Venerable Teresa Chikaba

A Slave in the World, a Bride of Christ in Eternity

- a blog post by Ms. Sarah Greydanus, O.P.

Venerable Teresa Chikaba (c. 1676-1748)

Many Catholics know the story of St. Martin de Porres, a model of charity despite the racial prejudice he suffered even from his fellow Dominican brothers. Less well known, but no less remarkable and compelling, is the story of Venerable Teresa Chikaba (c. 1676–1748), who endured slavery and abuse but never lost sight of her royal dignity as God’s beloved.

Chikaba was born to a high-ranking family in Ghana, where the Gospel had not yet been introduced. As a young girl, she was kidnapped, sold into slavery, and taken to Spain. She was baptized on the way and named Teresa. In Spain she became the maidservant of a noblewoman who had her educated and generally treated her well. Other servants in the household, seeing the lady of the house favor the little girl, responded with envy and treated her cruelly, from insults to outright violence. Even the governess hired to teach her beat her so badly that she was never completely healed.

Teresa could easily have resented her captors’ religion and rejected the baptism that, after all, she had not chosen. Instead, she found in Christ the answers to all her heart’s questions and longings. She prayed for hours before the Blessed Sacrament and grew deep in faith and love. Even though His people had not treated her with love, Teresa believed in Jesus’s love for her. And when, after many years, the noblewoman died and freed Teresa in her will, she promptly applied to convents.

But again Teresa was to suffer rejection, as one convent after another turned her away because of her race. At last a Dominican convent in Salamanca accepted her, but only as a maid. In time she was allowed to become a “Third Order” sister, taking the white veil, but was still regarded as beneath the “choir” nuns; she was expected to do all the lowliest chores and eat, sleep, and attend liturgies separately from the others.

Even now, Sr. Teresa never gave up on her calling. As much as she had suffered, she knew that she was the bride of Christ, and no abuse could rob her of that dignity or that joy. In addition, her Bridegroom Himself soon showed in remarkable ways how much He favored her. Besides writing mystical poetry and giving wise counsel, Sr. Teresa displayed extraordinary spiritual gifts, including visions, levitation, and casting out demons. Her prayers worked miracles, for which grateful people would bring gifts; these, in turn, she used to help poor women who wanted to enter the convent. Sr. Teresa’s deep love for God made her a powerful instrument of His love for those around her. In fact, the priest who wrote her biography began preparing it before her death, anticipating her cause for canonization.

Teresa Chikaba’s story illustrates both the troubling presence of sin throughout the Church’s history and the strength of a soul who knows herself loved by God. She was never accepted in Europe, even by her Sisters; yet she “overcame evil with good” (Rom 12:21) and lived as the King’s spouse that she was. Through her intercession, may all of God’s children know their true worth and be treated with due respect and love, especially within His Church.