July 13 Saint Teresa 

of Jesus

of the Andes

Virgin

Optional Memorial

Juanita Fernández Solar was born at Santiago, Chile, on July 13, 1900. From her adolescence she was devoted to Christ. She entered the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns at Los Andes on May 7, 1919, where she was given the name of Teresa of Jesus. She died on April 12 of the following year after having made her religious profession. She was beatified by John Paul II on April 3, 1987, at Santiago, Chile, and proposed as a model for young people. She is the first Chilean and the first member of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America to be canonized.

From the common of virgins

Office of Readings

Second Reading

From the spiritual writings of Saint Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes (Diario y cartas (Los Andes, 1983), 373, 359, 376)

He is my unending wealth, my bliss, my heaven.

Jesus alone is beautiful; he is my only joy. I call for him, I cry after him, I search for him within my heart. I long for Jesus to grind me interiorly so that I may become a pure host where he can find his rest. I want to be athirst with love so that other souls may possess this love. I would die to creatures and to myself, so that he may live in me. Is there anything good, beautiful or true that we can think of that would not be in Jesus?

Wisdom, from which nothing would be secret. Power, for which nothing would be impossible. Justice, which made him take on flesh in order to make satisfaction for sin. Providence, which always watches over and sustains us. Mercy, which never ceases to pardon. Goodness, which forgets the offenses of his creatures. Love, which unites all the tendernesses of a mother, of a brother, of a spouse, and which, drawing him out of the abyss of his greatness, binds him closely to his creatures. Beauty which enraptures... what can you think of that would not be found in this Man-God? 

Are you perhaps afraid that the abyss of the greatness of God and that of your nothingness cannot be united? There is love in him. His passionate love made him take flesh in order that by seeing a Man-God, we would not be afraid to draw near him. This passionate love made him become bread in order to assimilate our nothingness and make it disappear into his infinite being. This passionate love made him give his life by dying on the cross. Are you perhaps afraid to draw near him?

Look at him, surrounded by little children. He caresses them, he presses them to his heart. Look at him in the midst of his faithful flock, bearing the faithless lamb on his shoulders. Look at him at the tomb of Lazarus. And listen to what he says of the Magdalene: Much has been forgiven her, because she has loved much. What do you discover in these flashes from the Gospel except a heart that is good, gentle, tender, compassionate; in other words, the heart of a God? 

He is my unending wealth, my bliss, my heaven.

RESPONSORY

I have come to rate all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ: I am racing to grasp the prize

—since I have been grasped by Christ Jesus.

I give no thought to what lies behind but push on to what lies ahead as I run toward the prize to which God calls me on high

—since I have been grasped by Christ Jesus.

PRAYER

God of mercy, joy of the saints,

you set the youthful heart of Saint Teresa

ablaze with the fire of virginal love

for Christ and for his Church;

and even in suffering you made her

a cheerful witness to charity.

Through her intercession,

fill us with the delights of your Spirit,

so that we may proclaim by word and deed

the joyful message of your love to the world.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever. Amen.