Saint Teresa of the Andes
A young Chilean Carmelite who died at nineteen, less than a year after entering
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Virgin, Religious, Young saint
- Life
- 1900 – 1920
- Era
- 20th century
- Feast
- 12 April
- Countries
- Chile
Life story
Juana Fernández Solar was born on 13 July 1900 in Santiago, Chile, into a comfortable and devout family; she was affectionately called Juanita. She studied at a school run by French sisters in Santiago and spent her teenage years among family and friends, while keeping a diary and writing many letters that survive.
On 7 May 1919, at the age of eighteen, she entered the Discalced Carmelite convent at Los Andes, a city about 80 kilometres from Santiago. She received the religious name Teresa of Jesus, and in practice has been called Teresa of the Andes, after the mountain range of her homeland.
Less than a year later she contracted severe typhus. Knowing she was unlikely to recover, she made her religious profession on her sickbed on 7 April 1920 and died on 12 April 1920, aged nineteen, about eleven months after entering the convent.
Her tomb at Los Andes soon attracted pilgrims from across the country. John Paul II beatified her in Santiago in 1987 and canonised her in Rome on 21 March 1993, making her Chile's first saint. Her feast is kept on 12 April, the day of her death. Her remains are venerated as a place of pilgrimage by Chileans and visitors from neighbouring countries. Her surviving writings, including letters to her family and spiritual advisers, are the main source for her short life. She is remembered above all for the speed of her short life in the convent and for the letters written during it.
Works and witness
- Born in Santiago in 1900, left a diary and letters that survive
- Entered the Carmelite convent at Los Andes on 7 May 1919
- Professed vows on her sickbed on 7 April 1920
- Died on 12 April 1920, aged 19
- Beatified in 1987, canonised in 1993
Saints from the same country
References
- Martyrologium Romanum
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
- Teresa of the Andes, Diario y cartas (diary and letters)
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.