Novena Honoring St. Therese, Day Nine

Happy feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church.

The following is from John Paul II's 1997 apostolic letter Divini Amoris Scientia, in which he declared Therese a Doctor of the Church.

"The core of her message is actually the mystery itself of God-Love, of the Triune God, infinitely perfect in himself. If genuine Christian spiritual experience should conform to the revealed truths in which God communicates himself and the mystery of his will (cf. Dei Verbum, n. 2), it must be said that Thérèse experienced divine revelation, going so far as to contemplate the fundamental truths of our faith united in the mystery of Trinitarian life. At the summit, as the source and goal, is the merciful love of the three Divine Persons, as she expresses it, especially in her Act of Oblation to Merciful Love. At the root, on the subject's part, is the experience of being the Father's adoptive children in Jesus; this is the most authentic meaning of spiritual childhood, that is, the experience of divine filiation, under the movement of the Holy Spirit. At the root again, and standing before us, is our neighbour, others, for whose salvation we must collaborate with and in Jesus, with the same merciful love as his.

Through spiritual childhood one experiences that everything comes from God, returns to him and abides in him, for the salvation of all, in a mystery of merciful love. Such is the doctrinal message taught and lived by this Saint.

As it was for the Church's Saints in every age, so also for her, in her spiritual experience Christ is the centre and fullness of Revelation. Thérèse knew Jesus, loved him and made him loved with the passion of a bride. She penetrated the mysteries of his infancy, the words of his Gospel, the passion of the suffering Servant engraved on his holy Face, in the splendour of his glorious life, in his Eucharistic presence. She sang of all the expressions of Christ's divine charity, as they are presented in the Gospel (cf. PN 24, Jésus, mon Bien-Aimé, rappelle-toi!).

Thérèse received particular light on the reality of Christ's Mystical Body, on the variety of its charisms, gifts of the Holy Spirit, on the eminent power of love, which in a way is the very heart of the Church, where she found her vocation as a contemplative and missionary (cf. Ms B, 2r·-3v·).

Lastly, among the most original chapters of her spiritual doctrine we must recall Thérèse's wise delving into the mystery and journey of the Virgin Mary, achieving results very close to the doctrine of the Second Vatican Council in chapter eight of the Constitution Lumen gentium and to what I myself taught in the Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Mater of 25 March 1987."

Concluding Prayer:

O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.

St. Therese, pray for us!

Good news.

Here is an article on the resurgence of Poland's Jewish community and culture--some good news in a bleak news world! Todd and I were blessed to spend our second honeymoon in Krakow and we visited the Jewish quarter while there.

Pascal says that the best proof of the supernatural is the continuing existence of the Jewish people. It is a miracle, and there is no purely rational explanation for it. I would add it is also the best suggestion of the possibility that God is good and loves his people--not with the bland "tolerance" of modern-day ilk, but rather with a father's solicitude and care for his children's survival and fidelity to Him.

Miriam has a disclaimer.

Miriam paints. As she paints, she usually enters into a sort of trance and sings a happy stream-of-consciousness song. Sometimes I have no idea where she gets the lyrics.

This morning:

"I have a disclaimer.
And if you have a baby, she is sick.
I need something to do for you.
You will take care of her all
and she will get better
and Peter Pan
But what will you do?
God on high stepped down into time
and wrote a story
for everyone
You and I were made to...
are painting.
We'll stay here.
Hey, let's get my other paints!"

Novena Honoring St. Therese, Day Eight

The following excerpts are from the two last letters written by Therese to her "brother missionaries," priests she adopted spiritually and with whom she exchanged many thoughts and prayers.

July 26, 1897

When you read these few lines I shall perhaps be no more. I know

not the future; yet I can confidently say that my Spouse is at the

door. It would need a miracle to keep me in exile, and I do not

think that Jesus will work that miracle--He does nothing that is

of no avail.

Brother, I am so happy to die! Yes, happy . . . not because I

shall be free from suffering: on the contrary, suffering combined

with love seems the one thing worthy of desire in this vale of

tears; but happy to die because far more than on earth I shall

help the souls I hold dear.

Jesus has always treated me as a spoilt child. . . . It is true

that His Cross has been with me from the cradle, but for that

Cross He has given me a passionate love . . .

August 14, 1897

 I am about to go before God, and I understand now more than ever

that one thing only is needful--to work for Him alone, and do

nothing for self or creatures. Jesus wishes to own your heart

completely. Before this can be, you will have much to suffer . . .

but oh! what joy when comes the happy hour of going Home! I shall

not die--I do but enter into Life . . . and whatsoever I cannot

tell you here upon earth I will make you understand from the

heights of Heaven. . . .

Novena Honoring St. Therese, Day Seven

From her private journals:

"O Jesus, I know well that you do not look so much at the greatness of my actions, as at the love with which I do them. It is true I am not always faithful, but I shall not lose courage. I desire to make use of every opportunity to please you."

Concluding Prayer:

O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.

Novena Honoring St. Therese, Day Six

This is from Therese's "Act of Oblation to Merciful Love," from the Story of a Soul. She asked permission of her Mother Superior to make a total offering of herself to the Mercy of Jesus. By this sacrifice of her entire self—body and soul—she hoped to save many souls by obtaining Christ's mercy for them through her suffering.

"O my God! Most Blessed Trinity, I desire to love you and make you loved, to work for the glory of Holy Church by saving souls on earth and liberating those suffering in purgatory. I desire to accomplish your will perfectly and to reach the degree of glory you have prepared for me in your kingdom. I desire, in a word, to be a saint, but I feel my helplessness and I beg you, O my God! To be yourself my sanctity!

"Since you loved me so much as to give me your only son as my savior and my spouse, the infinite treasures of his merits are mine. I offer them to you with gladness, begging you to look on me only in the face of Jesus and in his heart burning with love…

"I want to console you for the ingratitude of the wicked, and I beg of you to take away my freedom to displease you. If through weakness I sometimes fall, may your divine grace cleanse my soul immediately, consuming all my imperfections like the fire that transforms everything into itself…

"After Earth's exile, I hope to go and enjoy you in heaven, but I do not want to lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for your love alone with the one purpose of pleasing you, consoling your sacred heart, and saving souls who will love you in eternity.

"In the evening of this life, I shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is stained in your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in your own justice and to receive from your love the eternal possession of yourself. I want no other throne, no other crown but you, my beloved!"

Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day:

O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.

Open the windows

Growing up in the rural north, I never experienced the "silent summer" brought on by air-conditioning. My mother had the windows open at every hour of every day--unless a great and gusty gale came through the mountains. The sounds of summer became un-heard background music.

But down here in the Deep South, in metro-Atlanta, we keep those windows shut tightly for four months. The hum of the blessed AC drowns out summer sounds.

And last week we opened the windows. Now I am sitting at the dining room table in the dark--I hear anxious squirrels chattering, endless varieties of crickets and cicadas chirping, and a flock of geese flying north to my parents' house. The air comes in cool and clear. It reminds me of the wisdom of the prophets and of the Church--a time without intensifies the joy of time with.

After a summer of having a newborn, illness, heat, and the grief that comes with the cruelty of heresy--I am overjoyed to open wide the windows. Let in the cool air and praise.