Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux - the Little Flower : An Excerpt from St. Thérèse of Lisieux manuscript by Rose Ure Mezu 1.“After my death I will let fall a shower of roses”. 2. Love is repaid by love alone.... The Little Flower of Ngozi Catherine Thérèse Mezu Patel, M.D 3. And I was determined to find a lift to carry me to Jesus, for I was far too small to climb the steep stairs of perfection. So I sought in holy scripture some idea of what this life I wanted would be, and I read these words: Whosoever is a little one, come to me. It is your arms, Jesus, that are the lift to carry me to heaven. And so there is no need for me to grow up: I must stay little and become less and less. - Therese of Lisieu 4. By this way of doing little things and by climbing unto Jesus’s laps through prayer (Spiritual Childhood) because the Master had said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19: 13- 14), Thérèse decided to get to God the Father faster than the big, holy people who did great things. - Rose Ure Mezu The month of October begins with the feast of a most beloved saint – St. Thérèse of Lisieux otherwise known as St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, and the readings at mass today are remarkably suited to the saint famous for her theology of Spiritual Childhood. Today also marks the beginning of one of my favorite months in the Church’s liturgical year – the month of the October – which is the month of the Rosary Thérèse Martin, born on January 2, 1873, in Alencon France, was the pampered youngest of nine children born into a very comfortable middle class family. Her mother Zélie wanted to be a saint and her father Louis to become a monk. But they married instead. Her life was marked by tragedy, death and separations. The separations brought a lot of sadness to Thérèse’s life. Her four brothers died in infancy leaving five sisters – including Thérèse, all of whom eventually entered the convent. . . . Why is St. Thérèse of Lisieux so appealing? Because spoilt, often willful and full of tantrums, she was a very ordinary girl, but she always sought to correct her faults as pointed out by her parents or elders. She was also sickly but devout. She made use of Little things – anything, even the mundane reality of being sick which she very often was all her life, she would make her sickness and whatever else she did no matter how boring count for so much because she would dedicate them to the Lord for the benefit of other people, using them to serve anyone in trouble, or who needed prayer, such as praying for priests, the religious in far away missions (she is now the patron saint of missions), or praying for a condemned man who had rejected God to repent and die a believer (which he did moments before he was to be hanged), or to endure little acts of persecutions by those around her. For example, once, she was accused unjustly of breaking a vase and instead of arguing, Thérèse willingly assumed guilt for this and sank to her knees, begging for forgiveness. Thus, she bore bad words that hurt with fortitude and patience (which we often find difficult to do, but we should not give up trying). She smiled even at the nuns she did not like. Because she ate everything she was given without complaining, she was often given bad leftovers. Her sister Céline later joined her at the convent making the Martin sisters four in number. This expectedly aroused envy and dismay amongst some nuns who thought the Martin sisters would dominate the convent. Her sister Pauline who was Mother Superior asked Thérèse to remain a novice with a possibility of not being a fully professed nun, and she accepted because Therese wanted to become a saint. Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta words “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing” would appear to literally summarize Thérèse of Lisieux’s life for this brave, young girl put so much love into the doing of no matter what. For instance, as a child, every step of the staircase Thérèse climbed, would count on her Rosary bead as one Hail Mary. She tended to be greedy, wanting the biggest share of every thing, so she decided to convert her negative greed into a positive greed by wanting the greatest share of Jesus’s love or, of His suffering. So, she suffered in silence. Eventually, as she advanced in her spirituality, she would come to believe that the happiness of Heaven can be compared to a cup so full that it can no longer receive anymore fluid just like the giant can or drum when full can no longer receive any more liquid. She loved flowers and saw herself as the little flower of Jesus growing in God’s garden who gave glory to God by just being her beautiful little self among all the other perhaps bigger and more beautiful flowers. Thus, no matter how great or little, every soul in heaven is suffused with happiness at the sight of God, just as the small lily is as happy as the biggest of flowers because they both receive even if in different degrees all the nourishment of sun and rain needed to grow and to be pretty. Hence, St. Thérèse of Lisieux is referred to as The Little Flower. Thérèse suffered from Tuberculosis and in those days, there was no cure for this disease. Since her health did not permit her to do big acts of mortification like the great ascetic saints who starved, flagellated (whipped) themselves and did other great acts of penance, she on her part converted every headache, or cough, and like ailments, into a prayer which she offered to God for someone. else in greater need or peril She identified her moral failings and took them one by one and sought to make each positively better. She did not whimper or complain, but said, I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul..... Story of a Soul embodies her conception of what is love, God, patience in suffering and life’s philosophy; these marked her theology which was so simple that any person can easily be another Thérèse – hence her great appeal to everyone who reads of her. Her sisters were still living when she was canonized. Following this path of spiritual childhood which is marked by great trust and love for God, Thérèse of Lisieux, anybody can be a saint “Draw me up, Lord, and I will run in the odor of your sanctity!” Pope John Paul II also, like Thérèse of Lisieux, discerned a redemptive quality in any type of suffering, be it illness, persecution or just plain bad luck, or misfortune. It is therefore not surprising that on October 19, 1997, John Paul II declared the Little Flower St. Thérèse of Lisieux a Doctor of the Church along with other big flowers - Caterina da Siena, and Saint Edith Stein (Theresa Benedicta of the Cross - 1891-1942), so as to encourage all persons to believe that saints are not extraordinary humans but are truly very ordinary, flawed humans who with courage and determination cultivate these qualities – perseverance, patience, humility, charity for others and love for God and who thus are able to make ordinary, everyday, boringly routine duties be transformed into extraordinary acts by the great love that infuses them just as Mother Theresa of Calcutta simply put it. I have always loved St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and have read her book, The Story of a Soul, several times, carrying it always with me – several copies here and a copy in Nigeria. Thérèse is Ngozi’s confirmation name and we all are used to reading as her motto: Love is repaid by love alone. . . a saying of St. John of the Cross used as motto by The Little Flower. This belief came true for Ngozi whose three weddings – Igbo, Latin-rite Catholic Christian, and Hindu - turned into a grand fest of romantic and selfless love – everyone pitched in to help make them a success for Ngozi who like her patron saint knows how to make kind, little gestures count for great acts of love, who sacrifices herself for anyone in this family who needs her services or love. For St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, some of today’s mass readings are so are very appropriate such as these words: “I will let prosperity flow over you like a river, the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;” “Then they brought to him little children that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19: 13- 14); “Truly, I have calmed and quietened my soul like a child on its mother’s knees; like a child on its mother’s knees, so have calmed my soul,” (the words of one of my favorite psalms). These readings seem to be specially chosen for St. Thérèse of Lisieux and they all fit her like a glove. We can all learn a lesson from the humility of The Little Flower. As we proceed on our life’s inexorable journey towards God with all our defects, may we persevere and never give up; may we develop not just humility - always examining our faults and working on them - but actually show loving service towards others both at home and outside as a mark of our love for our God. By a special act of Providence, Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St.Thérèse are to be beatified on October 19, 2008 on Mission Sunday of which St. Thérèse is the patron. They lived a devoutly faithful married life together and despite death, and other difficulties, brought up their children to love God. Thus, by doing little things with a great deal of love, we, even though ordinary, can at last become extraordinary people of Love. - Copyright by Rose Ure Mezu ---Excerpt from St. Thérèse of Lisieux by Rose Ure Mezu.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 15:19:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015