Saint Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart
Born July 15, 1747. Died March 7, 1770 in Florence.
Portrait of St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart O.C.D. painted after her death by Anna Piattoli.
She was born Anna Maria Redi to a large noble family in Arezzo, Italy. She was the daughter of Count Ignatius Redi and Camilla Billeti. After attending the boarding school of the Benedictine nuns of St. Apollonia’s in Florence, she entered the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites in Florence, taking the name Teresa Margaret of the Heart of Jesus.
Teresa Margaret was a very private and spiritual person. She was given a special contemplative experience concerning the words of I John 4:8, “God is love.” She seemed to have a premonition of her death, which was at the young age of 23.
After death the fast decomposition of her body made the nuns fear it would decay before proper funeral rites were conducted. The next day decomposition reversed and three days after her death her body was lifelike. The nuns, the Provincial, several priests and doctors all saw and testified to the fact that the body was as lifelike as if she were sleeping, and there was not the least visible evidence of corruption or decay. Her incorrupt body lies in the monastery in Florence.
The incorrupt body of St. Teresa Margaret.
She is one of the five Discalced Carmelite Nuns to become a Saint together with Saints Teresa of Avila, of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, of Teresa of the Andes, and Thérèse de Lisieux.
