St. Therese - The Little Flower

 “My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice, these are my invincible arms; they can move hearts far better than words, I know it by experience.”
― Thérèse de Lisieux, The Little Way for Every Day: Thoughts from Therese of Lisieux 

For those of you seeking the intercession of saints, this prayer to St.Therese is very powerful for both temporal and spiritual petitions. Those to whom this prayer was recommended have been amazed by its efficacy.

Prayer to St. Therese

“O Glorious St. Therese, whom Almighty God has raised up to aid and counsel mankind, I implore your miraculous intercession. So powerful are you in obtaining from God favors and graces that Holy Mother Church has called you ‘the greatest saint of modern times.’ Now I fervently beseech you to answer my petition:

          (Specify petition)

And to carry out your promises of spending heaven doing good upon earth, and of ever letting fall from heaven a shower of roses. Henceforth, dear little flower, I will fulfill your plea to be made known everywhere, and I will never cease to lead others to Jesus through you. Amen.”

The Life of Saint Therese of Lisieux

On January 2, 1873, Therese Martin was born at Alencon, France to Louis and Zelie Martin. She was baptized Marie Francoise Therese two days later on January 4th at Notre Dame Church.  Therese was a normal child who could also throw into tantrums especially when circumstance went against her way of thinking, however, she was everyone's favorite because of her good nature and intelligence.

After 12 years of sickness, Zelie Martin, died of breast cancer in August 1877. Therese, at that time, was only four years old. The family did all they could to comfort her at times she missed her mother so much. They all moved to a rented home that they called "Les Buissonnets" ("The Hedges"). Due to her mother's death, her happy disposition completely changed. As she described, "I became timid and retiring, sensitive to an excessive degree..."

In October 1881, Therese was enrolled at Lisieux's Benedictine Abbey school of Notre Dame du Pre. She hated the school and thought that the five years she spent were the saddest of her life. Because of her young age, she was bullied. The one who bullied her the most was a girl of fourteen who did poorly at school. Therese was top of her class except for writing and arithmetic. Marie and Pauline taught her well at home until she entered formal schooling.

Therese was extremely saddened when her closest sister who she thought of as her second mother, Pauline, entered the Carmelite monastery. The anguished Therese saw this as a continual suffering and separation. She knew that her sister, Pauline, would be cloistered and that she would never come back. She shed bitter tears. Her devastation reawakened the trauma caused by her mother's death. She then fell seriously ill on the winter. The doctors were unable to treat her that she suffered intensely from insomnia and headaches. None of the treatments helped. She was in delirium and suffered unimaginable hallucinations that sent her papa sobbing off the room. A miracle cured Therese on May 13, 1883 when she turned her gaze to the statue of the Virgin Mary on her bedside. She prayed for a cure. Therese described that Mary's face smiled, radiated with kindness and love. The statue since then was called "Our Lady of the Smile." However, when Therese was pounced on with a series of questions after she shared her wonderful experience to the Carmelite nuns, she lost confidence and started to doubt her own story. She was stricken with guilt and thought that she lied.

In the year 1886, Therese eldest sister, Marie, joined Pauline in the same Carmelite monastery that added to her heartache. It was only her and Celine with their father. Often times, her sadness would brought her to tears in which most people regarded her with weak character.


Her Life At The Carmelite Monastery

At the age of nine, Therese was resolved to enter the Carmelite monastery but was advised by the prioress to return when she was old enough. Therese was determined to do something great for the love of God and others. She saw her life as one salvation for all people which she realized can only be accomplished through suffering.

Her ardent desire to enter the  Carmel of Lisieux happened on 9 April 1888 at the age of fifteen. Her faith was tested of the worsening condition of her father who was sick with cerebral arteriosclerosis. Paralyzed, Louis gathered his strength to witness the day her dearly beloved daughter would receive the habit on January 10, 1889. And not so long after that, Louis was taken to the hospital due to dementia attack. Her fathered died peacefully on 29 July 1894 which was two years after his last visit to the monastery. Celine was at his side during his long and final illness. In September 1894, she joined her three sisters at Carmel.

Therese was true to her chosen vocation. She was obedient to her duties and responsibilities in the monastery. All tasks were performed with fervor and fidelity. That was how she spent her last 9 years in the monastery. Moreover, she strictly adhered to the rule that forbade unnecessary talks during work hours. From the first day she came to the monastery, she struggled a great deal to keep her distance from her sisters. The novices in the community was put under her care. On the outside, there was really nothing remarkable about this Carmelite nun.

We know that Therese, being accepted in the monastery, has achieved her dream. However, she was only able to attain great inner peace on September 8, 1890 when she made her profession of faith. She grew in sanctity and enlightened  with the reading of St. John of the Cross that brought her comfort. She discovered "the true Saint of Love" in the "Spiritual Canticle' and the "Living Flame of Love." She felt and knew this was the path she wanted to take.

Therese was spared from a severe influenza epidemic that killed three of the sisters in the monastery in the winter of 1890-1891. She was happy to know that her sister, Pauline, was elected prioress in succession to Mother Marie de Gonzague in February 1893. Pauline became Mother Agnes. And Therese has to remain a novice due to politics in the monastery. Pauline had asked her this to keep the sisters from thinking that the Martin sisters would take over the convent.

Therese surrendered her life to Christ with the fervent hope that he would act through her. Her life in the convent was never easy. She lived a hidden life and continued doing small acts of charity without making a show of them. She accepted criticisms in silence, even the most unjust ones. She had nothing but only smiles for sisters who were unpleasant to her. She always prayed much for the priests particularly Father Hyacinthe Loyson who was excommunicated when he left the Catholic Church and married a young Protestant widow with whom he had a son. She offered her last communion for Father Hyacinthe on 19 August 1897.

On June 9, 1895, during a mass celebrating the feast of the Holy Trinity, Therese offered herself as a sacrificial victim to merciful love of God while some nuns offered themselves as a victim to God's justice. In her room she performed an 'Act of Oblation' for herself and for Celine. And on June 11, both sisters knelt before the miraculous Virgin. Therese read the document she had signed - In the evening of this life, I shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask you Lord to count my works. In the oblation she wrote, "If through weakness I should chance to fall, may a glance from Your Eyes straightway cleanse my soul, and consume all my imperfections - as fire transforms all things into itself."
  
Death of Therese  

Therese fell ill which she bore wholeheartedly without complaints. She was stricken with tuberculosis which she knew would be the key element of her final suffering in her spiritual journey. On the eve of Good Friday, Therese felt an indescribable happiness in her heart. She wrote, "Oh! How sweet this memory really is! I had scarcely laid my head upon the pillow when I felt something like a bubbling stream mounting to my lips. I didn't know what it was."

Therese was moved into the monastery infirmary in July 1897. Her physical suffering kept increasing that even the doctor exclaimed how the nun was in the state of physical distress! Therese received her last communion on August 19, 1897. She died on September 30, 1897 at the very young age of 24. She was heard to say, "I have reached the point of not being able to suffer anymore, because all suffering is sweet to me."

Her last words were, "My God, I love you!"

Therese was buried on October 4, 1897. Her final repose was in the Carmelite plot in the municipal cemetery at Lisieux where her parents had been buried. Her body was found uncorrupted when she was exhumed in 1910; and the pleasant Odour of Sanctity was observed. In March 1923, her body was returned to the Carmel of Lisieux before she was beatified in March of 1923.

Shower of Roses

Roses are her signature. This is her way of letting the person know as a sign that his/her prayer was heard and that God is responding.

Therese loved roses. When she was a child, she had thrown rose petals before the Blessed Sacrament.  After her death, there were stories that roses sometimes appeared out of nowhere; sometimes they would smell the strong fragrance of them. People who prayed for cure of fatal diseases and many other accounts of miraculous instances were attributed to St. Therese's intercession.