Saintly Young Catholic Nun Dies of Cancer and Miracle Sun Bow Appears! "I want to make a loving, total gift of self to Him..." - RIP Sr. Teresa Reyes
A saintly Catholic nun, Sister Teresa died on February 20th, 2023 after battling cancer. She was the first sister to die, of this newer Franciscan order, (founded 1988). The nuns even built her casket. On the day of her funeral a miraculous sun bow appeared in the sky (pic above).
They write: Sr. Teresa (Malbri) Reyes, T.O.R., was called to the wedding feast of the Lamb by her heavenly Bridegroom on Monday, February 20, 2023 at the age of 38. She was born on November 29, 1984 in Passaic, New Jersey, the third child of Pedro Reyes and Maria Vera. She enjoyed growing up alongside her two older brothers in a close network of family with a rich Dominican heritage.
Share this True Story to Inspire a Vocation!
Within community, she served in many areas, including vocations, liturgy, and most recently as the Sister Servant of Postulants. In community, Sr. Teresa was known for her single-hearted love for the Lord, her love of prayer, and the exemplary way in which she lived the community’s way of life. She kept her sisters entertained with her excellent acting skills in community skits and her knack for spontaneously breaking out into song at random moments.
She will be remembered for her thoughtfulness, kindness, and the way she always saw and spoke of the good in others. She engaged her final battle with cancer with positivity, gratitude, surrender, and a beautiful trust in God’s providence. She would often say she was being sustained by God’s nearness to her and the knowledge that He was working a great good through her suffering.
Vocation Story of Sr. Teresa Reyes, T.O.R.
He alone is enough for me
In my early years, I was blessed by a dynamic parish prayer group and became very involved in a youth group that played a very significant role in my faith formation. Though I grew up in a Catholic family, the thought of one day pursuing religious life was not on my radar.
The summer after my sophomore year in college, the Lord poured out abundant graces upon me.
He brought into my life devout young adults whose lives witnessed to the truth that the only one who can really fulfill our lives is God. Through them, I gained much insight into how to practically pursue a life of sanctity. That summer, I began reading the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. Reading about her profoundly passionate, intimate relationship of love with the Lord had a big impact on me. I came to know that our God's love is SO much greater than I had thought and that I can have a relationship with Him far more personal than I’d imagined.
After a very grace-filled summer, I made a commitment to making God more of a priority in my life. I regularly attended weekday masses and was committed to spending time with God in prayer every day. As I let Him more and more into my life He became more real to me.
As I pursued my relationship with God more wholeheartedly, I began to experience Him as my brother, my friend, and as my Father. He was the one that I could turn to when I needed a shoulder to cry on and someone to comfort me. He was someone who guided me and calmed me down when I had my overly dramatic moments of freaking out in life. And when I was having a great day and just wanted someone to share it with, He was there too. Over time I felt like He was pursing me and inviting me into a deeper relationship with Him, inviting me to give Him more of my heart.
My junior year at Rutgers University, the Brotherhood of Hope began ministering at the Catholic Center on campus. For the first time in my life, I got to spend time with religious brothers. I was able to see the fruit of their consecrated lives: peace, joy, and deep, lasting satisfaction. It was clear to me that they intimately knew the Lord and that their love for Him was real.
Through the witness of the Brotherhood of Hope and St. Therese of Lisieux’s autobiography, I came to see that religious life is not empty (as I had imagined), and even came to see it as attractive.
At this time in my life, I experienced the Lord's love in a profound way through the Eucharist. Every time I went to Mass, I was reminded of our Lord's TREMENDOUS love for me. I was reminded that He came down from heaven to be born on this earth as a needy, vulnerable infant in a humble manger so that He could live and die for me. I was reminded that He became man so that He could show me how much He loves me and that He would rather die for me than spend eternity without me. Through the Eucharist, I experienced His longing to be with me.
Over time, the Lord really captured my heart. He showed Himself to be my protector and my provider. He showed me that He accepts me just as I am, and loves me not because of what I do or don't do, but because I'm His. He proved Himself to be my loyal, faithful, best friend. He was always there for me, always with my best interest at heart. He was someone I could trust, someone who brought out the best in me, someone who inspired me to be a better person, and someone who revealed to me my own self-worth and dignity.
I experienced the Lord's thirst for me, His desire to have a more intimate relationship with me, and I experienced Him inviting me to consider religious life. At first, I was very resistant. I really questioned, "Lord can you satisfy the desires of my heart?" I thought, "There's so many things I want for my life, so many things I've dreamed of. How could I possibly be fulfilled being a religious sister?!"
I brought this question to the Lord and s l o w l y, over time, as I grew in my relationship with Him, as I opened my heart to Him, I gave Him a chance to prove He could be my all in all. As I let Him love me, I found my answer. Yes, He can be enough. I realized that He alone can love me perfectly and that in Him alone can I place my hope for true, lasting happiness. He alone can satisfy the desires of my heart.
In my Triune God, I found the fullness and richness of all that is true, good, beautiful—of all that my heart longs for. Christ is the one who has captured my heart. It's Him for whom I hunger and to whom I want to be united. I came to realize that Christ is everything I ever hoped and dreamed for in a husband and more--infinitely beyond my wildest imaginings. He's the one for whom I want to serve and live. It's in Him that I find joy and meaning in life. It's Him to whom I entrust my heart and it is He who holds my heart.
He has lavished His immense, merciful love upon me with reckless abandon and in return, I want to love Him with all of my heart, mind, strength and soul, and to make Him loved. I want to live to love, please, and delight Him, and to comfort and console His Sacred Heart. I want to make a loving, total gift of self to Him who has loved me perfectly.
Sr. Teresa Reyes, T.O.R.
In my early years, I was blessed by a dynamic parish prayer group and became very involved in a youth group that played a very significant role in my faith formation. Though I grew up in a Catholic family, the thought of one day pursuing religious life was not on my radar.
The summer after my sophomore year in college, the Lord poured out abundant graces upon me.
He brought into my life devout young adults whose lives witnessed to the truth that the only one who can really fulfill our lives is God. Through them, I gained much insight into how to practically pursue a life of sanctity. That summer, I began reading the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. Reading about her profoundly passionate, intimate relationship of love with the Lord had a big impact on me. I came to know that our God's love is SO much greater than I had thought and that I can have a relationship with Him far more personal than I’d imagined.
After a very grace-filled summer, I made a commitment to making God more of a priority in my life. I regularly attended weekday masses and was committed to spending time with God in prayer every day. As I let Him more and more into my life He became more real to me.
As I pursued my relationship with God more wholeheartedly, I began to experience Him as my brother, my friend, and as my Father. He was the one that I could turn to when I needed a shoulder to cry on and someone to comfort me. He was someone who guided me and calmed me down when I had my overly dramatic moments of freaking out in life. And when I was having a great day and just wanted someone to share it with, He was there too. Over time I felt like He was pursing me and inviting me into a deeper relationship with Him, inviting me to give Him more of my heart.
My junior year at Rutgers University, the Brotherhood of Hope began ministering at the Catholic Center on campus. For the first time in my life, I got to spend time with religious brothers. I was able to see the fruit of their consecrated lives: peace, joy, and deep, lasting satisfaction. It was clear to me that they intimately knew the Lord and that their love for Him was real.
Through the witness of the Brotherhood of Hope and St. Therese of Lisieux’s autobiography, I came to see that religious life is not empty (as I had imagined), and even came to see it as attractive.
At this time in my life, I experienced the Lord's love in a profound way through the Eucharist. Every time I went to Mass, I was reminded of our Lord's TREMENDOUS love for me. I was reminded that He came down from heaven to be born on this earth as a needy, vulnerable infant in a humble manger so that He could live and die for me. I was reminded that He became man so that He could show me how much He loves me and that He would rather die for me than spend eternity without me. Through the Eucharist, I experienced His longing to be with me.
Over time, the Lord really captured my heart. He showed Himself to be my protector and my provider. He showed me that He accepts me just as I am, and loves me not because of what I do or don't do, but because I'm His. He proved Himself to be my loyal, faithful, best friend. He was always there for me, always with my best interest at heart. He was someone I could trust, someone who brought out the best in me, someone who inspired me to be a better person, and someone who revealed to me my own self-worth and dignity.
I experienced the Lord's thirst for me, His desire to have a more intimate relationship with me, and I experienced Him inviting me to consider religious life. At first, I was very resistant. I really questioned, "Lord can you satisfy the desires of my heart?" I thought, "There's so many things I want for my life, so many things I've dreamed of. How could I possibly be fulfilled being a religious sister?!"
I brought this question to the Lord and s l o w l y, over time, as I grew in my relationship with Him, as I opened my heart to Him, I gave Him a chance to prove He could be my all in all. As I let Him love me, I found my answer. Yes, He can be enough. I realized that He alone can love me perfectly and that in Him alone can I place my hope for true, lasting happiness. He alone can satisfy the desires of my heart.
In my Triune God, I found the fullness and richness of all that is true, good, beautiful—of all that my heart longs for. Christ is the one who has captured my heart. It's Him for whom I hunger and to whom I want to be united. I came to realize that Christ is everything I ever hoped and dreamed for in a husband and more--infinitely beyond my wildest imaginings. He's the one for whom I want to serve and live. It's in Him that I find joy and meaning in life. It's Him to whom I entrust my heart and it is He who holds my heart.
He has lavished His immense, merciful love upon me with reckless abandon and in return, I want to love Him with all of my heart, mind, strength and soul, and to make Him loved. I want to live to love, please, and delight Him, and to comfort and console His Sacred Heart. I want to make a loving, total gift of self to Him who has loved me perfectly.
Sr. Teresa Reyes, T.O.R.
Source: https://www.franciscansisterstor.org/sr-teresa-reyes-t-o-r
https://www.mostifuneralhome.com/obituary/SrTeresa-Reyes
Comments
But I do not believe in miracles. The modern miracles I hear about are things like extra wafers for the holy communion appearing when the supply had run short -- and the miracle of a sunbow. Don't those occur naturally? Wouldn't a better miracle have been Sister Reyes being cured of her cancer? Or the war in Ukraine ending when Putin magically became mute or went into a coma? Then maybe a tattoo could magically appear on Putin's forehead that said "Justice for Ukraine" or "Stop the slaughter." That's the kind of miracle I'd like to hear about.