Felisa Pérez de Iriarte Casado

Although her dynamic temperament might at first glance seem to destine her for an active life, Felisa felt an irresistible call to the contemplative life and strict enclosure. She expressed this desire with a touch of humor by saying: "Yo cerradica, bien cerradica" ("Me, well enclosed, well enclosed"). On January 4, 1925, after passing through Zaragoza to pray before the Virgin of the Pillar, she entered the Dominican monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary (Nuestra Señora del Rosario) in Daroca, in the province of Zaragoza. At the end of her novitiate, she took the habit of the Order of Preachers under the name of Sister Teresita of the Child Jesus (Sor Teresita del Niño Jesús), in homage to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, whose spirituality of the "little way" she adopted. She made her temporary vows on July 2, 1926, and her solemn profession three years later. At the Daroca monastery, Sister Teresita performed numerous duties with dedication and efficiency: cantor, secretary to the prioress, and above all, turnress (tornera), an office requiring great discretion and a deep interior life. In the early 1950s, the "Madre de Dios" monastery in Olmedo (Valladolid), then in decline due to the low number and advanced age of its nuns, requested help from the Daroca community. Daroca sent three nuns, including Sister Teresita. Having become superior (prioress) of the Olmedo community, she breathed an exceptional spirit of spiritual and communal renewal into it. Under her leadership, and subsequently that of her collaborator and successor Mother Teresa María Ortega, the Olmedo monastery experienced a dazzling missionary expansion, becoming the motherhouse of the "Madre de Dios Federation," which would later found numerous contemplative monasteries on four continents.

Sister Teresita's life of offering culminated in the heroic acceptance of illness. Diagnosed with advanced cancer requiring urgent surgery, she maintained an unalterable peace, seeing it as an opportunity to unite more intimately with the Passion of Christ and to offer her sufferings for the sanctification of priests. Faithful to this offering, she refused painkillers in order to keep her mind clear in the face of death. Operated on in Zaragoza on September 5, 1954, medicine could not halt the progression of the disease. She returned to the monastery of Olmedo on September 17, where she passed away holily on October 14, 1954, surrounded by her community. Her reputation for holiness spread rapidly among the faithful. In 2003, her mortal remains were transferred to the monastery of Daroca, where they are venerated today.

The cause for the beatification and canonization of Sister Teresita was introduced during the pontificate of John Paul II. The diocesan inquiry took place within the Archdiocese of Zaragoza from April 18, 1989, to September 8, 1992. The decree of validity for this inquiry was promulgated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on February 3, 1995. On April 3, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her Christian virtues, thereby officially conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

The spirituality of the Venerable Teresita of the Child Jesus is deeply rooted in the doctrine of spiritual childhood of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. It is characterized by an absolute trust in Divine Providence, a joyful humility, and a spirit of sacrifice offered for the Church and the priesthood. She leaves behind spiritual writings of great depth, testifying to her vision of human existence: "There are those who spend their entire existence speaking ill of life, and they have no right to do so, for it is not true. Life is bitter, but there are joys within it capable of sweetening all bitterness, and this sweetness is the Lord. Human existence is struggle, work, and pain. But there is something that converts work into pleasure and struggle into peace. And something that makes pain not a cross, but happiness. This something is Him, God, Christ." Her spiritual legacy remains alive through the vitality of the "Madre de Dios" Dominican Federation, of which she was one of the great inspirers and reformers.