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 Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 9:38 pm Post subject: October 1st - Teresa of the Child (Infant) Jesus V (RM) + |
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October 1st - Teresa of the Child (Infant) Jesus V (RM) +
(also known as Thérèse of Lisieux, Marie Francoise Martin)
Born in Alençon, France, January 2, 1873; died in Lisieux, Normandy, France,
on
September 30, 1897; canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, who in 1927 declared
patron of foreign missions (together with Saint Francis Xavier); in 1997,
she
was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II.
"I had offered myself . . . to the Child Jesus as His little plaything. I
told
Him not to
use me as a valuable toy . . . but like a little ball of no value. . . . He
let
His little ball
fall to the ground and He went to sleep. What did He do during His gentle
sleep
and
what became of the abandoned ball? Jesus dreamed He was still playing with
His
toy, leaving it and taking it up in turns, and then, having seen it roll
quite
far, He
pressed it to His heart, no longer allowing it to ever go far from His
little
hand."
-St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Thérèse was the ninth child of Louis Martin, a watchmaker, and Azélie-Marie
Geurin, a maker of point d'Alençon lace. She was baptized
Marie-Fransoise-Thérèse. Her mother died in 1877 when Thérèse was five, and
the
father moved the family to Lisieux, where the children could be overseen by
their aunt.
Thérèse's two older sisters became Carmelite nuns at Lisieux. When she was
15,
Thérèse told her father that she was so much devoted to Jesus that she
wished to
do the same but the Carmelites and her bishop thought that she was too
young. A
few months later during a pilgrimage to Rome for the jubilee of Pope Leo
XIII,
she met the pope. As she knelt before him, she broke the rule of silence and
asked him, "In honor of your jubilee, allow me to enter Carmel at fifteen. .
..
.." The pope was impressed by her fervor, but upheld the decision to make her
wait.
At the end of the year, she was received in the Carmel and took the name
Thérèse
of the Child Jesus. Her father suffered a nervous breakdown and was
institutionalized for three years. Despite her fragile health, she lived the
austere life faithfully. At 22, she was appointed assistant novice mistress,
although in fact she fulfilled the duties of the novice mistress. After her
father died in 1894, the fourth sister joined the convent.
Her prioress Mother Agnes (her blood-sister Pauline) requested the she write
her
autobiography, L'histoire d'une âme (The story of a soul). She began in 1894
to
write the story of her childhood, and in 1897, after finishing it the
previous
year, she was ordered by the new prioress, Mother Marie de Gonzague, to tell
of
her life in the convent. Both were combined in the final book, which was
revised
and circulated to all the Carmelite houses.
Thérèse of Lisieux's autobiography was three sections written specifically
to
her sister Pauline, her sister Marie, and her prioress. It was edited by
Pauline
(Sister Agnes) and made to appear as though written to her prioress. Highly
edited book sold without notation until 1956. In 1952 the unedited
manuscripts
were published in their original form. The first English version, translated
by
Ronald Knox, appeared in 1958 under the title Autobiography of a saint.
Thérèse
was childlike, not polished, and she was sentimental. Surprisingly, Thérèse
found it hard to say the rosary, which should be a comfort to those
saints-in-the-making who find it difficult, too.
The appeal of the book was immediate and astonishing: It had an instant
appeal
in every language into which it was translated. Her "little way" of
searching
for simplicity and perfection in everyday tasks became a model for ordinary
people. The saint's nine years in the convent were uneventful and
'ordinary,'
such as could be paralleled in the lives of numberless other young nuns: the
daily life of prayer and work, faults of pride and obstinacy to be overcome,
a
certain moodiness to be fought, inward and outward trials to be faced.
Sister
Thérèse stuck bravely to her 'little way' of simple trust in and love for
God.
Afflicted with tuberculosis, Thérèse hemorrhaged but endured her illness
with
patience and fortitude. She wished to join the Carmelites at Hanoi in
Indochina
at their invitation, but her illness became worse. She moved into the
infirmary
in 1897 and died at the age of 24. Her last words were, "I love him. My God
I
love you." Since her death she has worked innumerable miracles, and her
cultus
has spread throughout the world. She had become the most popular saint of
modern
times: Thérèse had shown innumerable people that sainthood is attainable by
anybody, however, obscure, lowly, untalented, by doing the small things and
discharging daily duties in a perfected spirit of love for God. Her
popularity
was so great that a large church was built in Lisieux to accommodate the
crowds
of pilgrims to her shrine.
In contemplating her death, Thérèse said, "I will let fall a shower of
roses,"
meaning favors through her intercession. From this we get the novena of St.
Thérèse which requires the praying of 24 Our Fathers each day for nine days
in
honor of the 24 years of life that God granted the saint. It is said that
when
the prayer has been heard and answered, the petitioner will receive a rose
from
the heavenly garden as a sign. For this reason, she is called "the Little
Flower
of Jesus."
Thérèse's attraction is her utter simplicity. She was no scholar; no great
student of the Bible or the Fathers. She simply longed to be a saint, as she
believed her person could. "In my little way," she wrote, "are only very
ordinary things. Little souls can do everything that I do."
She was full of fun. She drew a coat of arms for herself and Jesus,
surmounted
with her initials M.F.T., and the divine ones I.H.S. She made superbly
innocent
and happy jokes. She recorded that she would pretend she was at Nazareth in
the
Holy Family's home. "If I am offered salad, cold fish, wine or anything with
a
strong flavor, I give that to good Saint Joseph. I give the warm dishes and
the
ripest fruits to the Holy Virgin. I give the infant Jesus soup, rice, and
jam.
But if I am offered a bad meal, I say gaily to myself, 'My little girl,
today it
is all yours'."
Thérèse was a happy saint. Even as she suffered pain-physical and emotional
(being scolded for pulling up flowers rather than weeds in the garden)-she
always thanked God for everything (Attwater, von Balthasar, Benedictines,
Bentley, Day, Delaney, Gorres, Robo, Sackville-West, Sheppard, White).
In art, St. Thérèse is a Discalced Carmelite holding a bouquet of roses or
with
roses at her feet. She is the patron saint of foreign missions (due to her
prayers for and correspondence with missions), all works for Russia, France,
florists and flower growers (White); aviators, and, in 1944, was named
copatroness of France with Saint Joan of Arc (Delaney).
From:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1001.shtml
Saint Quote:
Nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness.
--Saint Dwynwen
Bible Quote:
2 Of the fruit of his own mouth shall a man be filled with good things: but
the
soul of transgressors is wicked. 3 He that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his
soul:
but he that hath no guard on his speech shall meet with evils.
(Proverbs 13:2-3)
<><><><>
Today begins the month of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The
Feast of the Rosary will occur on October 8th, so let us redouble our
prayers
and recitation of the Rosary as we meditate upon the life of our Savior and
His
Mother, Mary Most Holy. Though actually a passage from the Imitation of Mary
(Authored by Abbe Alexander de Rouville, a French Jesuit during the
Society's
suppression, and published in 1768), it makes an excellent prayer for
meekness:
Virgin, gentlest of all God's creatures, show me how you
acted toward the many ungrateful people whom Jesus taught
and for whom He worked great miracles. Thus I shall learn
how to bear with the faults of my neighbor.
How often you witnessed the ingratitude and betrayal Jesus
received in return for the good He did! Yet thy thoughts and
feelings towards His enemies were, like His, only thoughts
and feelings of peace. You detested sin, but you loved the
sinner.
It was only the offense against God that moved you deeply;
you let no complaint against these foolish men pass your lips,
and you even took up their cause with Jesus. You acted
toward them as you now act, after so many years, toward me!
I am the most faithless and ungrateful of thy servants, yet you
treat me with kindness and win ever new favors from God for
me. Mother of the God of peace, win for me the grace never
again to distress any by unkind words.
Thy very name and image causes me to think mild thoughts.
Obtain for me the virtue of gentleness and the spirit of peace,
so that I may merit the glorious title of "child of God."
Amen.
Nihil Obstat: Richard T. Adams, Censor Deputatis Imprimatur: James P.
Mahoney,
DD - Vicar General, Archdiocese of New York |
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