October 1, 2024
“How unhappy I shall be in Heaven if I cannot do little favors for those whom I love….Yes, I want to spend my Heaven doing good on Earth.”
— St. Therese
In her short life, St. Therese of Lisieux understood the suffering associated with loss and sickness. She was the youngest of nine children, only five of whom survived past childhood, and each of them eventually entered the religious life. Her mother died of breast cancer when Therese was only four, and was raised by her older sister Pauline, who entered the Carmelite convent. This devastated the young girl, who was depressed for many years and picked on at school. Thus began the “most painful” period of her life. With the shock of her mother Zelie’s death, she wrote, “My happy disposition completely changed …. I became timid and retiring, sensitive to an excessive degree….”
She herself entered the convent shortly after her 15th birthday, where she lived the cloistered life until her death at 24 from tuberculosis on September 30, 1897. Her last year was one of long-suffering, but instead of falling into despair, she turned to Jesus.
During her life, she also dealt with depression and religious doubt.
She always believed that death was the true beginning of life for her, and she promised to “spend her Heaven doing good on Earth” and said she would send a “shower of roses” to those like herself who followed the Little Way of humility and simplicity.
This seemingly ordinary young woman has influenced countless lives with her autobiography, “The Story of a Soul.” She is also known as St. Teresa of the Child Jesus or the Little Flower. On May 17, 1925, she was canonized and Pope John Paul II named her a Doctor of the Church in 1997.
As we celebrate the feast day of the Little Flower on October 1, let us offer her a prayer:
O Little Therese of the Child Jesus,
Please pick a rose for me
From the heavenly gardens
And send it to me
As a message of love.
O little flower of Jesus,
Ask God today to grant the favors
I now place with confidence in your hands.
(Mention your specific requests)
St. Therese, help me to always believe,
As you did, in God’s great love for me,
So that I might imitate your
“Little Way” each day.
***
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