J.M.J. "St. Teresa's whole Marian experience is found scattered
throughout her writings, from which we can put together a lovely mosaic of
Mary. ( . . . . ) From the first page of
Teresa's writings the Virgin Mary appears among the most important memories of
her childhood. She recalls the devotion taught her by her mother Beatriz, which
found expression in the recitation of the Rosary. The episode of her prayer
to Our Lady after the loss of her mother at the age of 13 is very moving: 'in my affliction I went to an image of our Lady and begged her with many
tears to be a mother to me. It seems to me that though I did this in
simplicity, it has been of much help to me; for I know that I have always found
favor with this sovereign Lady when I have commended myself to her and in the
end, she has drawn me to herself.' Teresa then attributes to the Virgin
the grace of a constant protection and in a special way the grace of her
conversion: 'She has drawn me to herself.' Other texts from the
autobiography reveal to us the permanence of the devotion to Mary: when she
turns to the Virgin in her sufferings, when she remembers her feasts of the
Assumption and the Immaculate Conception or the Holy Family or her
devotion to the Rosary.
--Helen Carlin, O.C.D.S., "Saint Teresa of Jesus and the Virgin Mary."
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