ST TERESA DE LOS ANDES, VIRGIN - 13 JULY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 13th of July

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

SAINT TERESA DE LOS ANDES, VIRGIN

Our saint was baptised Juanita Fernandez Solar and born in Santiago, Chile on July 13, 1900. Devoted to Christ from a very young age, she entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery at Los Andes on May 7, 1919, aged 19. There she was given the religious name of Teresa of Jesus.

HER FINAL VOWS

Toward the end of her short life, Teresa began an apostolate of letter-writing, sharing her thoughts on the spiritual life with many people. At age 20 she contracted typhus and quickly took her final vows. She died a short time later, on April 12.

THE FLOWER OF THE ANDES

Known as the "Flower of the Andes," Teresa remains popular with the estimated 100,000 pilgrims who visit her shrine in Los Andes each year. Canonised on March 21, 1993 by Pope St John Paul II, she is Chile’s first saint.