It sounds like the name of a holy card or something you might tuck into your Bible.
But “St. Teresa’s Bookmark” is actually one of the most beloved little prayers in the Catholic tradition, and the story behind its name is wonderfully simple.
After St. Teresa of Ávila died in 1582, there is a story that a short poem written in her own hand was found tucked inside her breviary, the prayer book she used each day. That is how the words eventually became known as “St. Teresa’s Bookmark.”
You may recognize them:
“Let nothing disturb you;
nothing frighten you.
All things are passing.
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God.
God alone suffices.”
It is remarkably short for a prayer that says so much.
St. Teresa lived during a tumultuous period in the Church. She also knew suffering personally. She endured serious illness, difficulties surrounding her reform of the Carmelite Order, criticism, opposition, and the ordinary struggles of the spiritual life.
Yet the words she apparently kept close at hand were very simple: everything else passes. But God doesn't.
Her prayer has remained a beloved one. When something frightens us or life feels particularly unsettled, we tend to focus on the thing that is changing. St. Teresa turns our attention instead toward the One who never changes.
“God alone suffices.”
And apparently St. Teresa needed to remind herself of that, too.
These words were kept in her prayer book, and five centuries later, we put holy cards in our missals, Scripture verses on our desks, medals around our necks, and little reminders of the faith in the ordinary places where we will encounter them throughout the day.
Our Little Flower Lip Balm is inspired by another Carmelite, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who centuries after Teresa, would teach her own wonderfully simple way of trusting God. Available in rose or peppermint, it's a small everyday item that can offer its own little reminder of the Carmelite spirituality both saints lived so beautifully: trust God in the ordinary moments of life. Find yours today at The Catholic Company!
