St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart
When love goes metal
St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart was an Italian nun who basically was the precursor to the Little Way of St. Thérèse. When I first read about her, what struck me was her insistence in obedience in the smallest things and the little sacrifices she would make (these sometimes overlapped).
She wanted her food bland so that she would not derive any pleasure from eating it, thus making that a sacrifice to the Lord. When the food wasn’t bland enough, she’d send it back. This distressed her parents and their staff, so Anna Maria started eating whatever was placed in front of her, no matter how flavorful or bland, fancy or plain, and wouldn’t complain. That was her new sacrifice.
When she couldn’t have things the way she wanted, when the sacrificing wasn’t going her way, she made that her sacrifice. How much do I need that in my life!
Anna Maria took the name Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart in the convent and continued her life of taking whatever sacrifices come your way. Once when Teresa Margaret was sick and in the infirmary, a sister was distressed that she hadn’t touched her plate of food (she hadn’t been able to keep anything down). By the time that sister came back to check on her, Teresa Margaret had finished the plate of food, not wanting to further upset the sister.
St. Teresa Margaret was known to go to extremes for her faith life but that was tempered by her fellow nuns and her spiritual director. God doesn’t demand great sacrifice, He demands great love.
The pinnacle of her life and spiritual life, though, was when she came to the realization that God is Love, like real, pure, true, good Love. It completely changed Teresa Margaret's outlook and way she spent the rest of her life. Sacrifices weren’t just an offering to keep hell at bay, but a gift of love to her Lover.
Girlfriend is also incorrupt in a little monastery in Florence, Italy and the nuns there are delightful. To get into her chapel, they give you a huge skeleton key through their dumbwaiter and then you unlock the gate. St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart was the first body I ever saw incorrupt and it was a trip. This little cloistered nun loved so well that God saw fit to keep her body (mostly) intact for generations so that we, too, could understand the depths of His Love for us and how much He wants us to be with Him.
St. Teresa Margaret Redi of the Sacred Heart, pray for us!