“Always Smile” are the two words that sum up her life. A path that only love could accomplish in this young Claretian Missionary Sister, who advanced at great speed along the paths of holiness, walking in joy, generosity, virtue, and total surrender to God and to her neighbour.
María del Carmen Albarracín was born on May 1, 1927, in Puerto de Mazarrón, Murcia, Spain. She was the sixth of nine siblings. Her mother, a woman of great human and spiritual qualities, instilled in her children a deep experience of faith. Her father, a righteous and hardworking man, transmitted his natural generosity toward those in need.
She was a lively, cheerful, intelligent, and hardworking child who stood out for her early psychological maturity. Her childhood was marked by the painful experience of the Spanish Civil War. The family was caught up in the dangers, suffering, and hunger caused by the Revolution, but at the same time, during this period, family piety and unity were strengthened.
After the war, Mari-Carmen insisted on receiving her First Communion. Her family did not have the means for a new dress, to which she replied: “It doesn’t matter, Mom, I will wear the best dress I have! I cannot wait any longer. I want to receive Jesus!”
In March 1941, her father died. María del Carmen was about 14 years old. This painful event was decisive in her life, her vocation, and her determination to give herself entirely to God.
She read the life of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, which left a deep imprint on her heart. She resolved to imitate her in her program of spiritual childhood, that is, becoming like children to enter the Kingdom of God.
Her youth was spent between the parish and the hospital, where she frequently went to comfort the sick. She joined the group of the Daughters of Mary in her parish. There she carried out intense apostolic and formative activity. During long hours of prayer, her burning desire to save souls was strengthened. She offered sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. She came to know Christ experientially as the way, the truth, and the life: “About six months ago, more or less, I found You, I saw You and heard You clearly, without the veil of the world that previously enveloped me…” she wrote in a prayer to Jesus.
The Claretian Fathers of Cartagena carried out a mission in her village in October 1941, and from that moment she experienced a profound conversion to the Lord, desiring to unite her will to God’s. She gradually discovered her vocation to religious life and her deep desire to become a saint: “It is not the desire to be good, nor even to stop being bad; no, my desires go further: I want to be a saint, I want to achieve great perfection, and if that were not enough, I immediately imagine that for nothing else did You want me to come into the world” (Prayer to Jesus, May 1942).
At 15, she joined a youth association organized by the Claretian Fathers: the Cordimarian Youth. There she shared her qualities, faith, joy, and friendship. In this environment, with the help of a Claretian priest, she began to discern the call to religious life. She felt attracted to the charism of Paris and Claret. She wanted to follow the spirit of these two great apostles who left their mark on the evangelization of the Church in the 19th century and gave themselves entirely to its renewal.
She wrote to the Claretian Missionary Sisters in Barcelona (novitiate house), expressing her desire to consecrate herself to God and asking to be admitted to the Institute. “Lord, I want to be entirely Yours, to serve my brothers and sisters as a Missionary. Do not deny me this grace. It is the only thing I desire in my youth”, she wrote while awaiting her admission.
Upon receiving the long-awaited answer, she said goodbye to family and friends, and two days before leaving she wrote in her diary: “You knocked at my door and I opened it to You, O my Jesus! How happy I am because I did not make You wait!“
On September 27, 1943, she began her postulancy; on March 18, 1944, her novitiate. From this moment on, her name would be Thérèse of Santiago Menor.
Very soon, illness struck her, slowly weakening her existence. During spiritual exercises preparing for her first profession, she wrote: “When I feel sadness, I will try to smile, so that no one but Jesus may know the cause of my pain”. Her smile is an expression of her love and proof of her great psychological balance.
On April 10, 1944, she made her first profession. From then on, even more so, she felt entirely God’s and for His glory. She was entrusted with a preschool class. She dedicated herself to her mission with responsibility, patience, and gentleness, educating well and teaching as a witness of faith and love for Jesus.
The illness continued its course. The pain could not be hidden. Nothing could be done to remedy it. In that situation, she was an angel of peace for doctors, nurses, and sisters. She smiled and longed for the definitive encounter with Christ, whenever God would allow it.
On March 12, she asked to renew her profession and was granted perpetual profession (in articulo mortis). That same day she departed to meet the Father, smiling. She left behind the memory of a total surrender to God’s will, like the Founders, faithfully following in the footsteps of Christ, our good.
On July 1, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the Decree of Heroic Virtues of the Venerable Thérèse Albarracín.
She is, for the young people of all times, an example of evangelical simplicity, missionary proclamation of the Word wherever she may be, and love for Jesus above all things, even pain and death. She was a witness of love in the silent offering of daily life, with the deep joy that comes from knowing oneself totally of God and for God and neighbour.