«For me, Prayer is an impulse of the heart, a simple look directed at heaven, a cry of gratitude and love, both in the midst of suffering and in the midst of joy.
In a word, it is something great, something supernatural that expands my soul and unites me with Jesus.
This is one of the most famous phrases of the Virgin and Doctor of the Church, Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, who entered the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites of Lisieux very young and was a teacher of holiness for her dedication to good works and her love for others.
History of Santa Teresita, Patroness of the Missions
Her real name is María Francisca Teresa, but she is known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus or from Lisieux who at the age of 15 asked to enter the convent with his father's permission, but the nuns of the convent and the bishop thought that he should wait due to his young age.
However, in a pilgrimage for the priestly jubilee of Pope Leo XIII, the young woman obtained the blessing of the Pope and asked to enter the convent at the age of fifteen.
To which the Pope replied that if it was God's will, it would be so.
Thus the young woman entered the El Carmelo convent and put all her faith and energy into working for the priests and missionaries, which is why she is known today as Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, Patroness of the missions.
Sick with tuberculosis, she suffered a lot in the last 18 months of her life and finally passed away in 1897. She was beatified in 1923 and canonized in 1925. She is presented as a Carmelite nun with a crucifix and roses in her arms.
In Cuba she is highly revered, considered miraculous, merciful and intercessor of the sorrows of her devotees. Prayers dedicated to alleviating suffering and asking for strength to continue forward are prayed with great fervor.
Then, to ask with faith and love the Prayer to Saint Therese of the Child Jesus:
Roses and Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus
"After my death, I will make a shower of roses fall" and "I will spend my heaven doing good on earth."
This is how the Santa Teresa In his last days and his words were taken with strong religious fervor because, in his life, he demonstrated many miracles that explained his attachment to nature and Love of God.
And is that to Holy Teresita He was very fond of nature and thus explained that everything was related to the Love of God.
She said that she looked like the little flower of Jesus, like one of the many wild ones that go unnoticed by people, but that grow giving glory to God.
Always expressing the Carmelite tradition, the saint saw the world as the garden of God, and each person as a different type of flower.
Syncretism of Saint Teresa with the Orisha Oyá
In Cuba, Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, product of the process of transculturation of Catholic and African religions, syncretizes in the Yoruba religion with the orisha Oyá, the goddess of wind, storms and death.
Oyá She is the companion goddess of the ruling orisha. obbatala and represents the Pure air, the oxygen that we breathe. It is the deity of storms and the strong wind that precedes them, it is darkness, loneliness and fidelity.
She is a warrior who can dominate eggunes or spirits of the dead and is seen in the lightning, in the wind barrage and in the lightning.
To both, the Orisha and the Saint, their devotees pray to bring peace, health and stillness in their lives, mainly on the day of their celebration, which is October 15.
Prayers and songs to Obatala for love, health and protection against enemies
Cleaning the house with Yemayá to collect negative energies
