FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ST. THERESE
Info from this site:
http://www.littleflower.org/therese/st-therese-faqs/
🌹 How did St. Therese become known as the "Little Flower"?
"St. Therese loved nature, and often used the imagery of nature to explain how the Divine Presence is everywhere, and how everything is connected in God's loving care and arms. Therese saw herself as "the Little Flower of Jesus" because she was just like the simple wild flowers in forests and fields, unnoticed by the greater population, yet growing and giving glory to God. Therese did not see herself as a brilliant rose or an elegant lily, by simply as a small wildflower. This is how she understood herself before the Lord - simple and hidden, but blooming where God had planted her.
Therese believed passionately that Jesus was delighted in his "Little Flower," and just as a child can be fascinated by the grandeur of a simple flower, she believed that Jesus was fascinated by her as his "Little Flower." Therese understood that she was just like the tiny flower in the forest, surviving and flourishing through all the seasons of the year. Because of God's grace, she knew that she was stronger than she looked. Following the Carmelite tradition, Therese saw the world as God's garden, and each person being a different kind of flower, enhancing the variety and beauty which Jesus delighted in. When various people tried to explain her powerful inspiration and her place within the Church, it always seemed to come back to one title "the Little Flower."
🌹When is her Feast Day?
The Roman Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Therese, the Little Flower, on October 1st each year. This date was chosen because Therese died on September 30th. Following the ancient custom of celebrating their entrance into heaven the next day, October 1st was chosen as the day to celebrate Therese's life and eternity. Some people may remember that her feast day was previously October 3rd. That date was established for several reasons, including a packed liturgical calendar. In the liturgical renewal of the 1970's, when the calendar of saints was updated and refined, St. Therese's feast was properly moved to the more appropriate October 1st date. It is interesting to note that St. Therese's home Church in France celebrates her feast day on the last Saturday of September, no matter what the date.
🌹What did she mean by her "shower of roses"?
Experience has shown that St. Therese's "shower of roses" is both figurative and actual. As she was dying in the convent infirmary, Therese could look out and see the rose bushes blossoming. She loved roses. She had thrown rose petals as a Child before the Blessed Sacrament. As she reflected on her quiet, hidden, and gentle life ending, she believed in faith that God had great things in store for her. She believed that her mission was only beginning as she entered the fullness of life with God. She explained: "After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved..."
Shortly after her death, the rain of roses began. Sometimes roses literally appeared, and sometimes just the fragrance of them. Cures of painful and fatal diseases and many other miraculous experiences were attributed to her intercession. Sometimes people found inner peace and regained an inner warmth of spirit and confidence, by appealing to St. Therese.
Many miracles and actions of St. Therese do not involve roses. More often than not, marvelous things happen in people's lives as they ask for her heavenly intercession. The miracles, healings and inner peace come from the trust one places in God, not from any manifestation of roses. St. Therese lived in the dark night of the senses and spirit, with little consolation. Thus, the friends and followers of St. Therese expect no consolation of sighted roses that their prayers are being answered. Her "little way" is about child-like trust and gentle love. She is the great apostle of faith in God's love, not simple reliance on physical signs. Jesus warned us, and Therese experienced that the desire for signs is a sign of weak faith. It is always important to remember that St. Therese did not experience extraordinary phenomena in her life. Her faith was refined and strengthened by God.
Roses are Therese's signature. It is her way of whispering to those who need a sign that she has heard, and God is responding. Thousands of people have given witness to the way Therese responds to their petitions and prayers with grace and roses. The grace is more important than the roses. So many miracles have happened through the intercession of St. Therese without any roses appearing - usually the deep inner peace of accepting God's will and seeing His loving plan and presence is the "rose" experienced. Sometimes the lack of a physical "rose signature" is an affirmation of a strong faith.
One does not pray for roses. Therese's message is about simplicity and love in the ordinary events of life. Trust in Therese is important, and when she wills, roses or their fragrance may appear. The stories are remarkable how roses have shown up in the lives and experiences of people, especially in the darkest times. The ordinary and constant way these roses and graces have shown up in people's experience is extraordinary. It is important to always maintain the rose of confidence that our All-Loving God hears and responds to our needs, according to the mysterious ways of His Love"
🌹 How did she get the name "Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face"?
Following the biblical tradition, when people entered religious life, they took a new name to signify their new call from God. When she entered the Carmelite Monastery to give her life to God, Marie Francoise Therese Martin took the religious name "Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face." Therese had a great devotion to the Infant Jesus, and her spirituality was a childlike simplicity and trust in God's love. In Lisieux, the Carmelite Monastery had a great devotion to the suffering Holy Face of Jesus that was reflected on the veil of Veronica. This included an outdoor shrine in the cloister garden. Because Therese was constantly looking to see the hidden Holy Face of Jesus in everyone and everything, Therese took that second part of her religious name. She explained: "I desire that, like the Face of Jesus, my face be truly hidden that no one on earth would know me. I thirsted after suffering and I longed to be forgotten." Her religious name, Sr. Therese of the Child Jesus and Holy Face, therefore came to signify what she was about and how God's
🌹 Litany of St. Thèresé
Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! Lord have mercy! 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 Ghost, Have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Pray for us. Our Lady of Victory, Pray for us. Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pray for us.
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, Pray for us. St. Therese, Little Flower of Jesus, Pray for us. St. Therese, servant of God, Pray for us. St. Therese, victim of the merciful love of God, Pray for us.
St. Therese, spouse of Jesus, Pray for us. St. Therese, angel of the cloister, Pray for us. St. Therese, remarkable in childhood, Pray for us.
St. Therese, an example of obedience, Pray for us.
St. Therese, resigned to the Divine Will, Pray for us. St. Therese, lover of peace, Pray for us. St. Therese, lover of patience, Pray for us. St. Therese, lover of gentleness, Pray for us. St. Therese, heroic in sacrifices, Pray for us.
St. Therese, generous in forgiving, Pray for us. St. Therese, benefactress of the needy, Pray for us. St. Therese, lover of Jesus, Pray for us. St. Therese, devoted to the Holy Face, Pray for us.
St. Therese, consumed with the love of God, Pray for us. St. Therese, advocate in extreme cases, Pray for us. St. Therese, persevering in prayer, Pray for us. St. Therese, lover of holy chastity, Pray for us.
St. Therese, lover of voluntary poverty, Pray for us. St. Therese, lover of obedience, Pray for us. St. Therese, burning with zeal for God's glory, Pray for us. St. Therese, inflamed with the Spirit of Love, Pray for us.
St. Therese, child of benediction, Help us in our need. St. Therese, perfect in simplicity, Help us in our need. St. Therese, remarkable for trust in God, Help us in our need.
St. Therese, aid of missionaries, Help us in our need. St. Therese, who whilst immersed in the love of God vast yet a "little victim," Help us in our need.
St. Therese, who saidst thou wouldst let fall a shower of roses after thy death, Help us in our need. St. Therese, who didst promise to spend thy heaven doing good on our earth, Help us in our need.
St. Therese, who saidst thou wouldst not rest till the last soul was harvested, Help us in our need. St. Therese, teaching us the little way, Help us in our need. St. Therese, teaching us the sure way, Help us in our need.
V. Pray for us, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus: R. That we may learn to follow in thy little way.
Let us pray. O Lord, Who hast said: Unless ye become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven: grant us, we beseech Thee, so to follow in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the blessed virgin Teresa, that we may obtain everlasting rewards. Who livest and reignest, with the Father and the Holy Ghost ever one God, world without end. R. Amen.
Prayer Source: Kyrie Eleison — Two Hundred Litanies by Benjamin Francis Musser O.F.M., The Magnificat Press, 1944