December 22, 2025
A reading from
the holy Gospel according to Luke1:46-56
Mary said:/ “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;/ my spirit rejoices in God my savior,/ for he has looked upon his lowly servant./ From this day all generations will call me blessed:/ the Almighty has done great things for me,/ and holy is his Name./ He has mercy on those who fear him/ in every generation./ He has shown the strength of his arm,/ and has scattered the proud in their conceit./ He has cast down the mighty from their thrones/ and has lifted up the lowly./ He has filled the hungry with good things,/ and the rich he has sent away empty./ He has come to the help of his servant Israel/ for he remembered his promise of mercy,/ the promise he made to our fathers,/ to Abraham and his children for ever.”
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned to her home.
The Gospel of the Lord.
December 22, 2025
Saint Who?
Saints Who Achieved Sanctity Young
Saint Teresa of the Andes
Religious († 1920) Feast: April 12
The full name of this saint from Chile is Juana Enriqueta Josefina de los Sagrados Corazones Fernández Solar, but everyone called her Juanita. She grew up in a comfortable household with a large extended family and was educated by French nuns.
Juanita was a loving and intelligent child, but she also struggled with anger and vanity. She was six years old when a severe earthquake killed thousands of people in her area. Soon after this calamity she wrote in her diary, “Jesus began to take my heart for himself.” She particularly strove to overcome her faults before receiving her First Holy Communion at the age of ten, and thereafter our Lord often spoke to her in her heart at Mass. When she was fourteen, Jesus told her that he wanted her to become a Carmelite nun and to become holy. As her spiritual life deepened, she reached a high degree of union with God while still a teenager.
At the same time, she had many friends, who enjoyed being around the attractive, cheerful young woman. At the age of nineteen, she entered the Carmelite novitiate at Los Andes and began to wear the Carmelite habit. Then, suddenly, she contracted typhus and died while still a novice. Her letters and holy example ultimately led to her canonization, making her the first Chilean saint.
Lord Jesus Christ, speak to us in our hearts.
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©Image : Christ on the Lake of Galilee, Jacopo Tintoretto (circle, 1518-1594), NGA, Washington D.C., USA. Photo Courtesy NGA Washington.
