Teresa Higginson, the school teacher with the stigmata

Servant of God, Teresa Helena Higginson (1844-1905)

The mystic teacher who received many supernatural gifts including Ecstasy with visions of the Passion of Jesus, together with the Crown of Thorns and Stigmata, and who was called to promote the practice of devotion to the Sacred Head of Jesus.

Teresa Higginson was born on May 27, 1844 in the sanctuary town of Holywell, England. She was the third daughter of Robert Francis Higginson and Mary Bowness. Shortly before Theresa's birth, her mother was in very poor health, so she went on a pilgrimage to Holywell hoping to get a cure at the well of San Winifred, where the healing waters known as the "Lourdes of England" are said to cause miraculous cures, and so it came about that this child of special destiny was born in the ancient and famous sanctuary, the oldest continually visited pilgrimage site in Britain.

She grew up in Gainsborough and Neston and as an adult lived in Bootle and Clitheroe, England, and spent 12 years in Edinburgh, Scotland and finally Chudleigh, England, where she died.

She will become either a great saint or a great sinner

From early childhood Teresa had a very strong character and will, almost obstinate one would say, which obviously caused many difficulties and worries to her parents, so much so that one day they spoke to a local priest about her, and this struck her deeply and became one of his earliest memories

His parents, speaking of the troubles they were having regarding his strong will, heard the priest say "This child will be either a great saint or a great sinner, and he will lead many souls to God, or away from Him."

Fasting and ecstasy

So he began teaching at St Mary's Catholic School in Wigan. The little staff at St. Mary's were very happy and intimate. One of the things that drew their attention to Teresa were the strange bouts of weakness she was subjected to early in the morning, before receiving Holy Communion. She went to daily mass, but she was often so weak that she almost had to be carried to the altar balustrades; then, after receiving Holy Communion, her strength returned and she returned to her post unaided and she could carry out her duties for the rest of the day as in normal health. They also noted how strictly he fasted. There were times when she seemed to literally live the Blessed Sacrament by herself, for three days at a time without taking any more food.