Our "St. Theresa"

It seems that every month God whispers a story to me that He wants me to share. I suppose that it’s in hope that what I write speaks to you, sparks a journey of faith, increases your belief, or just makes you think and become a kinder person. Isn’t that what life is about, finding the kindness and light in everyday life for others and ourselves? So today, on Easter, the day we celebrate Jesus opening up the afterlife for us, I’m sharing the story of my mother-in-law, her relationship and faithfulness with God, friends, strangers, and of course her family. I’ll try, I'm not quite sure just how, to share the moment that God embraced her and lifted her to heaven at her funeral mass. The moment that took our breaths away, the moment she truly became our “Saint” Theresa.

I’ve always joked with my husband Mike that I fell in love with his parents before I fell in love with him. I think it was watching how Theresa and Steve loved and respected each other that made my fondness grow. There were no raised voices or cursing, just patience, respect and most importantly, in the center of it all was their love of God. In watching them, I knew that the foundation was established in Mike, and prayed that we too would continue to show each other the same love and respect after 50 years of marriage just like them.

From the outside I thought it was an even relationship in faith, that was until Theresa had a debilitating stroke and I spent more and more time alone with with my father-in-law. He shared with me more of the lets say, “intimate” details of their relationship. To say he adored Theresa is an understatement, and as time passed we realized the weight of which she carried him, she made him a better person, she made him stronger and as time passed, we all started to call her a saint way before her passing and our witnessing of a miracle.

First, there are a few things that you should know about Theresa to get a better understanding of her and what she endured…she had measles as a child which caused her to go deaf in one ear, her father was an alcoholic, she had ulcerative colitis that she battled and was hospitalized for multiple times, she had a mass in her brain that took away the hearing she had left, she had skin cancer and had to remove a portion of her cheek, and she had lung cancer not once, but twice, where she had the upper quadrant of her lung removed. All of this you would never know as she loved to live life, loved to travel, loved broadway and music, loved her family and loved being together even though it was so hard for her at the end when she battled to hear. In her 70s, she decided to get a cochlear implant because she wanted to be able to hear at mass, hear her sons play music and she wanted to hear what you had to say so she could pray for you and your struggles.

For times sake and the hopes that you will read this (it’s already getting long), I’m going to bullet point what I witnessed myself and what Steve shared with me about Theresa.

These are just a snippet of the traits that make for an incredible woman of faith:

-She never, ever, spoke ill of anyone

-She listened, and was supportive without judgement

-She prayed every day, but not just prayed, she prayed even when enduring her own ailments that she could carry your pain

-She lifted her husband and supported him publicly and privately even though his fears and anxieties limited what she would have loved to have done and seen

-As a mother-in-law, she was beyond supportive, if she had an opinion we never knew it, she believed in us

-She loved giving gifts and making you feel special

-She spread kindness

-She lived and loved and appreciated the world God created

And in the moments of clarity after her stroke, she worried that you should go home and be with your family and live life. She even continued to pray to carry our suffering. She was one of the strongest people I have known even in her frailty.

Theresa was truly an example of how to be a disciple of God.

On the day of her funeral, the sky was gray and sad like our hearts. The tears

streamed down our faces as we sang on Eagles Wings. We were all so grateful for her to be in peace, but our loss was immense as we lost the most selfless person we ever knew. As we clung to each other as the priests said the final blessings and called on God to welcome her home and open the gates of heaven, the sun burst through the clouds shining through the stain glass and a beam of light shone on her coffin brilliantly for seconds and then is was gone as his words ended. The tears stopped as well as our breath as we all just dazed at one another with “did you witness that too?”! There was no doubt that we witnessed God open the gates of heaven as I cant even explain the feeling that overcame us all. She was home.

This was written by Chrisie Canny and originally published on Easter Day 2025.