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Who is the Little Flower?
Our friend Father James Martin, SJ, sent us a link to a video from the newly released DVD, ”Who Cares about the Saints?” produced by Loyola Productions. This video is of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897).
Who is the Little Flower?
What does the life of a 19th-century Carmelite nun,
cossetted by her parents, nourished on a diet of overheated Catholic piety,
and cloistered for the last few years of her short life,
have to say to modern-day men and women?
SOURCE: Who Cares About the Saints? (Therese of Lisieux) from Loyola Productions
So, who is the Little Flower to you? What experiences have you had in getting to know her and praying with her?
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Thanks for posting the lovely video by Fr. James Martin, SJ. The message is one of simplicity. Most of us make living the spiritual life such a complicated process when indeed it requres us only to attend to the present moment and be faithful to it with love and intention.
Here’s my Therese story. I never gave her a whole lot of consideration until a Brother I worked with got to talking to me about her. He suggested I read Story of a Soul and told me that if ever I needed a special favor from heaven to pray the novena to Therese. “But” he cautioned,”Be careful what you ask for because Therese will turn your world upside down.” I read her life and in time visited a church in NYC that had quotes from her written on one of the walls. One that stayed with me said “The little way is the way of spiritual childhood. It is the way of trust and absolute self-surrender. My way is a sure one. I am not mistaken in following it.” Fast forward a few years, my life partner was very ill due to botched liver surgery. I was very worried. I began to pray the novena to Therese. During the course of the novena, I had to go to a work conference. I arrived late and took the only empty chair in the room. The presenter(who I later found out has a great devotion to Therese) had left a pile of handouts and booklets on each chair. As I was leafing through mine, a small pink holy card fell out of the stack. I picked it up and what was on the card but…a picture of a rose. On the card was written “How beautiful life can be when touched by love”. At that moment, I knew that I had a friend in heaven and that everything would be all right. Therese has been an important spiritual guide to me and yet she is not someone whom I would have sought out on my own. I have turned to her a number of times since then for help and prayers. I think, though, the biggest gift she has given me would be her words on the wall of that church in New York…trust…self-surrender.
Therese’s life might seem distant and mysterious but she always was real to me. Her faith was compelling, almost contagious. While I did not think that I was called to her life, I found inspiration and strength in her simple, sincere faith. Her selflessness and sense of self surrender also spoke to me along with her profound tangible awareness of eternal life, “I shall spend my heaven doing good on earth.” Her missionary zeal from withint he cloister walls is also eye-opening.
I’ve prayed with St. Therese many times, even before really understanding who she is. I feel like she’s someone tangible and human. Some saints seem so far away, but her “little way” isn’t.
I had the opportunity to read all of Fr. Martin’s book, My Life With the Saints, and found it to be excellent. I love the way he uses the saints’ lives to be models for our own.
I love Fr. Martin’s books – I have several – like especially “My Life with the Saints” and “Jesuit Guide to almost everything . . . ” — I think he’s a wonderful spokesman for the church in our times.
St Therese has become very important to me. There have been many occasions where I prayed to her for help and she has never let me down. The most memorable was when I prayed to her for help in discerning my vocation. At the time I was visiting a community for the purposes of discernment for the first time. This entire visit was filled with blessings, and I really felt drawn to the community. Since this was my first visit for these purposes I was unsure of myself. When I went home I continued to pray to St Therese to guide me. Walking down the street the day I got back I noticed three rose petals on the sidewalk but kept walking, then I thought about it and decided to go back and pick them up. As I walked it started to sprinkle rain just a little, when I got back there were twenty petals all over the sidewalk. Once I finished it rained for a couple more minutes and then stopped as if nothing had happened. I still have these petals dried and preserved.