Sister M. Milada of the Savior of the world, OCD
The Virgin Mary is Teresa's Mother
That Mary is Teresa's Mother, Teresa will celebrate throughout her life thanks to the aforementioned healing experience. It is such a grace that she wouldn't want to change with Mary because of it. “As for the Holy Virgin, I will share with you one of my simplicities; once I found myself saying to her: 'My good Holy Virgin, it seems to me that I am happier than you, because I have you as a Mother, and you, you do not have a Holy Virgin to love... It is true that you are the Mother of Jesus, but you have given us this whole Jesus... and He granted us you as a Mother on the cross. We are therefore richer than you, for we have Jesus and you are ours too. At another time, you wished to be a little servant of the happy virgin, who will have the honor of being the Mother of God, and behold, I, poor, little creature, am not your servant, but your child; you are the Mother of Jesus and you are also my Mother.' The Holy Virgin must undoubtedly smile at my naïveté, and yet what I told her is absolutely true!...” (DT 137). 14 The echo of this can also be heard in Teresa's last prayer: “Oh Mary, if I were Queen of Heaven and you were Teresa, I would want to be Teresa, so that you would be the heavenly Queen” (TM 21).15 This relationship is a great and undeserved privilege for us: “... The Holy Virgin has no Holy Virgin to love; she is less happy than we are” (ŽS 11.8.4/VŽ 105).
Teresa also shares her experience of Mary's motherhood with others. On the day of her vows, Celina will connect more intimately not only with the entire Holy Trinity but also with Mary: “I know that the Holy Virgin will become even more intimately and motherly than in the past as the Mom of her chosen child...” (DT 182).16 As a Mother, we do not need to be afraid of her: “It is true that no human life is free of faults; only the Immaculate Virgin is completely pure before God's Majesty. What joy to think that this Virgin is our Mother! Because she loves us and knows our weakness, we have nothing to fear” (DT 226).17 She accepts us with all our weaknesses and incapacity: “... When I have to pray the rosary by myself (I am ashamed to admit this), it costs me more than any penitent instrument. I feel that I pray it so poorly! I try in vain to meditate on the rosary mysteries; I cannot concentrate my mind on them... For a long time, I was crushed by this lack of piety, which amazed me. After all, I love the Holy Virgin so much that it should be easy for me to perform prayers that are dear to her. Now I no longer struggle; I think that the Queen of Heaven is indeed my Mother and must see my good will and is satisfied with it. (...) The Holy Virgin shows me that she is not angry with me. She never fails to protect me as soon as I invoke her. When any restlessness, confusion weighs down on me, I quickly turn to her, and she, like the most tender Mother, always takes care of my interests. How many times it has happened to me, when I was speaking to the novices, that I invoked her, and I felt the blessing of her motherly protection!...” (Rk C 25v–26r/AS 233–234).
All the great events of her life Teresa experiences under Mary's gaze: she enters Carmel on April 9, 1888, on the day of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary.18 Due to Lent, it was postponed to April in the year of Teresa's entry. She makes her vows on the day of her birth, September 8, before the statue of “Our Lady of Smiles”19 and begins to write her manuscript, reads the act of Offering to Merciful Love, and teaches the novices.
Under the protection of her virginal mantle
To express the relationship between a Mother and her child, Teresa often refers to the symbol of Mary's protective mantle. In doing so, she connects to the long Carmelite tradition, in which Mary as the patroness of the order guarantees her motherly protection with her mantle. The mantle is a sign of her purity,20 which all members of the Carmelite family must follow. It does not only speak of the purity of the body but much more about the overall purity of the heart, about freedom from all bonds so that one can bind one's heart to the Lord. Only then is contemplative prayer possible, to which Carmelites are called. Teresa's desire for Carmel is therefore also a desire to hide under this mantle. Over the years, the significance of this symbol will deepen for her:
1/ protection from sin: At first, Mary's mantle is primarily for Teresa a protection of bodily purity. Therefore, before her pilgrimage to Rome, which could “shake my somewhat shaky vocation” (Rk A 55v/AS 118), she asks the Virgin Mary Victorious: “How fervently I prayed for her to always take care of me and soon fulfill my dream by hiding me in the shadow of her virginal mantle!... This was one of my first childhood wishes... As I grew older, I understood that in Carmel I would really find the mantle of the Holy Virgin, and all my desires were directed towards this fruitful mountain... I also asked the Virgin Mary Victorious to remove from me everything that could tarnish my purity” (Rk A 57r/AS 120)
2/ purity of heart: In Carmel, she realizes that to be pure means also to be detached from all disordered affections. To free one's heart from all earthly things, one of her few other mystical graces will help Teresa. In July 1889, during her novitiate in the hermitage of Mary Magdalene, she feels covered by Mary's mantle; only two and a half months before her death does she confide to Mother Agnes: “... It was as if a veil had been thrown over me beyond all earthly things. ... I was completely hidden under the veil of the Holy Virgin. At that time, I was in charge of the refectory, and I remember doing my work as if I were not doing it myself; it was as if someone had lent me a body. This lasted for the whole week” (ŽS 11.7.2/VŽ 61). Mary's mantle thus purifies Teresa, "virginizes" her, and stabilizes her entire being in "deep peace free from all earthly worries" (DT 122).21 In a letter to Celina, she expresses that perfect virginity – i.e., the purity of heart – is gained through intimate contact with the Virgin Mary: “Celina, hide yourself well in the shadow of her virginal mantle, so that she makes you a virgin!...” (DT 105).22
3/ intimacy with Christ: To have a pure heart means to be completely free for Jesus. He himself is under Mary's mantle. Living under it therefore means living in intimacy with her Son, in a place where the most intimate union with Jesus can occur. Teresa celebrates this mystery in her early poems:
“Ah, let me enter under the veil / which covers you from mortal eyes / and with you, Morning Star, / I will taste your heaven”23 ! (TB 1, 1).24
“O Immaculate Virgin, you are my gentle Star / who gives me Jesus and unites me with him. / Allow me to rest under your veil, oh dear Mother, / just for today” (TB 5, 11).25
4/ hiddenness – the little way: Teresa loved the image of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus in her arms, embracing another child. Through this image, she understood that in order for Mary to carry her more easily, to hide her under her mantle and unite her with her Son, she must remain little. This means living the little way. In this sense, Mary herself speaks to Teresa through Celina: “I will wrap you under my veil / where the King of Heaven dwells. / The only star that will from now on / shine in your eyes will be my Son. // But for me to receive you / to Jesus under my veil, / you must remain little, / adorned with childlike virtues”26 (TB 13, 4–5).27 The veil of the Holy Virgin, where one can hide, rest, and fall asleep in peace – is now for her a symbol of complete certainty of a child, a place of perfect abandonment.
