Saint Therese of the Child Jesus: An Echo of the Heart of God

Definitive documentary about St. Therese, made in 1997 to honor the centenary of her death. Filmed on location in France, it gives Therese's whole story in interviews, dramatizations, and long visits to her birthplace, her home in Lisieux, and the Carmelite monastery. The distinguished Theresian scholar, the Carmelite friar Bishop Guy Gaucher, supplies commentary. 90 minutes.  If you have ever longed to see the places where Therese lived and to visit the interior of her monastery, this is your chance.  

To purchase the DVD "Saint Therese of the Child Jesus: An Echo of the Heart of God. click on the image above or click here.

Teresa of Calcutta

To enter into the “thirst of Jesus,” then, is to touch the most radical and absolute level of desire.  It is to experience, not just conceptually but in the most intimate ground of one's created being, what Emmanuel Levinas called "the idea of Infinity"  that awakens the most imperious desire--in his words, "not a Desire that the possession of the Desirable slakes, but the Desire for the Infinite which the desirable arouses rather than satisfies."

On the occasion of the canonization of Mother Teresa, I recommend this article by Mary Frohlich, editor of Saint Therese of Lisieux: Essential Writings.  With the distinction that characterizes all her work, she explores the theme that linked Mother Teresa to her patron saint, herese of Lisieux. This article, first published in New Theology Review in November 2008, may now be read online.

Read "'The Thirst of Jesus' in the Vocations of Mother Teresa and Therese of Lisieux." 

United in the bond of sainthood, may St. Therese and her newest canonized disciple continue to quench the thirst of Jesus. 

See in one volume some of the texts of the saint who inspired Teresa of Calcutta:

Saint Therese of Lisieux: Essential Writings, edited by Mary Frohlich

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Mgr Georges Pontier, archbishop of Marseille and President of the Bishops' Conference of France, invited Catholics to a day of fasting and prayer Friday, July 29.

“From Krakow, where I learned of the unthinkable and horrible drama of Seine-Maritime [the section of Normandy where the terrorist attack took place this morning], I want to convey to the family of Father Hamel, to the parish of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, and to the Archbishop of Rouen the assurance of my closeness and my prayer and solidarity.  This tragedy, which occurred in a church, shakes up and disturbs all the French people.

I thank all those who, in their diversity, have expressed their friendship to the Catholic family.

We have various feelings in such moments as these.  We know, however that one of them, fraternity, dear to our country, is the way that leads to lasting peace. Let's build it together.

I invite all the Catholics of France to participate in a day of fasting and prayer for our country and for peace in the world this Friday, July 29th.

Here in Krakow, with all the French bishops present, I invite the youth of our dioceses and our movements to live the Way of the Cross with Pope Francis for this intention. We follow Christ in his victory over hatred, revenge, and death.

It is our light and hope.

Mgr Georges PONTIER

Archbishop of Marseille

President of the Bishops' Conference of France

(translated with thanks from the Web site of the Catholic Church of France).

Let's show our solidarity with the suffering people of France by joining them in this day of prayer and fasting on Friday.

To meditate on the life story of Fr. Jacques Hamel, please see "Jacques Hamel, 85, a beloved French priest killed in his church" in the New York Times.

Photo of Marie-Paul Stevens, whose cure was certified as the miracle for the canonization of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity. Released by the Dijon Carmel June 20, 2016

The story of the healing of Marie-Paul Stevens

The first photograph of Marie-Paul Stevens, the Belgian woman whose healing was accepted as the miracle for the canonization of Elizabeth of the Trinity (announced by Pope Francis today to take place on October 26, 2016) was released today by the Carmel of Dijon, with new details about her story.

Diagnosis with Sjogren's syndrome; treatment

In 1997 Marie-Paul Stevens, a Belgian woman, was a professor of religion at the Institute of the Marist Brothers in Malmedy.  She was then 39 years old.  In May she started to have trouble speaking and developed other symptoms.  On the advice of a friend, she underwent various medical tests, and, some weeks later, was diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease.  Her sickness advanced; the government asked her to retire early, and she had to leave her profession in 1998.  Although Marie-Paul received chemotherapy and other treatment, her health grew worse.  In 2000 and 2001, she became more and more disabled and was in unbearable pain.

Prayer for healing

Since her adolescence, Marie-Paul had loved Elizabeth of the Trinity and had prayed for her intercession.  Now all her friends, together with the nuns of the Carmel of Dijon (now in Flavignerot, where the nuns had moved in 1979), continued to pray the novena to Blessed Elizabeth to ask for Marie-Paul's healing. The patient herself did not ask to be cured, but she wanted to go on pilgrimage to the Carmel of Flavignerot before she died to thank Elizabeth, who had accompanied her so powerfully during her illness.

The patient makes a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to pray at Elizabeth's Carmel before she dies

Accompanied by friends, Marie-Paul came as a pilgrim to the Carmel of Flavignerot.  On April 2, 2002, in the chapel of the Carmel, she prayed and gave thanks to Elizabeth for sustaining her during her five-year illness.  Coming out of the chapel exhausted, she sat down to rest on one of the rocks that edged the monastery's parking lot. All at once she stood up, raised her hands to heaven, and cried out in amazement and happiness "I'm not in pain any more!"  From that day she has been well.

Restored to health, Marie-Paul makes a second pilgrimage of thanksgiving on foot

Just a few months later, Marie-Paul was able to walk 350 kilometers (217 miles) on a pilgrimage to give thanks.  It took some time, and many medical examinations, till the happy day when, on March 3, 2016, Pope Francis authorized Cardinal Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, to promulgate the decree approving the cure of Marie-Paul Stevens as a miracle attributable to the intercession of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity.  It was this which opened the way for Elizabeth's canonization, and Pope Francis announced today that she will be canonized on Sunday, October 16, 2016. 

Blessings

Marie-Paul, we thank you for your faith and endurance, and we rejoice in your cure and in God's having chosen you as an instrument to make soon-to-be-Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity known and loved.  May she accompany you more and more closely.

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity January or February 1903

This morning, June 20, 2016, at a public consistory, Pope Francis announced the canonization of five saints, including Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, a  young Carmelite mystic of Dijon, France (1880-1906) who was an early and fervent disciple of  Therese.  Elizabeth will be canonized on Sunday, October 16, 2016 in Rome. This is a day of thanksgiving for all who love Therese.

 The Canonization Miracle for Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

Marie-Paul Stevens, the Belgian woman whose cure was accepted as the miracle necessary for the canonization of Elizabeth of the Trinity. Photo Credit: Carmel of Dijon

Click here to read the story of the miracle approved for the canonization of Elizabeth of the Trinity, with a few lines about Elizabeth's life and Therese's influence on her.

 To know more about Elizabeth of the Trinity:

 Light Love Life - Elizabeth of the Trinity: a Look at a Face and a Heart

edited by Fr. Conrad De Meester and the Carmel of Dijon; translated Sr. Aletheia Kane, O.C.D. Editorial Assistant: Fr. John Sullivan, O.C.D.  A beautiful photographic album lavishly illustrated with photos of Elizabeth and her milieu, enriched with texts that will attract those new to Elizabeth and her old friends.  A marvelous introduction for her new friends, a treasure for her old friends. 

Two Sisters in the Spirit, by Hans Urs von Balthasar, S.J., the distinguished Jesuit theologian, shows how Therese and Elizabeth each complement the contemplative life of the other.  edited by Fr. Conrad De Meester and the Carmel of Dijon; translated Sr. Aletheia Kane, O.C.D. Editorial Assistant: Fr. John Sullivan, O.C.D.

Elizabeth's Writings

Fr. Conrad De Meester, O.C.D., who has interpreted Therese so brilliantly, edited in three volumes the critical edition of Elizabeth's writings.  "Vol. I: General Introduction and Major Spiritual Writings" and Volume II, Letters from Carmel have been published in English.  We are awaiting publication of the third volume in English.

Elizabeth's letters from Carmel are at once profound and accessible.  I can't recommend them highly enough.  

For a biography in English, consult He Is My Heaven:  The Life of Elizabeth of the Trinity by Jennifer Moorcroft.