Santa Terezinha das Rosas: history, prayer, miracle, image and more!

Santa Terezinha das Rosas, or Santa Terezinha do Menino Jesus, was a Carmelite nun who lived at the end of the 19th century in France. Her young life lasted only 24 years, having been born in 1873 and died in 1897. This did not prevent her from leading a life full of love, dedication and example of expression of faith.

Her trajectory was marked by the absence of her mother, who died when little Terezinha was 4 years old, and her poor health. This trajectory was described by her in a series of manuscripts and letters addressed to her sister, Paulina.

The latter, older sister, gathered all the writings and turned it into a book called “The Story of a Soul”. In 1925, she was beatified by the Catholic Church. Canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, he declared that she would be the greatest saint of modern times.

In 1927 she was declared Universal Patron of the Missions. She would honor what becomes interesting in the face of the fact that she has never left the Carmelo convent since she entered there, aged 14. Follow the text and find out how Santa Terezinha accomplished this feat, what is her relationship with roses, her legacy and more.

Despite a life cut short by tuberculosis, Santa Terezinha lived long enough to mark her passage around the world. The limitations of physical and emotional fragility led her to find divine greatness in the small things in life. An example of this is her fascination with roses. Through the flower she beheld a synthesis of the power of God.

So too her love of missionary work has placed her in a special place within the church. And her sanctity was achieved in the beauty of everyday simplicity. Continue reading below and see how her story made Santa Terezinha the greatest saint of modernity.

The girl Marie Françoise Thérèse Martin, or Maria Francisca Tereza Martin, came to life on January 2, 1873. The place where she was born was in Alençon, Lower Normandy, France. Her mother, Zélie Guérin, died when the girl was just 4 years old. This situation led her to have her sister Paulina as her mother figure.

His father was the watchmaker and jeweler Louis Martin, who wanted to join the monastic order of São Bernardo do Claraval. Santa Tereza’s three brothers died very early.

In addition to the brothers, she also had the sisters Maria, Celina, Leonia and Paulina, the aforementioned one. All entered the Carmelo convent. The first was Paulina. A fact that made little Tereza sick.

The absence of her mother, early on, left a hole in Tereza’s life. This gap the girl tried to fill with the love and care of her older sister, Paulina. It turns out that she felt her vocation calling her early on. When she went to Carmelo to follow that call, the pain of losing her mother was added to the loss of her sister, and Tereza suffered.

The little girl began to lose the taste and sense of living until she ended up in bed. When she was very weak, she looked at the image of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, and what she saw changed her life. The saint was smiling at her. Such a vision renewed her strength and the girl felt that she too had a vocation to serve in the Carmelo convent.

Until then, the sanctity of the heroes and heroines of the faith was seen only in great miracles, sacrifices and works. Terezinha, as a faithful disciple, followed in her footsteps with satisfaction. However, her greatest contribution to the repertoire of what holiness is was in the little things.

In her manuscripts, published in the book História de uma Alma, she revealed that love is what enhances the sacred in her works. Everything that is done with the noblest of feelings has the power to consecrate such an act. As the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians in chapter 13-3:

Since ancient Egypt, there are records of the use of elevators to raise the waters of the Nile River. The traction used was animal and human. Only in 1853 was the passenger elevator created by entrepreneur Elisha Graves Otis. That is, its development and popularity were contemporaneous with Santa Terezinha’s short visit to our planet.

Scenario that she took advantage of to make an analogy about the functioning of her spirituality. According to Terezinha, on her own, she would be unable to reach any level of spiritual life. Jesus is the one who lifts her to holiness, as he lifts people. All she could do was give herself with love and devotion.

The missions had a special place in the admiration of Santa Terezinha. Even more so when it came to taking missionaries to more distant and different places. However, she was down to earth, and always very aware of her vocation in Carmel.

With that, she realized that there is an important place, an essential place when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ: love. The constant practice of love for everything and everyone, especially the missionaries, made her say: “In the heart of the Church, I will be love!”. Thus, dedicating her works and prayers to the mission, without ever leaving Carmel, she became the patroness of missionaries.

In 1897 tuberculosis took the young Tereza from this plan at the age of 24. Earlier, her sister Paulina had asked her to write her memoirs. Altogether there were 3 manuscripts. Later, Paulina grouped it, added other letters and writings from her sister and released it as a book under the title of História de uma Alma.

Narrating facts from his childhood, the work is characterized by teaching the theology of the “little way”. Theology marked by simplicity as a path to holiness. In this sense, love is the main ingredient that brings us closer to the divine. The most banal thing in everyday life can rise to heaven, as long as it is done with love.

At the age of 14, Tereza, moved by the strength of her calling and personality, was determined to enter the Carmelo convent. However, due to his young age, church rules do not allow it. It was on a trip to Italy that she had the audacity to personally ask Pope Leo XIII. In 1888, with permission granted, she entered Carmel.

Under the name of Tereza do Menino Jesus, she would spend the rest of her years in the convent with her heart burning with love for the missions. And for Tereza what really mattered was love. She understood that this was the point of preaching the gospel and keeping the church alive. So her mission was to love, and to love unconditionally.

Santa Terezinha always had a special feeling for roses. For her, all the magnitude of divine power was synthesized in the simplicity of a rose. The flower’s petals were one of her favorite faith-demonstrating tools. She used to throw them at the foot of the cross that was in the courtyard of Carmelo, and when she passed the Blessed Sacrament.

Before dying, she would have said that she would make rose petals rain over the whole world. Something she didn’t say literally. What she meant was that she would always be interceding with God for all the peoples of the planet.

For a period of 3 years, tuberculosis caused intense suffering in Santa Terezinha das Rosas. It was at that time that her sister Paulina, realizing the seriousness, asked her to write her memoirs.

On September 30, 1897, at the age of 24, Terezinha do Menino Jesus died. Before leaving, her last words were: “I do not regret having given myself to love”. And fixing her eyes on the crucifix she said: “My God! I love you.”.

In spirituality, everything is a symbol, a sign or a form of communication from the divine. With the images of saints and, obviously, the image of Santa Terezinha, it would not be different. Each object and prop is placed with the purpose of communicating an aspect of the saint. See below what the image says about Santa Terezinha das Rosas.

In the image of Santa Terezinha das Rosas, she appears holding a crucifix. The cross, coming from the Christian tradition, has its meaning related to suffering and sacrifice. So, when she appears in the hands of a person like Terezinha do Menino Jesus, she is representing her suffering.

The girl lost her mother early on, and then the person she had as a second mother, left her and went to follow her vocation. Terezinha was always very sensitive and had poor health. Thus, her life ended up being marked by pain and suffering. In addition to the special affection for the image of the cross, it is the right object to symbolize the saint.

Before dying, Santa Terezinha promised that she would “make rose petals rain all over the world”. What she meant was that she would be in constant intercession for all the peoples of the world. Since for her roses represented a sample of God’s blessings.

She used to throw petals on the passage of the Blessed Sacrament and at the foot of the crucifix in the courtyard of the Carmel convent. In the novena of Santa Terezinha, winning the flower is a sign that her prayer will be answered. With that, nothing fairer than roses in her image.

Representing her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, Santa Terezinha appears in the image with her head covered by a black veil. She went to the Carmelite convent where she took these vows, and where she served the church from age 14 until her death at 24.

In the prop, there is also the symbol of your marriage and total commitment to Jesus Christ. Not just in the vows, this delivery is projected in your constant prayer and love for the missions. A fact that made her the patroness of the missions without ever having left the convent.

The image of Santa Terezinha shows her wearing a brown habit. Clothing in this color is used in the Carmelite Order. It symbolizes your vow of poverty and faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, giving up the race in the conquest of material goods, on energy to dedicate to the spiritual life.

For Carmelites, brown also represents the color of the earth and the cross. Symbol that reminds the faithful of their own cross and humility. It is also worth mentioning that the word “humility” comes from “humus”, that is, earth. Just another reminder, that of “we are dust and to dust we shall return”.

The life of Santa Terezinha leads us to a devotion to love. Love with you, for others and for God. There is no expression of her sanctity that does not remind us of this noble sentiment. Long live love. Continue reading and connect with Santa Terezinha das Rosas, through her miracle, her day and…