A Beloved Daughter

Venerable Sr. M. Theresia of the Most Holy Trinity

Mother Maria Teresa of St. Joseph spent September of 1912 to July of 1920 establishing our Carmel in Canada and North America. During that time, she who had a special love for suffering encountered the heroic suffering of one of her daughters, Sr. M. Theresia of the Most Holy Trinity. So edified by Sr. M. Theresia was she, that after Sister’s death, Mother trusted firmly in her intercession and eagerly desired her beatification.

Sr. M. Theresia was born on November 13, 1897, in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, the daughter of a faith-filled Catholic family. After a 6-year stay in Ochtrup, Germany, where her father died, she lived with her family in Enschede until she entered the convent.

Theresia suffered much from her childhood on, and began very early in life to love her suffering, for, as she said, Jesus also suffered much for us. From her pious mother she learned to love the Mother of God and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. When her health improved, she asked to enter our Carmel of the Divine Heart of Jesus.

She entered our convent in Tilburg on October 2, 1917, and professed her vows on July 2, 1919. Impelled by a great zeal for the missions, she travelled to America with seven other Sisters in December 1919.

Soon after her arrival in the New World, she was afflicted with an illness, a severe kidney disease, discovered too late by the doctors. She suffered for five years in the convent in St. Charles, Missouri, with indescribable patience and a smile on her lips. She wanted to serve God in the Order, working in silent union with Him. When work was no longer possible, she bore her pain silently, hidden from the world.

On March 10, 1926, she died a holy death in St. Mary’s Hospital in St. Louis. Soon after her death, many healings and answered prayers were attributed to her intercession.

The blessed Foundress of the Order revered her already as a saint. Holy Mother Church found her virtues to be heroic and declared her Venerable on April 27, 2026. Now from Heaven may she help others to learn the meaning of suffering and to find God in silence.

Prayer:

God, our heavenly Father, You filled Sr. M. Theresia of the Most Holy Trinity with a great love for the Sacred Heart and for Mary, the Mother of God. Out of love for You, she courageously bore great and painful suffering and saw Your love in this.
Through her intercession help us courageously to bear the adversities of life and hear us in our need . . .
We ask that You glorify Your true servant here on earth as we hope that You have already glorified her in Heaven. Amen.

Please communicate all favors granted though Sr. M. Theresia’s intercession to:

Carmelite Sisters DCJ
10341 Manchester Rd.
Kirkwood, MO 63122

Prayer cards of Sr. M. Theresia of the Most Holy Trinity may be obtained upon request. The small biography of Sr. M. Theresia entitled The Passion Flower may be obtained by those within the U.S. upon request.