SAINTS

Teresa of Los Andes

Posted

Feast Day: April 12

Juana Enriqueta, or Juanita, as she was called, was born to a well-off Chilean couple and had a happy and pious childhood. During a bout of appendicitis, she believed Our Lord told her to accept pain in memory of his sufferings. At 15 she made a private vow of celibacy and began to consider religious life. She joined the Carmel in Los Andes at 19, taking the name Teresa of Jesus and focusing on contemplative prayer. She caught typhus and died within a few days.