Educated at the Saint Apollonia convent at Florence, Italy from age nine. Gentle and mature child, she was often left in to watch over her peers. Noted for an intense desire for her First Communion, and for a devotion to Our Lady. Had an extensive correspondence with her father, discussing her spiritual life in great detail; she asked that he destroy each letter after reading it, and sadly, he did so.
In September 1763 she received a message from Saint Teresa of Jesus advising her to become a Carmelite. Anna went home to Arezzo, Italy at age 17, but returned to Florence almost immediately. Became a Discalced Carmelite, joining the convent of Saint Teresa on 1 September 1764, and taking the name Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart. She received the veil on 11 March 1765, and made her final vows on 12 March 1766.
Sister Teresa worked in the convent’s infirmary, and appeared to have a gift of healing. She predicted her own death less than five years after making her final vows. Her short life and vocation were spent in contemplative union with God as she ever meditated on her favourite phrase, “God is love.”
