Feast of Santa Teresa Margherita del Cuore di Gesù

Santa Teresa Margherita del
Cuore di Gesù, ora pro nobis

March 11th is the Feast of St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, Virgin, Mystic, and Discalced Carmelite Nun. Anna Maria Redi was born to a noble and pious family on July 15, 1747 at Arezzo, Grand Duchy of Tuscany. At seventeen, after receiving a sign from St. Teresa of Avila, she entered the Carmelite Monastery of Santa Apollonia in Florence, where she diligently worked in the infirmary and served as a sacristan. Taking the religious name Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, she received her habit on March 11, 1764 and professed her vows two years later on March 12, 1766. Foreseeing her own death, she soon suffered a sudden attack of peritonitis and died on March 7, 1770 in Florence at the age of 23. The Carmelite Order commemorates her on September 1st.

In celebration, we’re posting a prayer to St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart. The accompanying photo comes courtesy of Father Eugene Carrella. The holy card is part of Father Carrella’s impressive collection of religious artifacts. Evviva Santa Teresa Margherita del Cuore di Gesù!

Prayer to St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart

O seraphic Saint Teresa Margaret, you consumed your earthly life so quickly experiencing that God is Charity and that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is an ardent furnace of love, obtain for us to be inflamed like you, by a fervent, generous and holy life. O Angel of Carmel, intercede for us so that your virtues of humility and innocence, penance and charity, with which you offered yourself virginally to the Lord, may be ours too, so that our life may be totally consecrated to the perfect service of God. Amen.