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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 de Ahumada was born in Ávila on March 28, 1515. After the death of his wife and with two children, Alonso de Cepeda, her father, married Beatriz de Ahumada. Teresa was the third of the couple’s ten children. She grew up in a very religious environment, in which she developed a remarkable sensitivity for the transcendent from a very early age. She lost her mother at thirteen years of age. This blow and the crises typical of adolescence aggravated an affective problem that would pull her painfully toward her definitive conversion. Physically graced and with great social skills, she soon triumphed in “the vanity of the world.” After a fierce interior battle, she made the decision to be a religious while in Our Lady of Grace boarding school.
When her father tried to stop her entrance into the Carmel of the Incarnation, Teresa ran away, but with much sorrow. She was 20 years old and wanted to be free to conquer her own destiny. She lived in The Incarnation for 27 years. She made her profession in 1537 and, scarcely a year later, was overcome by a strange sickness. Its severity alarmed her family, who put her under the care of a famous healer. The treatment worsened her condition until she was given up for dead. During the course of her sickness, she came into contact with Franciscan mysticism by reading Osuna’s Third Spiritual Alphabet: it introduced her to the prayer of recollection. Once again in the monastery, her interior summons to solitude and prayer was impeded for years.
In 1554, before an image of Jesus “so wounded,” her conversion began. From this moment, she would no longer be moved by fear, but by a profound love of Him who had loved her first. Teresa of Jesus experienced the way in which the mercy of God transformed her life. Nonetheless, she did not hide herself in an egocentric, sterile intimism. The fruit of her conversion was prolific activity as foundress and writer that lasted until her death. Teresa dreamt of a small community that lived the Gospel authentically, a place of prayer and work, silence and fraternity. In 1562, amidst many difficulties, that dream became a reality with the first Discalced foundation: the convent of Saint Joseph in Ávila.
Teresa’s days flowed by joyfully until the witness of a missionary returning from the recently discovered Americas shook her heart. In view of the affliction of so many creatures, mistreated because of colonial ambition and the failings of those who evangelized, she felt the compelling need to broaden her work. She was 52 years old. From then on, her life was so intensely involved in travel and new convents that the image remaining of her in history is of “the gadabout saint.” Foundress of nuns and friars, she journeyed over more than six thousand kilometers along 16th century Spanish roads that were in terrible condition, and established 16 monasteries of Nuns at a prodigious pace (1567-1582). Teresa used up her health and life in service of God and the Church. She was convinced of the important ecclesial mission that was carried out in her houses of prayer. She understood that prayer, beginning from the transformation of the person herself, reached all corners of the earth like an expansive wave.
Saint Teresa of Jesus died on October 4, 1582, in Alba de Tormes. She was beatified by Paul V in 1614, canonized by Gregory XV in 1622, and proclaimed doctor of the Church by Paul VI in 1970. She was the first woman upon whom that title was conferred.
Video per la festa della nascita di Santa Teresa
Video per la festa della nascita di Santa Teresa
Video per la festa della nascita di Santa Teresa
Video per la festa della nascita di Santa Teresa
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).
France in the nineteenth century was the first country in Europe in which the conviction began to spread that we could do without God, that we could live as if he did not exist. It was precisely in that country beyond the Alps, however, that some saints, such as Thérèse of Lisieux, recalled that the meaning of life is precisely that of knowing and loving God.
Teresa was born in 1873 in a deeply believing environment. In 2015, her parents were also declared saints. She received, therefore, a profoundly religious education that soon led her to choose the religious life in the Carmel of Lisieux. Here she progressively entrusted herself to God. At the suggestion of the superior, she kept a diary in which she noted the stages of her interior life.
She wrote in 1895: «On 9 June, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, I received the grace to understand more than ever how much Jesus desires to be loved». Thérèse wanted to respond to God's love with all her strength and youthful enthusiasm.
Little did she know, however, that love would lead her through the path of deprivation and darkness. The following year, 1896, the first signs of tuberculosis appeared, which led to her death. Even more painful was the experience of Godlessness. Accustomed to living in his presence, Therese found herself shrouded in darkness, in which it was impossible for her to see any supernatural sign. There was, however, one last stage accomplished by the saint. She learnt that to her, a little one, was entrusted knowledge of the little way, the way of abandonment to the will of God.
Life, then, became a carefree game for Therese because, even in moments of abandonment, God watches over and is ready to take into his arms those who entrust themselves to him.
The beatification ceremony was held on April 29, 1923. The solemn canonization ceremony on May 17, 1925. She was declared a Doctor of the Church on October 19, 1997.
Video esumazione e traslazione dei resti mortali di Santa Teresina
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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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).

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