A Model Of The Perennial Youth Of The Gospel

Today the Church celebrates St. Teresa de los Andes, the first Saint of Chile. After living a short life here on earth, from 1900 to 1920, Teresa is a saint for the young and one of the primary intercessors for the upcoming World Youth Day in Brazil.

At her canonization, Blessed John Paul II said:

Sr. Teresa “de los Andes,” Teresa of Jesus, is the light of Christ for the whole Chilean Church; the Discalced Carmelite, the first fruit of holiness of the Teresian Carmel of Latin America, today is enrolled among the saints of the Universal Church…God made shine forth in her in an admirable way the light of his Son, Jesus Christ, so that she could be a beacon and guide to a world which seems to be blind of the splendor of the divine. In a secularized society which turns its back on God, this Chilean Carmelite, whom to my great joy I present as a model of the perennial youth of the Gospel, gives the shining witness of a life which proclaims to the men and the women of our day that it is in the loving, adoring, and serving God that the human creature finds greatness and joy, freedom, and fulfillment. The life of Blessed Teresa cries out continually from within her cloister: “God alone suffices!” She shouts it out particularly to the young people who hunger for truth and seek a light which will give direction to their lives. To young people who are being allured by the continuous messages and stimuli of an erotic culture, a society which mistakes the hedonistic exploitation of another for genuine love which is self-giving, this young virgin of the Andes today proclaims the beauty and happiness that come from a pure heart.

St. Teresa de los Andes, pray for our young, that they may proclaim true joy through purity of heart.

Information from Matthew and Margaret Bunson’s John Paul II’s Book of Saints.