Teresa of the Andes
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| Teresa of the Andes | |
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 Teresa of the Andes |
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| Born | July 13, 1900, Santiago, Chile |
| Died | 1920, Carmelite monastery of Los Andes, Chile |
| Beatified | April 3, 1987, Santiago, Chile by Pope John Paul II |
| Canonized | March 21, 1993, Rome by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | April 12 |
| Attributes | small cross, flowers |
| Patronage | Chile, young people |
 Saints Portal |
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Saint Teresa of the Andes, Teresa de Jesús "de los Andes," (1900 – 1920 in Santiago, Chile) was a Chilean nun canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
Her real name was Juana Fernández del Solar, aka "Juanita" by her family, and she was the daughter of an upper class Chilean family. Early in her life she read an autobiography of the French Saint Thérèse de Lisieux; the experience had a profound effect on her already pious persona, coming to the realization she wanted to serve God.
In 1919, at age 19, Juanita became a Carmelite nun and took up the name Teresa. Her family didn't oppose to her vocation itself but wanted her to live in another convent different from the one she chose, closer to Santiago and comfier for living; Teresa gently but firmly rejected their offers. The convent offered the simple lifestyle Teresa desired and the joy of living in a community of women completely devoted to God. She focused her days on prayer and sacrifice. "I am God's," she wrote in her diary. "He created me and is my beginning and my end."
Toward the end of her short life, Teresa began an apostolate of letter-writing, sharing her thoughts on the spiritual life with many people. At age 20 she contracted typhus and quickly took her final vows. She died during Holy Week.
Teresa remains popular with the estimated 100,000 pilgrims who visit her shrine in the Andes each year. She is Chile's first saint, and is specially popular among females and younger people.
[edit] Trivia
- During the early 90's, the popular telenovela actress Paulina Urrutia, now the Culture Minister in Chile, played Sor Teresa in a short TV series for the TVN Chilean TV channel. This became one of her most popular roles, to the point that people asked her in the streets to bless them.
- Luis, one of her siblings, was present at her beatification. He was the last direct relative of hers still alive in those years.
[edit] External links
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