Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, OCD (15 July 1747 – 7 March 1770) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Discalced Carmelite The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...

nun. During her brief life of quiet service in the monastery, she came to be revered for her

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

gifts. She has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church.

Life

She was born Anna Maria Redi to a large noble family in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

, the second child of

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Ignazio Maria Redi and Camilla Bille

At the age of 9, she was enrolled in the boarding school of the Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monks of the Monastery of St. Apollonia in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. When she was older, Redi began to ponder her future. A chance happening set her on the course of her life. An alumna of the monastery school had returned to bid farewell to her former teachers, as she was entering the community of Discalced Carmelite nuns in the city. Redi was deeply moved by the enthusiasm and joy she saw in the older girl's face. As she reflected on this, she felt that she suddenly received an unspoken message from the foundress of the Order, the noted Carmelite mystic and foundress,

Teresa of Avila Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

. By April 1764, Redi had completed her studies and her father brought her home. Once there she decided to test herself to see if she could in fact handle the rigors of the life of that Order. Eventually following that call, on 1 September 1764, she formally submitted her request for admission to the assembled Discalced Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of St. Teresa in Florence. In keeping with the custom of the time, she then left the monastery for two months and stayed with a friend of the family in the city, while awaiting a formal reply to her petition. Redi was admitted to the monastery in November 1764. On 11 March of the following year, she was given the

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...

of the Order and the

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should ...

of Teresa Margaret Marianne of the Sacred Heart. She professed her

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of re ...

as a member of the Order on 12 March 1766. Teresa Margaret was a very private and spiritual person. She was assigned to the office of infirmarian (nurse) for the community, which she carried out diligently. She had a special gift for reaching the deaf and mentally ill nuns among her charges. At the same time, she was able to grow deeply in her interior life. She was given a special contemplative experience concerning the words of I John 4:8, "God is love", which was a phrase she would repeat oft

Despite the constant reprimands and humiliations inflicted on her by the prioress of the community in order to test her, she proved to be unfailingly cheerful. At the start of 1770, an epidemic broke out in the monastic community. Teresa Margaret worked ceaselessly caring for the other nuns. In early March she seemed to have a premonition of her sudden dea

which was at the young age of 23. On 6 March, having been forced to miss the community meal, she was eating alone in the

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the La ...

when she had a sudden attack of a pain similar to

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube ( small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content out ...

which left her unable to reach her room until morning. Eventually taking to her bed, she summoned help. Although she was suffering a good deal of pain, she refused to be cared for by the other nuns, so as not to burden them. Given the

Last Rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortall ...

that afternoon, she then lost her ability to speak or move. Death soon followed.

Veneration

The disease that had caused Teresa Margaret's death left her body very swollen and disfigured. Consequently, the nuns hesitated to have the normal viewing for the public. While the body was being transferred to their church, the disfigurement was found to have been reversed, and two days after her death her body was lifelike. Seeing this, the

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

Provincial of the Discalced Carmelite

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

s permitted a postponement of her funeral for another 15 days. During this time, the

Archbishop of Florence The Archdiocese of Florence ( la, Archidioecesis Florentina) is a metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Italy.

, several priests and doctors, as well as the populace of the city, came and saw the state of her body. Many later testified to the fact that the body was as lifelike as though she were sleeping, and there was not the least visible evidence of decay. In 1806, the prioress and nuns of St. Teresa in Florence attempted to promote the beatification of the mystic nun by publishing a biography. The process was finally approved in 1929 and her canonization followed suit in 1934. Teresa Margaret is one of seven Discalced Carmelite nuns to have been declared saints. The other six are: Saints

, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Teresa of Los Andes, Elizabeth of the Trinity,

Thérèse of Lisieux Thérèse of Lisieux (french: Thérèse de Lisieux ), born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (), was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite ...

, and Mariam Baouardy. Her

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their ...

body lies in the church of the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Florence.

References

St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart
in Volume IV of the Collected Works of Blessed

Edith Stein Edith Stein (religious name Saint Teresia Benedicta a Cruce ; also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross or Saint Edith Stein; 12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942) was a German Jewish philosopher who converted to Christianity and became a ...

''The Hidden Life: hagiographic essays, meditations, spiritual texts''. Edited by Dr. L. Gelber and Michael Linssen, O.C.D. (1992) ICS Publications.

Bibliography

Hervé Roullet, Sainte Thérèse-Marguerite Redi, Une spiritualité du Coeur de Jésus, Coll. « Saints du monde », Éd. Pierre Téqui, Paris, 2017 (fr)

External links

* Teresa Margaret Redi at Patron Saints Inde

at Catholic.or

at Carmelne

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart 1747 births 1770 deaths 18th-century Christian mystics People from Arezzo Discalced Carmelite nuns Infectious disease deaths in Tuscany Burials in Florence Canonizations by Pope Pius XI 18th-century Christian saints 18th-century Italian women Italian Roman Catholic saints Carmelite saints Carmelite mystics Carmelite spirituality Incorrupt saints Christian female saints of the Early Modern era

Life

Veneration

See also

References

Bibliography

External links