Novena to St. Therese

She had a presentiment that her activity after her death would extend far beyond the influence of a book, that it would be worldwide. "How unhappy I shall be in heaven if I cannot do little favors for those whom I love." She began to multiply mysterious promises: "I will return!" I will come down!" Then on July 17, she made her now famous prediction: "I feel that my mission is about to begin, my mission of making others love God as I love Him, my mission of teaching my little way to souls. If God answers my requests, my heaven will be spent on earth up until the end of the world. Yes, I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth."

On Wednesday morning, September 29, Therese was breathing with great difficulty. Mother Marie de Gonzague gathered the community, who recited the prayers for the dying for an hour. At noon, Therese asked her Prioress: "Mother is this the agony?"...What should I do to prepare for death? Never will I know how to die!" After the doctor's visit, she asked: "Is it today, Mother?"--"Yes, my child."--"What happiness if I could die right now!" And a little later on she asked: "When am I going to suffocate entirely?...I can't stand any more! Ah! pray for me! Jesus! Mary! I will it!"

In the evening, Father Faucon came to hear her confession; when he came out of the infirmary, he was very much moved and said: "What a beautiful soul! She seems to be confirmed in grace!"
From The Story of a Soul Study Edition, Prepared by Marc Foley, O.C.D.

Old Footage-Exhumation of St. Therese's body



Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
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Novena to St. Therese

Preparing for the feast of St. Therese:

At the World Youth Day in August 1997 the Holy Father had made the announcement that he intended to enroll St. Therese of the Child Jesus as a Doctor of the Church on Mission Sunday, October 19,1997. The long awaited day (for there were many petitions, worldwide, seeking this honor for the saint) arrived. St. Peter's Square was bathed in a brilliant sunlight, with thousands of pilgrims as the Holy Father declared her "Doctor of the Universal Church."

The relics of the Saint were brought from Lisieux and carried in procession to be put in a place of honor before the altar of Sacrifice. When the Holy Father read the official proclamation, representatives from the six continents showered the reliquary and the crucifix with rose petals, as the choir sang in French verses from St. Therese's poem, Jeter des fleurs.

The Gospel was sung in Latin, the universal language of the Church, followed by the the same text sun in Old Slavonic by a Russian deacon, recalling the fact that St. Therese was designated by the reigning pontiff, Pope Pius XI, as the patroness of the Pontifical Russian College in Rome. At the time the Church in Russia was under severe persecution. After Communion the famous passage from St. Therese's Story of a Soul, was read, "In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be love."
Excerpt from St. Therese Doctor of the Little Way, published by Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate






Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
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Novena to St. Therese

The Litany of St. Therese
of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, hear us,
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us,
God the Son Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us,
God the Holy Spirit
Have mercy on us,
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.


*Pray for us (said after each invocation)


Holy Mary, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory,
St. Therese, Servant of God,
St. Therese, victim of the merciful love of God
St. Therese, spouse of Jesus,
St. Therese, gift of heaven,
St. Therese, remarkable in childhood,
St. Therese, an example of obedience,
St. Therese, over of the will of God,
St. Therese, lover of peace,
St. Therese, lover of patience,
St. Therese, lover of gentleness,
St. Therese, heroic in sacrifice,
St. Therese, generous in forgiving,
St. Therese, benefactress of the needy,
St. Therese, lover of Jesus,
St. Therese, devoted to the Holy Face,
St. Therese, consumed with divine love of God,
St. Therese, advocate of extreme cases,
St. Therese, persevering in prayer,
St. Therese, a powerful advocate with God,
St. Therese, showering roses,
St. Therese, doing good upon earth,
St. Therese, answering all prayers,
St. Therese, lover of holy chastity,
St. Therese, lover of voluntary poverty,
St. Therese, lover of obedience,
St. Therese, burning with zeal for God’s glory,
St. Therese, inflamed with the Spirit of Love,
St. Therese, child of benediction,
St. Therese, perfect in simplicity,
St. Therese, so remarkable for trust in God,
St. Therese, gifted with unusual intelligence
St. Therese, never invoked without some answer,
St. Therese, teaching us the sure way,
St. Therese, victim of Divine Love,


Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins
of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins
of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.


Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins
Of the world,
Have mercy on us.


St. Therese, the Little Flower of Jesus,
Pray for us.


Let us pray...O God, Who inflamed with Your
Spirit of Love the soul of Your servant Therese
of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, grant
that we may also love You and make You
much loved.
Amen.

The Society of the Little Flower

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
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Novena to St. Therese

Looking at a picture of Our Lord on the Cross, I was struck by the Blood flowing from one of the divine hands. I felt a great pang of sorrow when thinking this Blood was falling to the ground without anyone's hastening to gather it up. I was resolved to remain in spirit at the foot of the Cross and to receive the divine dew. I understood I was then to pour it out upon souls...I offered to God all the infinite merits of Our Lord.
Quote from St. Therese at the age of 14

The Sanctuary and Basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
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Novena to St. Therese

At the age of six Therese wrote, "I want to be a very good girl. The Blessed Virgin is my dear Mother and little children usually resemble their mother." Therese became, as it were, an extension of the Blessed Virgin by her perfect imitation of her virtues. It is precisely Mary's hidden virtues, her ordinary life at Nazareth, which are echoed in the life and writings of St. Therese whose life and writings were Marian from beginning to end.
From St. Therese, Doctor of the Little Way, published by Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
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Carmelite Quote

I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. With what love, O Jesus, I would carry You in my hands when, at my voice, You would come down from heaven. And with what love would I give You to souls! But alas! While desiring to be a Priest, I admire and envy the humility of St. Francis of Assisi and I feel the vocation of
imitating him in refusing the sublime dignity of the Priesthood.
O Jesus, my Love, my Life, how can I combine these contrasts? How can I realize the desires of my poor little soul?

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 most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages. But above all, O my Beloved Savior, I would shed my blood for You even to the very last drop.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face-Doctor of the Church

Visit the Basilica and Sanctuary of St. Therese

Lisieux, France

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

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Carmelite Quote

St. Raphael Kalinowski, OCD

...If we obey the pope, we obey the Lord Jesus, according to his own words addressed to Peter and the other apostles: "Whoever hears you, hears me" (Lk 10:16).

Therefore, we have the duty to assist the pope, and if we are unable to do it in other ways, let us help with prayers and good works. Let us seek to accomplish with all possible perfection and with the gift of ourselves all the actions of our daily life, even the most insignificant. Let us offer them to the Lord in sacrifice, let us elevate all that we do to a supernatural level, seeking to walk always in the presence of God. In so doing we shall truly belong to the soul of the church, and therefore even the simplest things will be transformed into the sublime; our renunciations and sacrifices, made for the love of God and neighbor, will increase the holiness of the Church with an exemplary Christian life, keeping in mind that we Carmelites belong to the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us willingly make ourselves living stones of the Church, willing servants of our brothers and sisters on this earth, so that we can, after our death, participate in the glory of God forever.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, ocds
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