"A sinner, like me, finds in you a protective mother, who has crushed the head of the dragon under your immaculate feet; in your eyes I find mercy, forgiveness and a shining light so as not to fall into the muddy waters of sin."

Saint Teresa was born into a Catholic family in Santiago, Chile on July 13th, 1900. Once she was 6 years old, she went to daily Mass with her mother and had a great desire to receive Holy Communion. She made her first Holy Communion on September 11th, 1910. She received communion daily and spent many hours with Jesus. The love that she had for the Mother of God gave her strength and sustained her in her path to follow Christ. By the time she was 14 years old she already knew that the Lord wanted her to be only His as a Carmelite. She helped prepare herself by reading the lives and writings of Carmelite saints. She entered into the Carmelite convent in 1919 and received the name “Teresa of Jesus.” She had been in the convent for less than a year when the Lord called her to Himself. Throughout her life she desired to resemble Christ: suffering and prayer were her ideals as a Carmelite. She died on April 12th, 1920 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in Rome on March 21, 1993.