From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity: The Spiritual Itinerary of St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, O.C.D.

by Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, Sebastian V. Ramge (Translator)

St. Teresa Margaret Redi was a Carmelite captivated by the love of God. Helping us to appreciate the holy life she led are eyewitness accounts of her spiritual directors collected soon after her death. The author of this small study builds his story on those accounts by the Discalced Carmelite friars who knew her as a young religious. Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene lays out clearly the steps in Saint Teresa Margaret's spiritual biography and how she developed her deep attachment to love for God, by using classic Carmelite doctrine about growth in the spiritual life.Teresa Margaret Redi was an Italian daughter of Saint Teresa of Jesus who lived in the eighteenth century (1747-1770). Like Saints Therese of Lisieux and Teresa de los Andes after her, her life in Carmel was brief. Her canonization came early in the last century (1934) and only now are we coming to appreciate better the spiritual legacy she left behind. This summary study by a noted spiritual theologian is a useful companion to the fuller biography of Margaret Rowe, God is Love: Saint Teresa Margaret, Her Life (ICS Publications, 2003).The translator was Editor of Spiritual Life Magazine when he issued this work for Spiritual Life press originally in 1965.

92 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., was a Discalced Carmelite priest who became one of the most revered masters of the spiritual life. He acquired a vast knowledge of the ways that lead to holiness and to union with God. His experience with souls, whom he guided to the heights of perfection, was outstanding.

Reviews

[Becca Brady]

Makes you want to die of love!

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

St Teresa Margaret didn't leave us an autobiography in exact detail, which is perhaps why she isn't better-known. However, we can gain a partial understanding of her from this, which is Fr Gabriel's painstaking study of her canonization documents and summary of her spiritual life.

What we discover there is that St Teresa Margaret was attracted by love to the Sacred Heart, and penetrated into the mystery of God through this devotion. She also practiced heroic virtue as she underwent severe trials in faith. Fr Gabriel explains how these went beyond the typical trials in the Night of Spirit. St Teresa Margaret verifies the doctrines of St John of the Cross through her life, despite never having read him (although her confessors surely did). Also interesting to note is how she was called to the Discalced Carmelites, or more precisely, who calls her.

Fr Gabriel notes that her limited writings read exactly like St Therese, but with a slightly different angle on her spiritual doctrine that was more particular to her own life. Unlike St Therese, since these doctrines are not explicitly presented, they would be very hard to understand and apply without something like Fr Gabriel's work. He did a wonderful job.