St. Teresa of Jesus Jornet

Teresa Jornet Ibars, HAD (9 January 1843 – 26 August 1897), also known as Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Spanish religious sister who founded of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly.

Ibars was the great-niece of Francisco Palau and a friend and confidante of Saturnino López Novoa. Her dedication to the old and ill was noted, and her sisters' work in Spain and later abroad.

Her beatification was celebrated by Pope Pius XII on 27 April 1958 in Saint Peter's Basilica. Pope Paul VI canonized Ibars in 1974.

Life Teresa Jornet Ibars was born on 9 January 1843 in a small town in Lleida to the farmers Francisco José Jornet and Antonieta Ibars. One of her sisters, Josefa, became a Vincentian in Havana. Her brother Juan had three daughters who later joined the congregation of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly. Ibars' great-uncle was Francisco Palau.

Ibars was baptized on 10 January 1843 and received confirmation in 1849. In her childhood, Ibars demonstrated a strong concern for the plight of the poor in her area, and she often took them to the home of her maternal aunt Rosa so that proper aid could be provided to them. She later moved elsewhere in Lleida to live with another aunt of hers and soon after, at the age of nineteen, began teaching at Argençola.

Canonization The beatification process opened in Valencia on 23 April 1945. It concluded on 7 March 1946. Theologians collated all of Ibar's writings and approved them as being in line with official doctrine in a decree issued on 16 March 1947. The informative process later received the validation from the Congregation of Rites on 25 June 1954. The formal introduction to the cause came on 27 June 1952, and Ibars was titled a Servant of God.