A Little Flower grows in New Jersey ~ The story of Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich

Who is Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich? Do you know? I didn't. Sure, I had heard her name because she is included in The American Martyrology as part of the entry for May 8. But details about her life? I knew literally nothing. Of course, the primary reason for that was my woefully deficient Catholic education wherein we spent much time reading forgettable books by Judy Blume, and almost no time reading about the glorious history of Christendom or the lives of the saints.

And that's why I absolutely love books like An American Little Flower: Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich. Books like this are what American Catholic kids should be reading. Heck, they should have been reading them 40 years ago!

Similar to a book I reviewed previously, (see Pierre Toussaint: A Citizen of Old New York), An American Little Flower: Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, introduces young readers to the story of a little-known Catholic Blessed from the United States. Blessed Teresa lived practically unknown in and among our own grandparents and great grandparents, growing up in Bayonne, New Jersey during World War I and its aftermath. Her story opens a window into the hardworking immigrant communities of the 1910s and 20s as they struggled to make a better life for themselves and their children. Readers not only learn about Blessed Teresa's early life, her upbringing in the bosom of a loving family, her closeness with Christ and her call to the religious life, they also come to see how the outbreak of the Great War affected her family in very real ways. 

Click here to find out more.

One of the most interesting passages in the book has to do with acts of sabotage committed by German agents operating in the US. On June 30, 1916, a gigantic explosion rocked a munitions depot on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor. The shock from the explosion was so great that it was felt as far away as Philadelphia. Teresa and her family were much closer than that, so the event had a real impact. Worse, one of the culprits was believed to be a Slovak immigrant acting on behalf of the Central Powers. Given that the Demjanovichs were also Slovaks, this brought the event very close to home. The Black Tom explosion, along with other acts of German sabotage, would play a role in propelling the US into the Great War on the Allied side.

Another aspect of An American Little Flower that I particularly enjoyed was Teresa's devotion to Saint Therese of Lisieux. As the title of the book indicates, young Teresa was influenced by the life of the original Little Flower and her Little Way of holiness. Nothing quite inspires ordinary people to become saints like the examples of other saints. A similar message may be found in another book I that I read recently: Unbreakable: Saints Who Inspired Saints to Moral Courage by Kimberly Begg. The first saint mentioned in this book is St. Joan of Arc, who was herself inspired by St. Michael, Saint Margaret and St. Catherine. So it seems that Blessed Teresa Demjanovic could trace her lineage of sanctity back through St. Therese of Lisieux, through St. Joan, through Sts. Margaret, Michael and Catherine back to Christ Himself who is, of course, the ultimate inspiration for all the saints. One wonders what future saints Blessed Teresa will inspire?

This book is yet another very worthy entry in the august Vision Series, published by Ignatius Press. This is the second entry in the series written by author GinaMarie Tennant. If that name sounds at all familiar, it may be because I posted an author interview and review of Miss Tennant's first book, Louis and Zélie: The Holy Parents of Saint Thérèse a couple years ago on this blog. As enjoyable as her first book was, I found An American Little Flower to be even more engaging. Perhaps this is because the main character was born and raised in New Jersey—as someone recently quipped to me, "If New Jersey can produce a saint, there's hope for all of us." Or maybe it was because the book focused on Blessed Teresa's early life which Miss Tennant seemed perfectly comfortable writing about.

An American Little Flower is highly recommended for young readers. No doubt this book will become a staple for Catholic homeschoolers and find its way into the various curricula. Assuming that Blessed Teresa will eventually be raised to the altars, Miss Tennant should be congratulated for making her name known to a wide audience in advance of that event.