Florida Council of Catholic Women/Province of Miami at P. O. Box 1811, Labelle, FL 33975 US - St. Therese of Lisieux

“For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” St. Therese was known as, Therese of the Child Jesus; The Little Flower; The Little Flower of Jesus. Therese was born on January 2, 1872 in Alcon, Normandy. At the age of 15, Therese became a Carmelite nun. Therese died at the age of 24 on September 30 1897 in Lisieux, France of tuberculosis. On May 17 1925, Pope Pius XI canonized Therese as a saint. On World Mission Sunday, October 19th, 1997, Pope John Paul II declared St. Therese of Lisieux a “Doctor of the Universal Church”. We all heard the saying, “Take time to stop and smell the roses”. I feel this saying came from St. Therese. She loved nature and saw herself as “the little flower of Jesus” because she was like simple wild flowers in fields. Therese saw herself as a simple wild flower before the Lord; simple and hidden, but blooming where God had planted her. St. Therese saw the world as God’s garden and each person being a different kind of flower enhancing the variety and beauty of the world Jesus loved. St. Therese became known as “The Little Flower” for her interpretation of her place in the Church. What kind of flower are you? St. Therese explains, “Jesus set before me the book of nature. I understand how all the flowers God has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not take away the perfume of the violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understand that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers. So it is in the world of souls, Jesus’ garden.” Some of the reasons that made Therese a Saint were the ways she responded to God’s love and the grace of the Holy Spirit within her. The church believes that God embraced her upon her death and shared with her a risen life of Jesus in heaven. The process of canonization is a long process but in St. Therese’s case, the process went swiftly. In 1923, the Church approved two unexplainable supernatural interventions. One of the miracles was when Sister Louise of St. Germain who was cured of stomach ulcers and Charles Anne, a 23 year old seminarian who was dying from advance pulmonary tuberculosis. Charles’ lungs were terminal and after he prayed to Therese, his lungs were replaced by new lungs. “Shower of Roses” is an experience in St. Therese’ life that is symbolic and actual. When Therese was dying, she could look out in the garden and see the rose bushes bloom. She loved roses. Therese explained; “After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints.” Shortly after Therese died, the rain of roses began. Sometimes roses literally appeared and sometimes just the fragrance of them. Roses are Therese’s signature. It is her way of whispering to those who need a sign that she has heard, and God is responding. Have you stopped …. And smelled the roses? A few months before her death Therese’ wrote: “Your love, O Jesus, has grown in me so much that it has become an abyss of which I am unable to fathom the depth”. This shows how powerful St. Therese’s faith in the Holy Spirit helped her to discover the love and commitment to Jesus. “The more I am united to Jesus, the more I love my Sisters.” St. Therese shows the Church and modern society what the woman’s role in life should be. Three characteristics of St. Therese’s personality that were mentioned by Pope Paul II: “Here is a woman who has drawn closer to the Gospel and has been able to discover its hidden riches with that concreteness a deep sapiential resonance, characteristic of her sex… Besides, Therese is a contemplative; hers is a hidden life, endowed with a mysterious richness spread of the gospel, filling the Church and the whole world with sweet odour of Christ. Therese is a woman who has achieved holiness already in her young age; she can illumine the path of the youth today, called up to bear witness to the Gospel to the new generations.” How many times have we talked to friends and neighbors who tell us that they smell roses or a sweet smell…. But you do not smell anything? After Therese’s death, her autobiography was published, “The Story of a Soul”. In this autobiography, Therese confessed to a calling to every vocation; to be a warrior, a priest, a doctor of the church, and a martyr. Therese writes, “In the heart of the Church, who is my Mother, I will be love.” Therese’ notes that each day she had pinpricks of community life. These “pinpricks” in her daily life would be the sister with an annoying way of fidgeting with her rosary or the one who inadvertently splashed dirty water on her while doing the laundry. Who doesn’t have these in their life? But do we respond in the same manner as St. Therese? If we could live our life in the way St. Therese lived each moment… …each moment, accepted and lived in a spirit of love……. Poems by Saint Therese My Son of Today To Live of Love Canticle to the Holy Face Thou Hast Broken My Bonds, O Lord Jesus, My Well Beloved, Remember Thou! To The Sacred Heart The Eternal Canticle I Thirst for Love My Heaven on Earth Quotes: You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them. From Story of a Soul Kneeling before the tabernacle, I can think of only one thing to say to our Lord: “My God, you know that I love You.” And I feel that my prayer does not weary Jesus; knowing my weakness, He is satisfied with my good will. Resources: www.catholic-forum.com/saints Saint Therese of Lisieux: Doctor of the Universal Church by Steven Payne, OCD The Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux (This book is a must read) The Little Way For Every Day by Francis Broome, CSP DVD - Therese www.maryshop.com

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