Feast of St. Teresa Margaret

The feast of St. Teresa Margaret Redi is currenly observed on September 1st within the Discalced Carmelite calendar.

Collect

O God, you enabled blessed Teresa Margaret, Virgin, 
to draw priceless riches of purity and love 
from the fountains of the Savior. 
May we, through her intercession,
grow rich in heavenly gifts. 
This we ask of you through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord and your Son, 
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
God, forever and ever.  Amen.

Saint Teresa Margaret Redi of the Sacred Heart was born at Arrezzo, of illustrious parentage, on July 15, 1747, the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. From earliest youth she said, “Jesus, I wish only to please Thee, and to become a saint.” St. Aloysius was her model, and she sought to reproduce his life in hers. She entered the Carmel of Florence on September 1, 1764, and was consummate in virtue from the first day. She was given a special contemplative experience concerning the words of Saint John, “God is love.” She felt deeply that her vocation was to live a hidden life of love and self-immolation. That vocation was confirmed by her heroic exercise of fraternal charity, but was soon completed. She died at twenty-two, in the reputation of sanctity, on March 7, 1773. In four brief years she had woven her immortal crown. When her tomb was opened, she was found fresh and ruddy as in life. She was canonized in 1934.

Adapted from the book “Carmel: Its History, Spirit and Saints” and the current Disclaced Carmelite Proper. Collet taken from the 1966 Discalced Carmelite Proper.