I Think St. Therese Is Trying To Tell Me Something This May!
St. Therese had a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother. It was Our Lady who cured Therese of her terrible illness at age ten as the family prayed over Therese in her bed. Therese writes in her autobiography, Story of a Soul:
"All of a sudden the Blessed Virgin appeared beautiful to me, so beautiful that never had I seen anything so attractive, her face was suffused with an ineffable benevolence and tenderness, but what penetrated to the very depths of my soul was the ravishing smile of the Blessed Virgin."
Therese also wrote about asking God for things. "I asked this from the Blessed Virgin, I didn't ask God because I want Him to do as He pleases. Asking the Blessed Virgin for something is not the same as asking God. She really knows what is to be done about my little desires, whether or not she must speak about them to God. So it's up to Her to see that God is not forced to answer me, to allow Him to do everything He pleases."
A friend of mine, a Marian Catechist, asked me if I had said the rosary lately.
"It's been a while," I sheepishly admitted. "But I pray the St. Therese chaplet all of the time."
She cocked her head a little. "Therese was very close to Our Lady," she said. "You don't want to make Therese upset." Then she smiled, having properly admonished me. I laughed, but I got the point!
A friend recently visited the Solanus Casey Center in Detroit. It has a lovely gift and book store (they sell Olivia and the Little Way there!) and she stopped to browse the many religious items.
"I saw this and I just felt that I was supposed to buy it for you," she said.
I opened the red pouch and found a beautiful rose-scented rosary. Look closely. Can you see the pretty pink rose beads? I wish you could smell it! I told her what a sweet gesture it was.
"It wasn't my idea," she said, and I knew exactly what she meant.
Last week I had a rather trying day. Some days, nothing ever seems to go right. You burn the toast, the coffee doesn't come out right, you can't seem to concentrate on your work, you feel out of sorts. We all have those days. On this particular day, I went outside to get the mail and found an odd-looking package in my mailbox. I couldn't wait to open it. I wasn't expecting anything, so I was very curious.
It was yet another St. Therese rosary! The note tucked inside read simply, "I knew I had to give this to you!" It was from my husband's aunt and godmother, a religious sister.
St. Therese knew how to cheer me up on a down-in-the-dumps day! She sends her shower of roses in all sorts of ways. By sending me rosaries, I think she is trying to tell me something, don't you?
It's almost May, the month of Our Lady. We can all make an extra effort to honor her. And I have two beautiful new rosaries with which to do just that! The great saint, St. Teresa of Avila, said this: "The devotions we practice in honor of the glorious Virgin Mary, however trifling they may be, are very pleasing to Her Divine Son, and He rewards them with eternal glory."
"Love our Lady. And she will obtain abundant grace to help you conquer in your daily struggle. When you see the storm coming, if you seek safety in that firm refuge which is Mary, there will be no danger of your wavering or going down."—St. Josemaria Escriva
Mary, Queen of All Saints, pray for us!
"All of a sudden the Blessed Virgin appeared beautiful to me, so beautiful that never had I seen anything so attractive, her face was suffused with an ineffable benevolence and tenderness, but what penetrated to the very depths of my soul was the ravishing smile of the Blessed Virgin."
Therese also wrote about asking God for things. "I asked this from the Blessed Virgin, I didn't ask God because I want Him to do as He pleases. Asking the Blessed Virgin for something is not the same as asking God. She really knows what is to be done about my little desires, whether or not she must speak about them to God. So it's up to Her to see that God is not forced to answer me, to allow Him to do everything He pleases."
A friend of mine, a Marian Catechist, asked me if I had said the rosary lately.
"It's been a while," I sheepishly admitted. "But I pray the St. Therese chaplet all of the time."
She cocked her head a little. "Therese was very close to Our Lady," she said. "You don't want to make Therese upset." Then she smiled, having properly admonished me. I laughed, but I got the point!
A friend recently visited the Solanus Casey Center in Detroit. It has a lovely gift and book store (they sell Olivia and the Little Way there!) and she stopped to browse the many religious items.
"I saw this and I just felt that I was supposed to buy it for you," she said.
I opened the red pouch and found a beautiful rose-scented rosary. Look closely. Can you see the pretty pink rose beads? I wish you could smell it! I told her what a sweet gesture it was.
"It wasn't my idea," she said, and I knew exactly what she meant.
Last week I had a rather trying day. Some days, nothing ever seems to go right. You burn the toast, the coffee doesn't come out right, you can't seem to concentrate on your work, you feel out of sorts. We all have those days. On this particular day, I went outside to get the mail and found an odd-looking package in my mailbox. I couldn't wait to open it. I wasn't expecting anything, so I was very curious.
It was yet another St. Therese rosary! The note tucked inside read simply, "I knew I had to give this to you!" It was from my husband's aunt and godmother, a religious sister.
St. Therese knew how to cheer me up on a down-in-the-dumps day! She sends her shower of roses in all sorts of ways. By sending me rosaries, I think she is trying to tell me something, don't you?
It's almost May, the month of Our Lady. We can all make an extra effort to honor her. And I have two beautiful new rosaries with which to do just that! The great saint, St. Teresa of Avila, said this: "The devotions we practice in honor of the glorious Virgin Mary, however trifling they may be, are very pleasing to Her Divine Son, and He rewards them with eternal glory."
"Love our Lady. And she will obtain abundant grace to help you conquer in your daily struggle. When you see the storm coming, if you seek safety in that firm refuge which is Mary, there will be no danger of your wavering or going down."—St. Josemaria Escriva
Mary, Queen of All Saints, pray for us!
