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The Journey of Thérèse of Lisieux

As a conformation to Christ:

Mercy in fragility and primacy of grace

First Meeting of Ongoing Formation of European Carmelites

October 21, 2023

Giampiero Molinari, O. Carm.

pdf To read the Questions for Reflection - Mercy & Grace (365 KB)

Introduction

In this year we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (2 January 1873) and the centenary of her beatification (29 April 1923). 2025 will be the centenary of the canonization (May 17, 1925). As we know, UNESCO has also placed Thérèse among the historically significant women. All this is a good reason to take up her writings and reread her doctrine, trying to bring it into life.

In approaching Thérèse we must not forget a fact: if on the one hand she is certainly a light for having recalled the perennial values of the Gospel, on the other (like each of us) she remains a daughter of her own time. Her writing is influenced by the romantic and somewhat honeyed atmosphere of the time and is characterized by a wide use of diminutives, prolonged punctuation marks, etc. All this may not facilitate reading and also create a certain annoyance! If, however, a little effort is made and we go beyond this “rind”, we will discover a very deep spiritual experience (substantially not understood when the saint was alive) and a doctrine, which we can define as a narrative and symbolic theology.

The Experience of Divine Mercy in the Root of One’s Own Fragility:

A Microhistory of Salvation

We can consider Thérèse of Lisieux as the Doctor of divine mercy. This theme appears, in fact, as the leitmotif of the two autobiographical manuscripts in which she rereads her own life (Manuscript A, whose drafting begins at the beginning of 1895, and Manuscript C, written from June 1897).

At the beginning of Manuscript A, Thérèse outlines the intended purpose:

I will do only one thing: begin to sing what I must repeat forever – “The mercies of the Lord” (Ms A 2r).^[1]

Manuscript C is on the same wavelength; addressing the prioress, Mother Mary of Gonzaga, the saint writes: “Beloved Mother, she has expressed to me the desire that I complete with her my Song of the Mercies of the Lord” (Ms C, 1r).

In this regard, we must not underestimate the beginning “incipit” of Manuscript A: “Spring History of a White Flower” (Ms A 2r) – which would be better translated “small white flower” (respecting the original French) – since in Thérèse’s intention it contains a profound experience of God’s mercy. It is, in fact, the saxifrage^[i] that her father gives her after he confided to him the desire to enter Carmel: 

What I remember perfectly was the symbolic gesture that my beloved King made without knowing it. Approaching a wall not very high, he showed me some white flowers similar to miniature lilies and, taking one of those flowers, he gave it to me, explaining to me how carefully the good Lord had given birth to it and had kept it until that day. Hearing him speak, I thought I was listening to my story, such was the similarity between what Jesus had done for the little flower and the little Teresa” (Ms A, 50v. Bold mine).

In her Manuscripts, therefore, Thérèse rereads her own life as a micro-history of salvation: she is not the centre, but God’s merciful action in her. The saint is clear on this point: “it is not my real life that I will write, but my thoughts on the graces that the Good Lord has deigned to grant me” (Ms A, 3r). And shortly after: “The flower that will tell its story [...] he recognizes [...] that only his mercy has done all that is good in him” (Ms A, 3v).

1. The Context of Fragility

The theme of divine mercy shines even more if we consider Thérèse’s experience, especially in the first years of her life. A period marked by various traumatic events, which produce not minor wounds, blocking, in a certain way, the natural affective maturation. Here they are in summary:

1. The two separations experienced around the age of two months: from her mother, who cannot breastfeed her because of breast cancer and must entrust her to a nurse and, subsequently, from the latter following the return to the family.
2. The illness and subsequent death of her mother in 1877 (cf. Ms A 12r-13r):

I don’t remember crying much and I didn’t talk to anyone about the deep feelings I felt... I watched and listened in silence... [...], yet I understood (Ms A 12v. Bold mine).

On the following page we read:

starting from the death of Mother, my happy character changed completely; I became so lively, so expansive, shy and sweet, sensitive to excess. One look was enough to make me melt into tears (Ms A 13r).

3. The departure for Carmel of her sister Pauline, whom Thérèse had chosen as her second mother (cf. Ms A 13r):

I did not know what Carmel was, but I understood that Pauline would leave me to enter a convent, I understood [...] that I would lose my second Mother!... Ah, how can I tell the anguish of my heart?... In a moment I understood what life was [...] a continuous suffering and separation. I shed very bitter tears... (Ms A 25v. Bold mine).

4. Narrating the departure for Carmel of his sister Mary – who, after the separation from Pauline, had taken as her only support (cf. Ms A, 41r) – Thérèse returns to the theme: “Pauline was far away, very far from me... [...]. Pauline was lost to me, almost as if she were dead” (Ms A, 41r-41v). These are very strong words, which reveal the drama she is experiencing.

1. The Experience of Mercy with Marian and Christological Tones

As we know, all these traumatic situations cause the onset of a psychosomatic illness, characterized by symptoms such as insomnia, tremors, headaches, hallucinations, etc. It is a kind of neurosis and childhood regression. Paradoxically, it is precisely in this phase of extreme fragility and vulnerability that Thérèse experiences God’s mercy, to the point of affirming – rereading her own life – that the characteristic of love, of grace, is to humble oneself (cf. Ms A 2v). The saint can say this because she experienced at this particular juncture a God who bends down to her misery. For this reason, in writing Manuscript A, now “matured in the crucible of external and interior trials” (Ms A, 3r), she cites Psalm 22 (The Lord is my shepherd), highlighting with conviction: “The Lord has always been compassionate and full of sweetness towards me” (Ms A, 3v).

The healing journey lived by the saint (which we could define as a sort of personal “path of salvation”) is characterized by two fundamental stages with a Marian and Christological tone, respectively.

We all know the story of Our Lady’s “enchanting smile” (Cfr. Ms A 30v-30r), thanks to which Thérèse regains a substantial (although not complete) basic serenity: “all my sufferings vanished” (Ms A 30r), “the little flower was being reborn to life” (Ms C 30v), we read in Manuscript A. Reading this story carefully we will realize that the saint perceives the smile of the Virgin as the reflection of God’s tenderness. This can be guessed from the use of the symbol of the “sun” that is applied to God to emphasize his benevolence (cf. Ms A 3r), but later it is also extended to the Virgin Mary (cf. Ms A 29v) and to the creatures themselves at the moment in which they are perceived in the act of mediating the care of the divine Sun (cf. Ms A 24r).

Although restored, Thérèse is still distinguished by a remarkable hypersensitivity, which she defines as an “ugly defect” (cf. Ms A 44v). She describes as follows:

I was really unbearable for my excessive sensitivity; so, if I happened to unintentionally give a little displeasure to a person I loved [...] I wept like a Magdalene and, when I began to console myself with the thing itself, I cried for having cried... (Ms A 44v).

At this point the merciful action of the Father will take on a Christological connotation, centred on the abasement of the Son of God in the mystery of the Incarnation. This is the well-known “Christmas Grace” of 1886 (cf. Ms A 44v-45v), defined by the saint: “the grace of my complete conversion” (Ms A 45r). It constitutes, in fact, a real “watershed”: Thérèse perceives herself so transformed that she no longer recognizes herself; From that moment, she writes, “I walked from victory to victory and began, so to speak, ‘a enormous race!...’“ (Ms A 44v).

For the theme we are dealing with, the synthesis proposed by Thérèse herself is interesting:

In an instant the work that I had not been able to do in 10 years, Jesus did it by being content with my good will that I never lacked (Ms A 45v).

In this rereading of the event of Christmas 1886 I seem to grasp, in fact, how the saint is now aware of  the primacy of grace: it is always the love of God that takes the first step, being content with our “good will”.  

1. The Underlying Message:

A Gaze of Faith that Opens to Hope

Through her experience, therefore, Thérèse opens us to hope: no wound, no limit can block our path of maturation towards holiness if we surrender ourselves to the transforming action of the Spirit. Limitations, wounds, psychophysical fragility, the ‘chiaroscuro` (light and shade] of life can become horizons of grace to^[2] the extent that our daily life is given with trust to God.

Thérèse could very well turn in on herself, remain a prisoner of her wounds. Openness to grace, on the other hand, enables her to leave the “childhood phase” (cf. Ms A, 44) to live in the perspective of the gift of self: “I felt [...] the need to forget myself to please and since then I have been happy!” (Ms A 45v), she writes at the conclusion of the story of the “Christmas Grace”.

The saint invites us to refine our gaze of faith: despite all the setbacks that may arise, in the soil of our life there are many seeds of God’s mercy (cf. Dt 6:10-13). Pope Francis also reminds us of this in the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate: “Look at your history when you pray and in it you will find so much mercy. At the same time this will nourish your awareness that the Lord keeps you in his memory and never forgets you” (n. 153).

It is precisely this awareness, matured over the years, that leads Thérèse to a new vision of perfection. She talks about it in folio 32r  of Manuscript A (which according to Conrad de Meester, ocd represents one of the best formulations of the “little way”^[3]):

I always feel the same bold confidence to become a great Saint, because I do not rely on my merits, since I have none, but I hope in Him who is Virtue, Holiness Itself: it is He alone who, being content  with my weak efforts, will raise me up to Him and, covering me with His infinite merits, will make me Holy (Ms A, 32r. Bold mine).

It is  the primacy of grace, the awareness  of the gratuitousness of salvation, to which the saint arrives through a gradual journey of conforming to Christ.

Conforming to the Face of Christ:

From voluntarism to the gratuitousness of salvation

Simplifying the debate a little, we can affirm that the dominant spirituality at the time of Thérèse is characterized by rigorism, asceticism, the offering to the Justice of God in reparation for sins and voluntarism. At the centre we find personal effort, the need to acquire merits.

This atmosphere is obviously also breathed in the Carmel of Lisieux (although the spiritual vision of St. Francis de Sales is also gaining ground) and we can also see it in Thérèse. On January 8, 1889, two days before the clothing, she wrote to her sister Sr. Maria of the Sacred Heart: “How thirsty I am for Heaven [...]. But it is necessary to suffer and weep to reach it... Well! I want to suffer whatever pleases Jesus” (LT 79). In the same year, reporting on the speech of a preacher, she wrote to Céline: “Holiness consists in suffering and suffering everything. “Holiness! it must be conquered with the unsheathed sword...” (LT 89).

1. “The Mysteries of Love Hidden in the Face of our Bridegroom” (Ms A 71r):

Devotion to the Holy Face and the Illness of Louis Martin

Another traumatic moment in Thérèse’s life is represented by the illness of her father, to whom she was very close. A source of particular suffering will be his hospitalization, on February 12, 1889, in a psychiatric hospital in Caen, due to the intensification of senile dementia. The expressions with which the saint recalls the event are significant:

Ah, I didn’t say that day that I could suffer more!!! Words cannot express our anxieties, so I will not try to describe them (Ms A 73r).

Even with suffering (as also shown by the graphological examination of the letters written in this period), Thérèse faces the new trial with great spiritual maturity. Her father’s illness led her to deepen her devotion to the Holy Face, already lived in the family and later in the monastery. In fact, in the no longer recognizable face of the father she sees the features of the Suffering Servant described by the prophet Isaiah (cf. Is 53:1-5 and 63:1-5) and understands more deeply the abyss of humiliation into which the Son of God wished to descend.

The close link that Thérèse places between the trial that struck her father and the Passion of the Lord appears clearly in a Holy Face that she draws in a chasuble shortly after the death of her father, which took place on July 29, 1894. Observing it even superficially, in fact, the similarity of this image of the Holy Face with the somatic features of Louis Martin does not escape^[4].

In the light of Scripture and her father’s illness, Thérèse discovers the essence of the Holy Face: she speaks of “mysteries of love” (cf. Ms A 71r), of “hidden beauties” (cf. LT 108). In her letter of 4 April 1889 she wrote to Céline: “Jesus burns with love for us [...] Look at Jesus in his Face and there you will see how he loves us (LT 87).

In the disfigured Face of the Lord, Thérèse contemplates God’s crazy and gratuitous love for each one of us, beyond our merits. Before that Face there is no longer room for optional, for titanic effort or for the search for merits, but gratitude for an ever anticipated divine grace. Suffering itself acquires meaning only if it is the consequence of love and fidelity to the Gospel. In the letter of July 6, 1893, the saint addresses Céline with these significant words: 

He [Jesus] teaches her to play at the bank of love; but, no, rather it is He who plays with her, without telling her how He does, since this is her business and not Thérèse’s; what concerns her is to abandon herself, to give herself without reserving anything, not even the satisfaction of knowing how much the bank yields (LT 142. Bold mine).

And in the Act of Offering to Merciful Love, of 9 June 1895, she writes: “In the evening of this life, I will appear before you empty-handed, because I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works” (Pr 6. Bold mine).

Significant is what the saint reports in the last pages  of Manuscript C (written in June 1897, therefore three months before her death): “here below I cannot conceive of an immensity of love greater than that which you were pleased on my part to lavish freely without any merit on my part” (Ms C, 35r. Bold mine).

Conrad De Meester summarizes Thérèse’s journey in these terms:

Holiness [...] is no longer a conquest but a grace received. Man, before the God of love, becomes more passive, more receptive. [...] man’s first commitment is to open himself completely to the Redeemer, while his effort becomes collaboration^[5].

And further on: “The will to conquer has been completely transformed into receptivity to the gift”.^[6] Obviously this does not mean a low-profile spirituality: Thérèse in fact – De Meester underlines – “does not neglect any effort to be faithful [...] to the will of God as it is manifested in concrete life.”^[7] The difference lies in a greater peace of mind in the face of powerlessness and one’s own fragility. Letter 142 of 6 July 1893, which we have already quoted in part, constitutes a sort of “manifesto” in this regard.

1. “Let Me Resemble You, Jesus!” (Pr 11)

At this point in her journey, therefore, Thérèse sees holiness from a radically new perspective: it is a question of growing ever more in likeness to the Face of Christ. This is what she expresses in a very short prayer, written on a small parchment in which the Holy Face was depicted. The text sounds like this: “Make me resemble you, Jesus!” (Pr 11). Significant is the fact that the saint always carried this prayer with her, together with others, in a bag pinned with a pin on the side of the heart: almost a visible manifestation of the desire to live the gift of self as a response to the gratuitousness of salvation.

^[1] I quote the writings of the saint using the following volume: S. Teresa di Gesù Bambino, Opere complete. Scritti e ultime parole, LEV-Edizioni OCD, Città del Vaticano-Roma 1997. [Quotations in the original Italian text are translated in this English version unofficially.]

^[2] A. Piccirilli, Fragile come tutti, felice come pochi. Teresa di Lisieux e le nostre ferite, San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2019, 14. [English translation of book title: Fragile as everyone, happy as few. Thérèse of Lisieux and our wounds.]

^[3] C. De Meester, Teresa di Lisieux. Dinamica della fiducia. Genesi e struttura della «via dell’infanzia spirituale», San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 1996, 208-210.

^[4] The image is visible in P. Descouvemont – H. N. Loose, Teresa e Lisieux, LEV, Vatican City 1995, 207.

^[5] C. De Meester, A mani vuote. Il messaggio di Teresa di Lisieux, Queriniana, Brescia 1997⁵, 44.

^[6] Ibid., 52.

^[7] Ibid., 53.

^[i] Translator: Saxifrage, also known as rockfoil, any of the flowering plants of the family of Saxifragaceae.

September 17 | Feast

In 1205, Albert was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem and a little later nominated Papal Legate for the ecclesiastical province of Jerusalem. He arrived in Palestine early in 1206 and lived in Acre because, at that time, Jerusalem was occupied by the Saracens. 

At some point between 1206 and 1214, Albert was approached by the hermits gathered on Mount Carmel, "near the font of Elijah," and asked to set down their way of life in the form of a Rule. Albert's formula vitae (way of life), a relatively short document, encouraged the daily practices of the hermits in order to "follow Christ."

During his time in Palestine, Albert was also involved in various peace initiatives, not only among Christians but also between the Christians and non-Christians and he carried out his duties with great energy and dedication. On 14th September 1214, during a relgious procession, he was stabbed to death.

A list of books available from Edizioni Carmelitane on St. Albert and the Carmelite Rule are listed at the bottom of this announcement.
 

Read more about the life of St. Albert

Read about the Carmelite Rule  |  Text of the Rule

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Books Published by Edizioni Carmelitane on St. Albert of Jerusalem
Edizioni Carmelitane Webstore

Libros publicados por Edizioni Carmelitane sobre San Alberto
Tienda virtual de Edizioni Carmelitane

Libri pubblicati da Edizioni Carmelitane su Sant'Alberto
Sito Web di Edizioni Carmelitane

The Carmelites and St. Albert of Jerusalem. Origins and Identity
Patrick Mullins, O. Carm.

Celebrating St. Albert and His Rule. Rules, Devotion, Orthodoxy and Dissent
Edited by Michelle Sauer and Kevin Alban, O. Carm.

The Bollandist Dossier on St. Albert of Jerusalem
Daniel Papenbroeck, SJ | Edited and translated by Patrick Mullins, O. Carm.

St. Albert of Jerusalem and the Roots of Carmelite Spirituality
Patrick Mullins, O. Carm.

The Life of St. Albert of Jerusalem. A Documentary Biography. Part 1
Patrick Mullins, O. Carm.

The Life of St. Albert of Jerusalem. A Documentary Biography. Part 2
Patrick Mullins, O. Carm.

Alberto Patriarca di Gerusalemme. Tempo - Vita - Opera
Vincenzo Mosca, O. Carm.
 

Books Published by Edizioni Carmelitane on the Rule of St. Albert
Edizioni Carmelitane Webstore

Libros publicados por Edizioni Carmelitane sobre la Regla de San Alberto
Tienda virtual de Edizioni Carmelitane

Libri pubblicati da Edizioni Carmelitane sulla Regola di S. Alberto
Sito Web di Edizioni Carmelitane

Albert and His Rule
Michael Mulhall, O. Carm.

A Pattern for Life. The Rule of St. Albert and the Carmelite Laity
Patrick Thomas McMahon, O. Carm.

The Carmelite Rule. Proceedings of the Lisieux Conference. 4-7 July 2005
Various Authors

La Regola del Carmelo: Origine, natura, significato
Carlo Cicconetti, O. Carm.

Expositio paraenetica in regulam carmelitarum: Un commento alla regola del Carmelo
Giovanni Soreth | Tradotto da Giovanna D'Aniello, O. Carm.

Abdicatio Proprietatis. Sens et Défi de la Pauvreté Religieuse selon la Règle du Carmel et son inculturation dans le contexte de l'Afrique
Jean-Maria Dundji Bagave Makanova, O. Carm.

La Regola del Carmelo. Per una nuova interpretazione
Bruno Secondin, O. Carm.

In Ossequio di Gesù Cristo. Programma di studi sulla Regola del Carmelo
Emanuele Boaga, O. Carm. & A. de Castro Cotta, CDP 

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On August 28, Authorities opened the silver reliquary containing the body of St. Teresa of Avila who died in 1582. The process was undertaken so that a study of the Saint’s relics can be carried out by the Italian doctors and scientists with the Vatican’s approval. The casket was previously opened in 1914, apparently so that the propositor general of the Discalced Carmelites at that time, Clemente de los Santos, could view the Saint’s body.

Photos were taken of the body at the time of the 1914 study. According to the Discalced Carmelites’ postulator general, Marco Chiesa, who was present at this recent opening, the body “is in the same condition as when it was last opened in 1914.” According to a press release, “the uncovered parts, which are the face and foot, are the same as they were in 1914." The press release also states, "There is no color, there is no skin color, because the skin is mummified, but it is seen, especially in the middle of the face. … Expert doctors see Teresa's face almost clearly."

Both viewings have confirmed that the body of Teresa has remained incorrupt.

The Diocese of Avila, where Teresa lived much of her life, wants canonical recognition by Rome of the relics.

For the opening of the casket to occur, a marble slab had to be removed. Then the case containing the body was moved to a room which has been set aside for the study of the relics. The urn was opened in the presence of the scientific medical team and Church authorities. The local community of Discalced Carmelites, as well as the general postulator of the Order, members of the ecclesiastical tribunal, and a small group of religious participated by singing the Te Deum.

The actual process of opening the urn required the assistance of two goldsmiths and 10 keys. Three keys are kept in Alba de Tormes, three are kept by the Duke of Alba, three are kept by the Discalced Carmelites in Rome, and one key is kept by the king of Spain. Three keys are required to open the gate protecting the tomb, three are needed to open the marble tomb, and the remaining four are required to open the silver reliquary itself.

According to news reports, scholars “were struck by its magnificent state of preservation and robustness. In Teresa’s final years, she did have trouble walking.  She describes this ailment in her writings. According to Father Chiesa, the pain she experienced is quite understandable. “Analyzing her foot in Rome, we saw the presence of calcareous thorns that made walking almost impossible.”

Two goldsmiths assisted in the process of opening the tomb and reliquary. Ten keys that protect the tomb were required: three that are kept in Alba de Tormes, three kept by the Duke of Alba, another three that the father general keeps in Rome, in addition to the key kept by the king of Spain. Three of these keys are to open the outer gate, three are to open the marble tomb, and the other four are to open the silver coffin.

The Saint’s tomb was donated by King Ferdinand VI and his wife, Barbara of Braganza. It is noted for its fine workmanship.

St. Teresa’s writings are recognized as masterpieces of 16th century Spanish literature and spirituality. Her reflections on the process for one to progress toward God through prayer and contemplation are considered benchmarks in the history of Christian mysticism. She initiated a reform within the Carmelite Order which following her death became the separate Discalced Carmelite Order. She was canonized on March 12, 1622 by Pope Gregory XV along with Ignatius of Loyola, Isidore of Madrid, Francis Xavier, and Philip Neri. Pope Paul VI declared her to be a doctor of the Church in 1970.

1 September Optional Memorial

Saint Teresa Margaret Redi was born in Arezzo on 1st September 1747 into the noble family of Redi. In 1764, she entered the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites in Florence, changing her baptismal name of Anna Maria to that of Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

She grounded her spiritual and religious life in devotion to the Eucharist and to Our Lady, and in her dedication to the Sacred Heart which she described as a "giving of love for love". She led a humble and hidden life in the love of God and the total offering of herself and she gave caring and continuous service to her sisters. She died of peritonitis on 7th March 1770. She was beatified in 1929 and canonised by Pope Pius XI on 13th March 1934.

26 August Optional Memorial

Bl. Jacques Retouret was born at Limoges in France on 15th September 1746 to a merchant family. He was a serious young man, a lover of books and greatly gifted. At fifteen years of age, he entered the Carmelite house in his native city. After ordination, his zeal and learning were widely admired and large crowds of people were attracted by his way of preaching. Unfortunately, he was often unable to fulfil all his engagements, due to his persistent bad health which plagued him throughout his life.

The French Revolution did not spare him. Like the majority of his fellow clergy, Jacques refused to accept the civil law, unilaterally introduced by the state, which decreed, among other things, the election of bishops and parish priests by the people, only afterwards to be approved by the hierarchy and the pope. In addition to this refusal, Jacques was accused of siding with a group of political emigres who had invaded the country against the revolutionaries. He was arrested and condemned, together with many other priests and religious, and sentenced to exile in French Guinea in South America. Taken to Rochefort, he was held there in a prison ship. The British navy, at this time, was blockading the French coast and so preventing the departure of the prison ships. The conditions for the prisoners were beyond description: they were crowded together, hungry, plagued by sickness, and suffered from either the heat or the cold in overpowering smells, and persecuted by their gaolers.

Jacques died at Madame Isle, some miles distant from Rochefort, on 26th August 1794 at the age of 48 years. He was beatified, together with 63 other priests and religious, as martyrs for the faith, on 1st October 1995 by Pope John Paul II.

25 August Optional Memorial

Mariam Baouardy was born at Abellin in Galilee on 5th January 1846 to very poor parents who were good living and devoted Greek-rite Catholics. She was left an orphan after the death of her parents at only three years of age when, together with her brother Paul, she was entrusted to the care of an uncle,who had moved to Alexandria in Egypt a few years earlier. She never received any formal education and remained unable to read. At thirteen years of age, wanting to give herself only to God, she firmly refused the marriage which her uncle, according to the Eastern custom, had arranged for her. 

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17 August Optional Memorial

The year of birth of Bl. Angelus Mazzinghi in Florence, Italy, or nearby, is unknown but it was certainly before 1386.

He was received into the Order in 1413 and was the first member of the reform at Santa Maria delle Selve.

He was prior there from 1419-30 and again in 1437, and in Florence from 1435-37. A lector in theology, he was particularly noted for his preaching of the word of God.

He died in Florence in 1438.

12 August Optional Memorial

Bl. Isidore Bakanja, a member of the Boangi tribe, was born in Bokendela (Congo) between 1880 and 1890.

In order to survive, even as a boy, he had to work as bricklayer or in farms. He was converted to Christianity in 1906. He was working in a plantation run by a colonialist in Ikili and was forbidden by the owner to spread Christianity among his fellow-workers.

On 22 April 1909, the superintendent of the business tore off the Carmelite Scapular, which Isidore was wearing as an expression of his Christian faith, and had him severely beaten even to drawing blood.

He died on 15 August of the same year as a result of the wounds inflicted in "punishment" for his faith and which he bore patiently while forgiving his aggressor.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 24 April 1994.

9 August Memorial (Feast in the provinces of Europe: Patron of Europe)

Edith Stein was born at Breslau on 12th October 1891 to German Jewish parents, and after her secondary education, she enroled in the department of philosophy in the city university. 

She read the autobiography of Teresa of Avila and became aware of being called to become a Catholic; she was baptized on 1st January 1922. She made her First Communion the same day and was confirmed on the following 2nd February. After her conversion, she felt herself attracted to the religious life but circumstances forced her to delay this decision until 1933. When in 1933 she lost her teaching post as a result of the anti-Jewish laws, she entered into the Carmel at Cologne on 14th October 1933, taking the name of Teresa Benedict of the Cross.

On 31st December 1938 she was moved to the Carmel at Echt in Holland so as to escape the Nazi persecution of the Jews.

Sister Teresa, accompanied by her sister Rosa who had also become a Catholic, was taken to Amersfort on 2nd August 1942. On 3rd August, she was transferred to Westerbork. On 7th August, she and her sister together with other deportees were locked in railway wagons and taken by train to the extermination camp at Auschwitz, a voyage which took two days.

Sister Teresa Benedict of the Cross died in the gas chamber the same day that she arrived at the camp at Auschwitz, Sunday 9th August 1942, and her body was burned in one of the crematoria there. She was beatified on 1 May 1987 and canonized on 11 October 1998 by Pope John Paul II. On 2 October 1999 the same Pope proclaimed her co-patron of Europe.

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7 August Feast

Born in Trapani (Scilia) in the 13th century. He distinguished himself for his dediction to mendicant preaching and the notoriety of his miracles. In the years 1280 and 1289 he was in Trapani and shortly afterwards in Messina. In the year 1296 he was prior provincial of the Carmelite Province of Sicily. He was celebrated for his passionate love for purity and prayer. He died in Messina most likely in 1307.

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