The Carmelite Calendar

Blessed Mary of Jesus

Today the Discalced Carmelites keep the feast of Blessed Mary of Jesus, one of the early daughters of St Teresa and one who knew her personally. There is very little on the web about her; only the paragraph included in the book of Carmelite propers for the introduction to the propers for her feast. You can find that here.

The following piece is taken from Carmel: Its History, Spirit, and Saints a book produced early in the last century by the nuns of the Carmels of Boston and Santa Clara. And as such, it has much of the hagiographical style of the early part of the last century. And none the worse for it either.

Venerable ["Blessed" since this was written] Mary of Jesus, a most illustrious daughter of St. Teresa, was born at Tartanedo in the province of Guadalajara, August 18, 1560, of parents distinguished for ancestry and virtue. Before she could speak, she knew and tenderly loved God and proved her supernatural knowledge by fasting even in infancy like some of the greatest saints, as soon as she was permitted food. She loved to make little churches, and to dress her dolls to represent Our Lady, and she was ever a model of childlike virtues.

Her vocation to Carmel was supernatural; three distinct times when praying before an image of Jesus bearing His Cross, she heard the words: "I wish thee to be a Car­melite." As she hesitated where to apply, the Most Holy Virgin said to her: " I desire you to be a Carmelite in Toledo." There she received the habit, and during the cere­mony two Religious saw her accompanied by Our Lord, Our Lady, and St. Joseph.

St. Teresa wrote to the Nuns of Toledo: "Daughters, I have sent you Mary of Jesus with five thousand ducats — I assure you that I would give fifty thousand with pleasure for such a one." And again the Saint said, "Mary of Jesus not only will be a saint, but she is one now." There was difficulty at her Profession because of her delicate consti­tution, but Saint Teresa wrote that if they did not admit Mary of Jesus to Profession she would be transferred to Avila, feeling confident that the Monastery which possessed her would be the most fortunate of all.

On her Profession day, a number of the Religious present saw Our Lord interpose His hands to receive her vows at the moment when she placed hers in the hands of the Prioress. She had the gifts of prophecy, discernment of spirits, visions, ecstacies, and revelations, but she was most admira­ble for the solidity of her spirit and the depth of her humility. St. Teresa affirmed: "Much has been said of Mary of Jesus, but now that I have seen her I declare that she is more than they have told me." She had a keen intellect and sound judgment, and the Saint used to call her playfully, " my little counsellor."

The Cardinals Quiroga and Zepata used to visit her, and Philip III sought her opinion on difficult matters, and on leaving her remarked: " Never have I spoken to a more in­telligent woman."

Her piety equalled her intelligence, and her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was so intense as to be a marked characteristic. Once on the Ascension, she cried out to Our Lord, " Thou dost not leave us orphans," and He answered, " No, I do not leave you orphans, since I remain in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Contemplate Me in It, and be­hold thy heart in Me." In the Divine Heart of her Lord she fixed her abode, there she reposed, there her soul was en­kindled with seraphic love, and in the brightness of its flames she saw what passed in the hearts of other ardent lovers. " To the Heart of my Jesus," she wrote, " we have to fly as doves, and there, too, make our nest." Jesus Christ said to her one day: " I hold thee in My Heart to enjoy the ardors of My love." Her devotion to Our Lady was equally re­markable, and was manifest from earliest childhood. " She is my Mother and is all goodness to me," she said, and her love was recompensed by many tender words and loving visions of our dear Lady, especially when she was suffering from severe illnesses.

Her longing was " rather to suffer than to enjoy," and in her early religious life she made a compact with Jesus never to pass a day without something to suffer. Her offering was accepted, and great were her tribulations, scruples, aridities, abandonments, and interior trials of every description. Con­tempt and persecution were added to her chalice of suffer­ing; the demon, too, was permitted to torment her innocent soul. Never did she lose interior peace, or give way to the least complaint. She rejoiced in all, looking upon trial as a mercy and a caress from the divine Hand. " Certainly," she said, " I should not be contented in this exile without suffer­ing for God. The only good in life is the power of suffering for the Supreme Good; ... the privation of the eternal life is only tolerable with suffering."

Mary of Jesus was regarded as a saint in life by the most distinguished theologians and contemplatives as well as by all who knew her. She died September 13, 1640, at eighty years of age, sixty-three of which she had passed in religion. Her body was preserved and distilled a sweet oil and ex­haled a delightful fragrance. Devotion has spread through­out France, Italy, Flanders, and the Americas. Her Cause was begun in Toledo January 15, 1914, and was presented in Rome January 3, 1916. Favors are being granted, and it would seem that God wills the exaltation of His faithful and humble Carmelite, Mary of Jesus.

The English-language collect for her feast (I don't have the Latin original):

Lord, you enabled Blessed Mary of Jesus to contemplate the mysteries of your son and become a living image of his love. Give us through her prayers the burning faith to seek Jesus in all things and the love to prove by our actions the presence within us of him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever. Amen.