Saint: Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, Virgin, Doctor (1873-1897)
First Saturday of the Month
Readings of the Day
Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 7:34 Humility
Mass: Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17; Resp Ps 119; Lk 10:17-24
Lord, let your face shine on me.
MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,
MARY, QUEEN OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY,
MARY, QUEEN OF DOCTORS,
PRAY FOR US.
Welcome to the First Saturday of the Month of October, this month dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. We will invoke Mary, Queen of the most holy rosary, every day this month then.
There is more in store for us, however. It is another big day as we commemorate Saint Therese of Lisieux, also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face; she is also called the "Little Flower". Therese joined the other Doctors of the Church in 1997, when now Pope Saint John Paul II gave her that title. Before that, in 1939, Pope Pius XI named her Patroness of Missions. And more recently, in his 2001 Apostolic Letter Novo millenio ineunte, Pope Saint John Paul II gave a reason why he named her a Doctor of the Church. The pontiff called Therese an "expert in the scientia amoris" (42), due in part to what she wrote in the story her life, Story of a Soul*. Therese wrote: "I understood that the Church had a Heart and this Heart was aflame with Love. I understood that Love alone stirred the members of the Church to act ... I understood that Love encompassed all vocations, that Love was everything" (Manuscript B, Chapter IX, p. 302). Therese was able to exclaim, "in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my love ... my vocation, at last I have found it ... MY VOCATION IS LOVE!" (ibid.)
I have a copy of Therese's Story of a Soul and have so many passages marked I can't include them all. I will encourage you to read it though. How about this great one:
How great is the power of Prayer. One could call it a Queen who has at each instant access to the King and who is able to obtain whatever she asks. To be heard it is not necessary to read from a book some beautiful formula composed for the occasion. If this were the case, alas, I would have to be pitied! ...
For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus.
(Manuscript C, Chapter XI, p. 384)
Therese understood too, Jesus' words in today's Gospel, namely, that is to the childlike that the Father, Lord of heaven and earth, reveals things (Lk 10:21). Therese knew her littleness, yet she set her sights high.
Ah! in spite of my littleness, I would like to enlighten souls as did the Prophets and the Doctors. I have the vocation of the Apostle. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach Your Name and to plant Your glorious Cross on infidel soil. But O my Beloved, one mission alone would not be sufficient for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only but from the beginning of creation until the consummations of the ages. But above all, O my Beloved Savior, I would shed my blood for You even to the very last drop.
(Manuscript B, Chapter IX, p. 300)
As it was, Therese went straight to Pope Leo XIII in 1887 and asked for permission to enter the Carmel of Lisieux when she was 15. She entered a year or so later. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. It is after her death that she became Prophet, Doctor, Apostle, and Missionary, and more, in large part due to the publication of her life, Story of a Soul, first published shortly after her death. Translated into over fifty-five languages, it is considered to be a modern spiritual classic, read by millions. Therese must have known something about Saint Benedict's third step of humility, as it was under "obedience for the love of God" (Rule of Saint Benedict, 7:34) that she wrote the story of her life. Therese dedicated it to the Reverend Mother Agnes of Jesus and began in this way: "It is to you, dear Mother, to you who are doubly my Mother, that I come to confide the story of my soul. The day you asked me to do this, it seemed to me it would distract my heart by too much concentration on myself, but since then Jesus has made me feel that in obeying simply, I would be pleasing to Him ..." (Story of a Soul, Manuscript A, Chapter I, p.13).
Pope Francis canonized Therese's parents Louis and Zelie Martin in 2015, making them the first-ever married couple to be canonized.
SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS AND OF THE HOLY FACE,
SAINTS LOUIS MARTIN AND MARIE-AZELIE MARTIN,
PRAY FOR US.
*NB. All quotations from Story of a Soul included in today's reflection are taken from, St. Therese of Lisieux: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, a Study Edition prepared by Marc Foley O.C.D., translated from the Original Manuscripts by John Clarke O.C.D. (ICS Publications, 2005).
Today's photo: A little flower for the Little Flower, Saint Therese of Lisieux. Teach me wisdom and knowledge.
© Gertrude Feick 2022
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