Caremlite Friars of OK

Our Saints

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face
(St. Thérèse of Lisieux)
Patroness of the Oklahoma Province

Thérèse Martin was born in Alençon, France in 1873. When Thérèse was seven years old, her mother died, and her family moved to Lisieux. She entered the Carmelite monastery of Lisieux at the age of 15. She lived in greatest humility, evangelical simplicity and confidence in God. By her words and example she taught the novices these same virtues. Out of obedience to her superiors, who asked her to write down her memories of childhood, St. Thérèse produced what is today known as The Story of a Soul, one of the most popular spiritual autobiographies ever written. Discovering that her vocation was to be love in the heart of the Church, St. Thérèse offered her life for the salvation of souls and the spread of the Church. She died from tuberculosis on September 30, 1897. She was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II in October of 1998.

St. Teresa of Jesus
(St. Teresa of Avila)

Teresa was born in Avila, Spain, in 1515. She entered the Carmelites and made great progress in the way of perfection and was granted mystical revelations. Wishing to share in the spiritual renewal of the Church of her time, she began to live her religious life more ardently and soon attracted many companions, to whom she was like a mother. She also helped in the reform of the Carmelite friars, and in this had to endure great trials. She wrote books which are renowned for their depth of doctrine and which showed her own spiritual experience. She died at Alba de Tormes, Spain, in 1582. In 1972, Pope Paul VI named her, along with St. Catherine of Siena, the first female Doctor of the Church.

St. John of the Cross

John was born at Fontiveros, Spain, in 1542. He entered the Carmelites and with the permission of his superior began to live a stricter life. Afterwards, he was persuaded by St. Teresa of Jesus to begin, along with some others, the Discalced reform within the Order. This cost him much hard work and many trials. He died in Ubeda in 1591, outstanding in holiness and wisdom, to which his many spiritual writings give eloquent witness. He has been called the greatest lyrical poet of the Spanish language, and has been named a Doctor of the Church.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
(Edith Stein)

Edith Stein was born to a Jewish family at Breslau on October 12, 1891. Through her passionate study of philosophy she searched after truth and found it in reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Jesus. In 1922 she was baptized a Catholic and in 1933 she entered the Carmel of Cologne where she took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was gassed and cremated at Auschwitz on August 9, 1942, during the Nazi persecution and died a martyr for the Christian faith after having offered her holocaust for the people of Israel. A woman of singular intelligence and learning, she left behind a body of writing notable for its doctrinal richness and profound spirituality. She was named a co-patroness of Europe by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

Elizabeth Catez was born in 1800 to Captain Joseph and Marie Catez. In 1880, she entered the Carmel of Dijon, France. There she made her profession of vows in 1903 and from there she was called "to light, to love, and to life" by the Divine Spouse in 1906, dying of Addison's disease. A faithful adorer in spirit and in truth, her life was a "praise of glory" of the Most Blessed Trinity present in her soul and loved amidst interior darkness and excruciating illness. In the mystery of the Divine Indwelling of the Trinity, she found her "heaven on earth," through faith in God, who dwells in the soul of the one who loves Him.

St. Teresa of Jesus "de Los Andes"

St. Teresa de Los Andes was born Juanita Fernández Solar was born at Santiago, Chile, on July 13, 1900. From her adolescence she was devoted to Christ, and described God as "Infinite Joy." She entered the monastery of Discalced Carmelite Nuns at Los Andes on May 7, 1919, where she was given the religious name of Teresa of Jesus. She died on April 12 of the following year after having made her religious profession. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II, who proposed her as a model for young people. She is the first Chilean and the first member of the Teresian Carmel in Latin America to be beatified.