Teresa Musco

Teresa Musco was born in a little village in Caiazzo (now Caserta) Italy on June 7th, 1943 to a farmer named Salvatore and his wife Rosa (Zullo) Musco. She was one of ten children, four of whom died during childhood, in a typical poor southern Italian family. Her mother, Rosa, was a mild-tempered and charitable woman, who always sought to obey her husband. Her father Salvatore, on the other hand, had a hot temper and was very easily angered. His word was law and had to be obeyed. The whole family suffered because of his harshness, especially Teresa, who was often at the receiving end of his cruelty.

At the time of her birth, World War II had been raging through Europe, causing extreme conditions in many areas. Poverty was rampant, and Teresa and her family suffered the effects of the war very distinctly, and the family often lacked in food and the other essentials of daily life. This put a strain on her father Salvatore, which only caused him to be more irritable, often causing him to curse and swear. As for Teresa, she began doing housework at a very tender age and learned very early the lessons of self-sacrifice for the benefit of others; for her entire life was to be one of sacrifice and offering. She was sickly at times, suffering from various ailments, perhaps brought on by the lack of nutrition due to the poverty brought about by the effects of the war. The most notable thing about Teresa was however her prayer life and devotion, along with her maturity, which was out of the ordinary for a young child of her age.

When Teresa was 5 years old, she saw her first shower of big hailstones. She ran, half-dressed, out of the house, unaware of the danger. She lifted her arms and tried to catch the hailstones. Her worried father immediately ran after her, slapped her face and pulled her forcibly back into the house. Soon afterwards a ‘very beautiful lady’ appeared and Teresa told the Lady about the beating she had got from her father, but the Lady told her very gently, ‘Look, little daughter, your father meant well and didn’t mean you any harm.’ It is believed that this was the first appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Teresa’s life, but later the presence of the Madonna became so often that one can rightly describe Teresa’s early life as being heavily influenced and guided by our Blessed Mother. Concerning this Teresa herself wrote in her diary:

"I must say, that from my 6th year onwards, the heavenly Mother has treated me with special preference. She was with me when I did the housework, when I prayed and even when I played I felt myself called. When I was ill, she was near me. She was my protector and my comforter. One thing she always stressed and impressed upon me was to ‘Offer your sacrifices and your sufferings for sinners.’ Teresa, do you love Me?" One day, when she was still very young, Jesus asked her: "Teresa, do you love Me?" The little girl immediately answered: ‘Yes.’ Then she asked Jesus: ‘And you, do you love me?’ Jesus answered that 'He loved her so much that He would be willing to be crucified again just for her.'

And Jesus' question "Do you love Me?" made a deep impression upon the heart of little Teresa, and her joyful reply was ‘Yes, yes, always yes!’ as she wrote later in her diary. Jesus was calling her to unite with Him for the conversion and salvation of sinners, and her "yes" drew her ever closer to Himself. To unite with Him, and be like Him, she would have to suffer and learn to sacrifice for others, and so began the painful, yet joyful mission as a victim soul that God had given to her. And not only was she guided by Jesus and Mary at a tender age, but also her guardian Angel who taught her to make sacrifices and to offer them in union with Jesus.

For Teresa, the way to union with Jesus was to be the Way of the Cross, and Jesus Himself pointed this out to her in a vision of Himself carrying the cross, suffering and bleeding along the way. As she wrote in her diary ‘I was alone at home when Jesus appeared with a huge cross on his shoulders and showed me his scourged back full of open wounds. I used my handkerchief to wipe off the blood which flowed from his face and wounds’

At age 7, on July 11 1950, the Blessed Virgin Mary told her: ‘My daughter, you will be asked to suffer a lot; you will have to go from one hospital to another, from one doctor to another, and nobody will be able to help you cure the illnesses that God will send you. These sufferings are necessary, because the sins of this world are great. Too many people keep on piercing the heart of my Son. If they do not repent, God will send this world a terrible punishment and catastrophe. Therefore, I ask you to pray and make reparation.’

At age 12, on Sept. 20 1955 while she was once again in Caserta hospital, her guardian Angel taught her the following prayer, to renew her offering of herself to Jesus: ‘Oh my dear Jesus, You have suffered greatly for me; You have shed your blood for me. Please grant me this wish: make me worthy of You! Cleanse me in Your blood and light the fire of love in my soul! Oh beloved Jesus, let the rays of love which shine from your holy wounds be like flaming arrows to imprint upon me and make me a crucified victim with You. Grant me a more intense thirst for You, and a deeper likeness and union with You; Give me a more burning love and purify me of my imperfections and make me more perfect for heaven.’

Teresa suddenly felt dizzy when she heard these words and she suddenly found herself on her knees on the floor. Before her stood Jesus, even more radiant than before. Bright rays shone from His clothes. Then Jesus asked her; ‘Teresa, do you love Me?’ 'Yes, yes

‘And we began to climb steeply upwards. The ground was thorny and full of sharp cutting stones. When we reached the summit, I saw a very high cross and it terrified me. I was defenceless. Then two ugly men came along and grabbed me. They threw me onto the cross and nailed me to it. I felt my flesh tearing and my whole body shaking.’

A few months later, Teresa revealed that she also shared Jesus’ scourging: ‘Every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday Jesus gives me this present: He allows me to feel a few strokes of His scourging, and it is very painful!’n Finally she received the heart wound. In January 1970, Jesus appeared to Teresa;n ‘My dear daughter Teresa, I offer you the wound on my side for the salvation of souls.’ n Overjoyed Teresa answered, ‘Yes, yes, I do want it! But Lord, how can you condescend such a favour on a low worm like me?’n The heavenly grace came a few days later when Jesus once again appeared and showed her the wound on his side, leading to His most sacred Heart. Teresa gazed at it enraptured, and suddenly found herself on a hill, nailed to the cross, ‘in indescribable pain,’ A man approached her and shoved a lance into her heart. ‘I felt flesh tearing and the pain was so intense that I passed out. When I awoke I was on my bed, covered all over in blood.’

In the last one and a half years of her life there were times when Teresa was overcome by deep sadness due to the sins of humanity and the great offense that they give to Jesus. Bound up with Jesus' passion, she knew how much sacrifices and sufferings were needed to repair these sins. And it was at this time that many pictures of Jesus and the Madonna began to shed blood and tears.

The first time it happened, was Feb. 26th 1975. Teresa brought a picture of Jesus from Caiazzo to Caserta. Whilst cleaning the picture, she noticed tears of blood running down Jesus’ face.n This was the first extraordinary sign.n The Archbishop of Caserta examined the picture and then granted Teresa through her spiritual director, Padre Stefano M. Manelli, writtern permission on Good Friday, 1975 to exhibit it on her little prayer altar in her home.

For Teresa, it created new nasty incidents, for some of those who came to see the picture became doubting inquisitors. They wanted Teresa to explain how it was occurring, and their suspicions, presumptions and doubts about the phenomena weighed heavily upon her. She could only tell them; ‘Jesus doesn’t want to give any more messages [through her]. He wants to show the world greater, more concrete evidence…’

As other pictures and even statues began to weep and bleed, sometimes she asked herself in confusion, ‘What is happening in my house? Every day brings a miracle, some people believe and others doubt the reality of the great events. I do not doubt it. I know that Jesus does not want to give any more messages in words, but in greater things…’ On January 1976, Teresa wrote this note into her diary; ‘This year started with so much sorrow. My worst grief is to see the pictures crying blood.

This morning I asked the crucified Lord the reason for His tears and what the signs mean. Jesus told me from the cross; ‘Teresa, my daughter, there is so much malice and spite in the hearts of my sons, especially the ones who should give an good example and possess greater love. I ask you my daughter to pray for them and sacrifice yourself incessantly. You will never find understanding here below in this world, but up there you shall have happiness and glory…’

One of the last entries in Teresa’s diary, which finished on April 2, 1976, gives the explanation of the Blessed Virgin Mary concerning the tears shed by pictures and statues;

‘My daughter, those tears are to stir the hearts of many souls who are cold and also those who are weak willed. 

As time went on, the phenomena happened several times each day. Statues, ‘Ecce – Homo’ pictures, crucifixes, pictures of the child Jesus, pictures of Christ’s Sacred Heart and pictures of the Virgin Mary and others shed tears of blood. Sometimes the shedding of blood lasted for quarter of an hour. Watching them, Teresa was often moved to tears herself and wondered, ‘Could I be the reason for these tears as well?’ or, ‘What can I do to soothe the sorrow of Jesus and His most Holy Mother?’ Surely also this is a question for each one of us.

On March 13th 1973, Jesus in His infinite kindness and mercy told Teresa that it would not be long before she had to leave this world. Taking this to heart she began preparing herself for death.

On July 28th she visited her brother Luigi at Castel S. Lorenzo. Upon leaving she told him; ‘This is the last time that I shall come here. My mission is finished.’

On June 25th, she was rushed to the hospital in Caserta, and was given a room in the renal department. She suffered cheerfully, and she was able to console a young girl age 12 or 13 who was very weak--almost at death’s door. Also she was able to console a poor old woman who was worried where she could go after her discharge from hospital, because not one of her children wanted to have her. Finally she befriended a black woman who was for some reason avoided by the other patients. The poor woman was so pleased that someone cared that she told Teresa her whole life story.