Sophie Leeves was born in Constantinople (now Istanbul) on October 1^st, 1823. Her father was the Anglican chaplain of the British Embassy.

During adolescence a profound change took place in her. She spent many hours in prayer and felt drawn to God, without understanding exactly where she was being taken and what she herself wanted.

She felt attracted to the Catholic Church, especially to sacramental life: the Eucharist and confession. Her mother and other family members, deeply rooted in the Anglican tradition, were annoyed by this novelty. But Sophie knew God was leading her into unknown paths. She broke off the engagement she had accepted with a good-looking young naval officer and converted to Catholicism on 2^nd of February 1850 in Malta.

Shortly afterwards she went to France (1851) and entered the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition. On September 14, 1851, she took the religious name of Sister Maria Veronica of the Passion. In the new congregation she was to have the position of mistress of novices for some years.

In 1862 she was sent to India. The Bishop of South Kanara Mgr. Michael Antony OCD had appealed to France to send young nuns for the education of girls, and as a first step he had purchased a house in Calicut in 1860 and made the necessary changes until it became a convent. At the request of the local population, the school was opened on April 1^st, 1862, under the name of St. Joseph's School.

Mother Veronica and Sister Mary Josephine after a long and tiring journey, and a brief stop in Mangalore, arrived in Calicut on April 27, 1862, took charge of the Convent of St. Joseph and the school, and Mother Veronica became superior. She spent two years in Mangalore and Kozhikode (Calicut).

However, the Bishop of Mangalore, Lucien Garrelon – a French Carmelite Father – wished to have Carmelite nuns for the education of the girls in his diocese. Always attracted to the contemplative life, Mother Veronica accepted the challenge. To prepare for this task she left for France and entered the cloistered novitiate of the Carmel in Pau on July 2^nd, 1867.

After a year of formation she opened, on July 16, 1868, a house in Bayonne (France) with the aim of preparing a group of young sisters for the Carmelite Third Order Regular or otherwise called Carmel for the missions. It was at this time that the expression Apostolic Carmel began to be used in her correspondence. Through the Sisters she trained in Bayonne she founded the Apostolic Carmel in Mangalore (Karnataka) in 1868.

Due to profound differences of views with the bishop of Mangalore, partly caused by the presence of the young Arab mystic, Mariam Baouardy, among the Carmelites, several sisters had to return to France.

Displeased with the decision taken by the bishop of Mangalore, the bishop of Bayonne denied other nuns permission to leave for India. As a result, the Carmelite formation house in Bayonne was closed (October 11, 1873) and Mother Veronica returned to the Carmel of Pau, where she again did the novitiate. She was 51 years old when she made her solemn profession as a cloistered Carmelite (November 21, 1874).

When the Carmel of Pau received the request to open a house in the Holy Land, Mother Superior entrusted Mother Veronica with the responsibility of a group of 10 Carmelite Sisters (including Mariam Baouardy) to give life to the Carmel of Bethlehem (August 20, 1875). The Carmel of Bethlehem had adopted the stricter version of the Carmelite Rule. Spiritually, Mother Veronica went through dark times, had scruples and felt abandoned by God. In 1887 – at the age of 67 – she asked and obtained permission to return to Pau.

Mother Veronica lived another 19 years in the Carmel of Pau. She kept in touch with the sisters of the Apostolic Carmel of Mangalore, encouraged them in difficulties, and wrote the history of the beginnings of the Apostolic Carmel. She also prepared a brief biography of the young Arab Carmelite nun (1903) whom she had guided and known very well.

In the last years of her life came some consolations. Her family became closer: although they remained staunchly Anglican, they visited her in Pau, including a young cousin who had become an Anglican pastor.

She died in the Carmel of Pau on November 16, 1906, at the age of 83, much loved and esteemed by the sisters of Carmel, both those of the cloister, and those of the Apostolic Carmel.

The decree on her heroic virtue was promulgated on July 8, 2014.

PLEASE NOTE

1) In order to be able to consult the Positio please fill in the request form on this page.

2) If your request is accepted, we will then send you the conditions and directions for consulting the document.

1. The canonical norms concerning the procedure to be followed in the Causes of Saints are stated in the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister promulgated by John Paul II on 25 January 1983 (AAS LXXV, 1983, 349-355).

2. To initiate a Cause it is necessary that at least five years pass after the death of the candidate. This is to allow for greater balance and objectivity in the evaluation of the case and to allow the emotions of the moment to decant. There must be a clear conviction among people about his/her sanctity (fama sanctitas) and about the efficacy of his/her intercession with the Lord (fama signorum).

Teresa Toda y Guasch was born in Riudecanyes (Spain) on May 28, 1848 and was baptized the next day in the parish of her hometown.

On July 8, Antonio Guasch, her father, who had already left home, violently snatched his daughter Teresita from his wife's arms and fled with her, endangering the child's life. The girl was rescued by her maternal grandmother, Magdalena, helped by other men in the city.

On August 8, 1848, Teresa Toda presented herself to the Archbishop of Tarragona, to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. From the end of that year Teresita began to live in Tarragona, with her mother, grandmother and uncles. In 1853, she was enrolled in the College of the Company of Mary. Her mother wanted an attentive education for her daughter, especially a formation well founded on Christian principles and values, and which she tried to inculcate in the family.

God was preparing the way for mother and daughter to become a ground ready to receive the calling that was reserved for them.

In 1863, her mother confided to Teresa her desire to consecrate herself to God, founding a religious institute for the reception and education of orphaned girls. Teresa Guasch, who had thought of joining another Congregation, fully accepted her mother's plan.

From this moment Teresa Toda and Teresa Guasch, mother and daughter, in perfect union and harmony, had only one goal: to consecrate their lives to God and to found a Congregation preferably at the service of orphans.

Recommended by Dr. Caixal, Canon of the cathedral of Tarragona and spiritual director of the mother, they prepared and organized everything in silence, overcoming many difficulties and without ever losing their unshakable faith in God.

In 1883, the first Constitutions of the Congregation of the Teresian Carmelite Sisters of St Joseph were adopted by the Vicar Capitular of the Bishopric of Barcelona. Together with her mother and two other companions, Catherine Pera, Rosa Maria Valles y Capdevila, Teresa Guasch made her religious profession, taking the name Teresa of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Teresa Guasch embodied her mother's ideal better than anyone else; she became the inspiration, pedagogue and soul of the Congregation. First in her mother's life, and then as a follower of her work.

In 1898, after the death of her mother, she was elected Superior General of the Congregation, a position she held until her death. In 1902 she obtained the definitive diocesan approval and in 1911 the decree of praise and the definitive approval of the Institute.

Other foundations followed: 1902, Sabadell, 1906, Roda de Bará and 1916 Tarragona.

In 1912 she suffered a serious illness that she was determined would not be an obstacle to continue, with perseverance and perseverance in the face of her work. But the disease undermined her body and she, who had always worked tirelessly, multiplied her activity in the last days because she already felt the end was near.

On December 15, Saturday, between 11 and 12 o'clock in the evening, she gave her soul to God.

The decree on her heroic virtues was promulgated on April 19, 2004.

1. The canonical norms concerning the procedure to be followed in the Causes of Saints are stated in the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister promulgated by John Paul II on 25 January 1983 (AAS LXXV, 1983, 349-355).

2. To initiate a Cause it is necessary that at least five years pass after the death of the candidate. This is to allow for greater balance and objectivity in the evaluation of the case and to allow the emotions of the moment to decant. There must be a clear conviction among people about his/her sanctity (fama sanctitas) and about the efficacy of his/her intercession with the Lord (fama signorum).

PLEASE NOTE

1) In order to be able to consult the Positio please fill in the request form on this page.

2) If your request is accepted, we will then send you the conditions and directions for consulting the document.

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Teresa Toda y Juncosa was born in Riudecanyes, Tarragona (Spain) on August 19, 1826. When she was only 13 years old, her father died. Like the girls of her time, in her youth Teresa did not attend school, nor did she undertake particular studies.

A pious young woman of wealthy position, she married Antonio Guasch in 1847. This relationship lasted only three months; in fact, mistreated by her husband, she returned to her mother Magdalena’s house, where on May 28, 1848 her only daughter, Teresita, was born, whose life had been threatened in her mother's womb by her father.

On 5^th of August 1848, she was granted a marriage separation by the ecclesiastical court of Tarragona. She left her hometown for Tarragona. Here she carefully took care of the education of her daughter and at the same time she prepared to found, in 1878, supported by Canon D. José Caixal, the Congregation of the Teresian Carmelite Sisters of St. Joseph by which, with her daughter, she would pursue her desire to welcome and educate poor orphan girls.

Together with her daughter Teresa Guasch and two other companions, she made her solemn profession on September 16, 1883, taking the religious name of Teresa of St Joseph. That same day she was elected the first Superior General; they wrote the first Constitutions and opened the first colleges.

She died on July 30, 1898 in Barcelona, after having spent her whole life in the service of Love.

The decree on her heroic virtues was promulgated on June 3, 2013.

1. The canonical norms concerning the procedure to be followed in the Causes of Saints are stated in the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister promulgated by John Paul II on 25 January 1983 (AAS LXXV, 1983, 349-355).

2. To initiate a Cause it is necessary that at least five years pass after the death of the candidate. This is to allow for greater balance and objectivity in the evaluation of the case and to allow the emotions of the moment to decant. There must be a clear conviction among people about his/her sanctity (fama sanctitas) and about the efficacy of his/her intercession with the Lord (fama signorum).