresa, Florence 1984

The Carmelite Missal
Rome, 18th February 1979

Carmelite Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours
Institutum Carmelitanum 1993

Divine Intimacy
Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D.
Tan Books and Publishers, Inc.
Rockford, Illinois 61105

The Florilegio of St. Teresa Margaret
Sr. Miriam of Jesus, O.C.D.
This booklet is available for sale. Send $2 to:
Carmel of Maria Regina
87609 Green Hill Road
Eugene, Oregon 97402

From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity 
Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D.
Chapel of St. Teresa Margaret
Discalced Carmelite Nuns
3535 Wood Avenue
Kansas City, Kansas 66102-1965
This book is available for sale from: ICS Publications

God is Love: Life of St. Teresa Margaret 
Margaret Rowe
ICS Publications
2131 Lincoln Road NE
Washington, DC 20002-1199
Revised Edition 2003
This book is available for sale from: ICS Publications

God is Love: Life of St. Teresa Margaret
Sister Teresa Margaret, D.C. (Margaret Rowe)
Spiritual Life Press
1233 S. 45th Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin – 1964
(out of print – see above)

Hidden with Christ in God
an unfinished translation of:
La Spiritualita de S. Teresa Margherita Redi Del Cuor De Gesu
“Abscondita cum Christo in Deo”
P. Gabriele Di S. M. Maddalena
Edizioni Libreria Fiorentina, 1950

Life of the Venerable Sister Teresa Margaret
Monsignore Albergotti
(condensed from an unpublished manuscript)
Carmel of St. Louis – 1918
(out of print)

St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Monsignor Newcomb
Benziger Brothers – 1934
(out of print)

St. Theresa Margaret
Canon Joseph Bardi
Apostolate of the Press – 1939
(out of print)

Saint Teresa Margaret Redi
Hilarion Nolan O.Carm.
Saints of Carmel Series No. 2
Carmelite Press
Whitefriars
Faversham, Kent

Italian

La Spiritualita de S.Teresa Margherita Redi Del Cuor De Gesu
“Abscondita cum Christo in Deo”
P. Gabriele Di S. M. Maddalena
Edizioni Libreria Fiorentina, 1950

Nel Fuoco Consumante: Santa Teresa Margherita Redi
Giorgio Papàsogli
Città Nouva
Roma 1984

 

The incorrupt body of St. Teresa Margaret is on view in her Carmelite Convent at:
Carmelitane Scalze
Via de’ Bruni, 12
50139 Firenze

The home in which St. Teresa Margaret grew up is now a Carmelite Convent at:
Carmelitane Scalze
Via S. Francesco Redi, 17
52100 Arezzo

 

Purchase books from ICS Publications

God is Love: Life of St. Teresa Margaret By Margaret Rowe
ICS   Amazon 

St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart was born into a large devout family in Arezzo, Italy in 1747. From the earliest days of her childhood, Anna Maria was filled with a deep love of God, questioning the adults around her as to “Who is God”? Already she was dissatisfied with answers given her. Only the contemplative life of a Carmelite nun could begin to quench her thirst to know and give herself completely to God. Her entire life was driven by the desire to “return love for love.” She entered the Carmelite convent in Florence at the age of seventeen, advanced rapidly in holiness, and died an extraordinary death at twenty-two. Her spiritual director reflecting on her death remarked, “She could not have lived very much longer, so great was the strength of the love of God in her.”

From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity
The Spiritual Itinerary of St. Teresa Margaret (Redi) of the Sacred Heart, O.C.D.
By Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D.
Translated by Rev. Sebastian V. Ramge, O.C.D.
ICS   Amazon 

St. Teresa Margaret Redi was a Carmelite captivated by the love of God. Helping us to appreciate the holy life she led are eyewitness accounts of her spiritual directors collected soon after her death. The author of this small study builds his story on those accounts by the Discalced Carmelite friars who knew her as a young religious. Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene lays out clearly the steps in Saint Teresa Margaret’s spiritual biography and how she developed her deep attachment to love for God, by using classic Carmelite doctrine about growth in the spiritual life.