Thanks to the splendid new Web site of the Baltimore Carmel, you can read online Sister Constance FitzGerald's article "Contemplative Life as Charismatic Presence" (Spiritual Life, Vol. 29, No. 1, 1983) in which she explores the question of how contemplatives can be present to the body of Christ and and speaks to how Therese answered that question with her life.  An excerpt:

Where in the charismatic picture do contemplatives fit? And how are we to be
present today to the Body of Christ and to the overwhelming needs of
God's people which invade and plague our consciousness and seem to
shake our very souls? We rattle the bars of our human finitude as the
pressures for participation and immediate efficaciousness bombard us
from every corner of the world. And we ask if our mortality is not a
source of despair pointing to an unreachable dream.

No genuine contemplative can escape this struggle, this search for
meaning in the contemplative role. Furthermore, no one can pretend
that the achievement of personal identity is accomplished once and for
all by anyone generation or any person. Basically. we grow through a
series of integrations and identifications achieved within the con~
creteness of contemporary history.

The classic example of this struggle is Therese of Lisieux. And her
description of the anguish is no mere sentimental devotion characteristic
of nineteenth century French piety. but the "groaning" or
travail of creation seeking its redemption or liberation in her person.
Somehow the existential powerlessness of the human condition, augumented
by the inhibitions of cloistered structures. makes more urgent
the discovery of an answer to the question of presence to need. Therese
was not at all satisfied with her contemplative presence as she experienced
it: "Carmelite, Spouse, Mother of Souls ... But I feel the
vocation of the fighter, the priest. the apostle. the doctor, the martyr."
she exclaims. I want to carry the gospel everywhere and die every kind
of martyrdom. "To satisfy me I need all."  The sorrow of finitude
speaks here. How much latent humanity before us!

For those fluent in Italian, here is news of a pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Martin family from Italy to France, guided by Father Antonio Sangalli, OCD, the vice-postulator of the cause of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, to celebrate the birth of St. Therese.  The pilgrimage leaves from Ferrara on January 1, 2012 and returns to Ferrara on January 6 after visiting Alencon, Lisieux, and some nearby areas.  For details in Italian, click here. 

"Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway" has the honor to introduce, as its first "guest columnist," Brother Joseph Schmidt, FSC.  You can read about Brother Joe's life and about his books about St. Therese below, but I want to say how happy I am to introduce him to you and how grateful I am to him for writing a series of guest columns for us.  Although, like me, Brother Joe is a native of Philadelphia, he is now working in Kenya, and I look forward to reading about how Therese is received in Kenya, where he is now working.  Please use the "comments" feature to share your comments and questions.  Welcome, Brother Joe!

Joseph F. Schmidt, FSC is a lecturer, spiritual director, and pastoral counselor.  For many years he was on the staff of the international sabbatical center, Sangre de Cristo, Santa Fe, NM, USA.  During the last years he has focused his interest on St. Thérèse of Lisieux. He has written three books, all focused on Thérèse and her spirituality, published by Word Among Us Press.

Everything is Grace: the Life and Way of Thérèse of Lisieux prompts readers to walk with Thérèse through her life as she understands her spirituality unfolding in her experiences over the course of her life. It is a more systematic biography of the saint, bringing together in one book for the first time many details from various sources. This book was published in 2007 and is in its sixth printing.  It has received very favorable reviews.  It is also available in electronic format.

Praying Our Experiences explores an approach to prayer based on Thérèse's way of personal prayer in which she reflected on her own experiences in a prayerful way. Although the text of the book does not contain many direct references to Thérèse's writings, it is filled with her spirit.  This book is also available in electronic format.

Praying With Thérèse of Lisieux follows Thérèse’s life and spirituality as that developed over her life.  This book includes large sections of quotations from the writings of Thérèse. Each chapter focuses on a theme from the life of Therese. Reflective questions are provided at the end of each chapter that invite readers to reminisce about their own experiences, using their memories as the content of their prayer, just as Thérèse did.

Brother Joe's column:

In the course of giving retreats in various cities of the U.S. over the last several years.  I have often searched out chapels, churches and prayer rooms of retreat houses looking for images of Thérèse.  It would surprise me to find her image in the most unlikely places of devotion. Usually I would notice a stained glass window or a picture or a statue of Thérèse.  Sometimes these were in areas that were hidden and out of the way.

When I came to Kenya three years ago, I also continued the practice of looking for images of Thérèse in churches and shrines.  The image of Thérèse is not present in many of the churches or chapels of religious communities that I have had the opportunity to visit in  this African Country. But there is a statue of Thérèse in the Cathedral in Nairobi, the capital city.  It is a very simple plastic statue on the side altar, relatively hidden away and opposite the more elaborate side altar given over to the images of Saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross.

What has struck me is that Thérèse is present in the Cathedral, but inconspicuously present, as she was during her life in her Carmelite community.  And what has also struck me is that the need to know Thérèse and her spirituality is more widespread and just as important in Kenya as in the U.S. 

In future blog entries I will talk more about what aspects of Thérèse's spirituality seem to be especially needed in the spiritual development of Kenya. I will also be sharing with you some of my own experiences of ministry in teaching and spiritual formation ministry here in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi.   

In future blog entries I will also be guided by comments and questions that you might have as you share your interest in Thérèse in her role in the spiritual growth of the Church in Kenya and in the universal Church as well.

Brother Joseph F. Schmidt, FSC
Nairobi, KENYA

In honor of the feast of All Souls, please see "The Teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux on Purgatory," translated from the German.  It was published in "For Heaven's Sake," a newsletter of the Holy Souls Sodality (Volume 3, number 9, September 2012).  Read about Therese's belief that it was not necessary to pass through purgatory; she believed that the purifying fires of divine love were all-sufficient. Thanks to the Internet Archive.

I am happy to announce the introduction of a new monthly newsletter from "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway."  The newsletter will highlight various "buried treasures" from the Web site, give news of events and publications about St. Therese and about the Martin family, and explore different themes.  Three issues have been published: one to promote the news of the publication in English of the letters of St. Therese's mother and father; one for the feast of St. Therese on October 1; and a special anniversary issue for October 19th, the third anniversary of the beatification of Louis and Zélie Martin and the fourteenth annniversary of Pope John Paul II's proclaiming St. Therese a Doctor of the Church.  To see these issues, visit the newsletter archive, and, if you want to subscribe, complete the form below.  Thank you.