Daughters and Sons of Saint Teresa

I have been a daughter of Teresa since my mother placed me with her at my baptism. Since then, she has guided my feet along the way of perfection, keeping my eyes fixed on the Crucified One. She died a daughter of the Church. Through God’s grace and her help, I pray that I may humbly proclaim the same with my last breath.    ÷
God Alone
Submitted by Teresa Horlocker

I am a brother of Teresa,

 

brother in finding a vocation within a vocation after years of living life,

brother to build a hermitage in the backyard, just to pray and praise

brother who laughs and dances and sings to The Glory.

 

a brother seeking reform and a new zeal for the Rule

loving the Church enough to embrace it’s goodness and  see its need for Grace

a brother seeking others to join me, not in new community, but  community

renewed.

 

a brother in the fire of Jesus, the arrow which pierces my heart

a brother whether brave or scared.

a brother in my pain and loneliness

a brother in my prayers and writing.

 

Ia brother of Teresa, daughter of the church,  Madre y Hermana!

 

I am a brother of Teresa!

Submitted by Dr Jim Bryan, T.O. Carm

revdoctx@aol.com

I’m a Catholic and a lay Carmelite because of St. Teresa.  I have her name as my confirmation name.

Twenty years ago I was in a religious bookstore and saw a book called simply Life, and it was by St. Teresa.  Something, of course it was the Holy Spirit, made me pick it up and buy it.  I took it home and started reading.  I thought it was the most interesting book I had ever read, a real page turner.  I was recommending it to everyone I knew and they looked like I was crazy.

I looked to see if she wrote anything else, bought all those books and read them the same way.  I decided I would try this kind of prayer, even though I didn’t understand everything, and wow! Did I get results.  I decided I was one of those people God favored so to encourage me. Everything else followed.

A Daughter of Saint Teresa

 It is a bold statement to claim to be a daughter of the Great Saint Teresa!   But it is not so bold when one gets to know our Foundress, Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa, who had such great devotion and admiration for this great woman of faith and mission, that she named our Motherhouse after her, and passed the same devotion to her daughters.  There are many things I love and admire about Saint Teresa.  It is interesting that in studying her life, I can see similarities in the life and virtues of our own Foundress.  First was her love for the Church and those who govern her.  The Catholic Teresa was a true daughter of the Church, labored for the love of the Catholic Church and died with the words “I am a daughter of the Church.”  Second was her hospitality.  In the reading of the Way of Perfection, gratitude was big on her agenda.  Third was her prayer life and sense of liturgy.  Despite her exhortations of real poverty to her nuns, she made sure that the Chapel and worship was worthy of the God who dwells in the Tabernacle. St. Teresa made popular the same saying spoken many times by our Foundress when opening new Homes- “we are opening a new tabernacle for the Lord.” Fourth was her love of truth.  She did not mince words to deliver the truth.  She lived in the light of truth and was guided by it. I love St. Teresa because she labored as if everything depended on her and prayed as if everything depended on God.  Her eyes were fixed on Jesus and did not live on compromises.

Submitted by Sr. Helena of Mary, O.Carm.
Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm
600 Woods Road
Germantown, NY 12526
srhelena@stmhcs.org

“In response to what makes me a daughter of St. Teresa of Avila, I would say it is her genuine sense of being fully human and alive.  She tells me by some of her quips that she found humor in many of the situations that would cause us to throw up our hands.  She gives me the courage to look at the humor in these situations.  When she tells the Lord about his treatment to her when she falls in the mud from a cart, “If this is how you treat your friends no wonder you have so few,” I have often echoed the sentiments.

When she figures out her “mansions” so must each of us do the same and I have often taken apart the Our Father which she did many times and it is so full of meaning!!  Thank God for a Mother that is so genuine and human as well as mystical.”  

Submitted by Sr. Eulaliae George, O.Carm. (Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm)

CarmelStream is asking our readers to write and let us know “what makes you a son or daughter of Saint Teresa.” We are taking replies from now through her feast day this October 15. Our hope is that we will inspire one another to continue following her teachings on prayer and the spiritual journey to union with God, as we continue preparations for the 5th Centenary of Teresa’s birth  in 2015. Please add your own response by commenting on this post,

“Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul,”   Saint Teresa of Avila.