Many devotees of Thérèse have discovered that her intercessory power is enormous.  Even before her canonization many miracles, both great and small, were credited to Thérèse, and these miracles, in fact, contributed to her quick canonization.  Rome, it was then said, must canonize Thérèse rapidly, simply tyo catch up with the devotion of the faithful.  And since Thérèse was canonized miracles have not ceased.

But perhaps the most significant miracle associated with Thérèse, was that she was remembered at all after her death.

By all standards, her memory should have simply passed out of history, just as the memories of the vast majority of holy people have vanished into oblivion.

Actually very few people ever got to know Thérèse during her lifetime.  Only a small group of people attended her funeral; and the number of people who knew her in any personal way at the time of her death might have been less than 100.  Most of us get to know more people in a year than got to know Thérèse in her lifetime.

Even the sisters she lived with for nine years in Carmel did not get to know her well.  At the end of her life one of them thought that she had not done anything really noteworthy during her religious life, and most did not think that she should be remembered in any special way.

It was really her writings and then the miracles that followed her death that attracted attention to her, moved her to canonization, and led to her becoming the most famous saint in modern times.  The writings – autobiography, letters, and poems - alone would probably not have drawn her much recognition, since in many ways they are not outstanding literary compositions.  The miracles worked at Therese’s intercession wee important in bringing her to the attention of the public.  And the most significant thing about that is that no one controls miracles.

Many have lived the essence of Thérèse’s Little Way before and after her lifetime, and they are in fact “saints,” though not canonized. But with Thérèse, it was as if God needed one little soul to teach the Church again that holiness does not lie in the extraordinary.  The Church had begun to forget that fundamental spiritual truth.

Thérèse proclaims that holiness consists in the faithful, ordinary willing response to God’s will unfolding at every given moment in our life.  This faithful response comes from our willing cooperation with grace, Thérèse teaches, as we realize at some level that we are united with God and that our life, in its trials and joys, is a call to rejoice and give thanks for that union.

The greatest miracle associated with Thérèse, God’s greatest gift to the Church through Thérèse, was God’s stooping down and to lift Thérèse up so all of us would know again that we too are united to God and that our willing, faith-filled acceptance of our littleness is our little way to sanctity.

--Brother Joseph Schmidt, FSC

  Nairobi, Kenya

For the first time, the English translation of The Prayers of Saint Therese of Lisieux published by  ICS Publications is available online at the English Web site of the Archives of the Lisieux Carmel.  We thank the Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite Friars for their generosity in collaborating with the Lisieux Carmel to make these historic texts available online: one of many gifts from the Carmelite Order to the lovers of Saint Thérèse.

Here we find prayers to the Infant Jesus and the Holy Face, prayers to Mary and the saints, prayers composed in joy and sorrow, prayers written for her novices and missionary brothers.  Though few in number, they contain the full message of Thérèse in miniature, and include some of the most important texts she ever composed, such as her “Profession Note,” the “Consecration to the Holy Face,’ and the “Oblation to Merciful Love.” 

In contrast to previous volumes of the Saint’s writings from ICS Publications, we have kept more of the critical apparatus from the French edition.  This means that the brief text of each prayer is followed by detailed information on the autographs and circumstances of composition as well as a line-by-line commentary on Thérèse’s sources, parallel passages, and the meaning of her words.  Here readers will find, for example, the first critical edition of the famed “Oblation to Merciful Love,” with an analysis of the different drafts of this precious text. . .  Our hope is that readers may use it not only to study Thérèse’s prayers, but to pray with Thérèse herself.

Indeed, it is easy to use this book as a simple prayer book, and you have the joy of knowing that you are praying with Thérèse’s text. 

The print copy of this book, one of the most accessible collections of St. Therese's writings, includes a general introduction by Guy Gaucher, O.C.D. and the detailed notes Fr. Steven describes.  These notes are full of information about St. Therese and about the Lisieux Carmel which does not appear elsewhere in English. On the fifteenth annniversary of its publication, this book has lost none of its appeal.  The brief texts of Therese's prayers are now online, but the supplementary information appears only in the print copy.  I recommend reading it.  To order it, please click here or on the image above.

Please find the readings and prayers from the Mass for the feast of St. Therese, together with sample prayers of the faithful, at Therese2002, the beautiful and comprehensive Web site prepared by the Australian Carmelites for the visit of her reliquary in 2002.  Visit the main page of Therese2002.

 The Little Flower in Africa - a trailer of the EWTN film

 The 50-minute documentary The Little Flower in Africa, which tells the story of St. Therese and of the historic visit of her relics to Africa in 2010, will be broadcast on EWTN on Sunday, September 30 at 1:30 p.m. ET and again on Saturday, October 6 at 5:00 a.m. ET.  More about this beautiful and moving film, produced by Metanoia Media and commissioned by EWTN, which premiered on EWTN in 2011.  The film also gives a brief history of the Catholic Church in Africa, offers reflections on Carmelite spirituality, and features interviews with bishops, Carmelites, and others in Africa about the spirituality of St. Therese.

 To purchase the DVD from EWTN, click on the image below.

See the three-minute film produced by Romereports in English reporting on the exhibit "St. Therese of Lisieux: Burning with Love" at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was visited by more than seven million people before it closed on September 16.  Or see the text of the English commentary.

Pierre Fortin, vice president of the "Friends of Therese and of the Carmel of Lisieux," sponsor of the exhibit, remarks: “The aim of this exhibition is really to go to places where Therese hasn't gone: to prisons, to hospitals, to places where people suffer.”  The exhibit may eventually go to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day next year.