Resources for celebrating the feast of
St. Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face on October 1
The site is full of resources which may be used to celebrate St. Therese's feast. Below I point out a few:
- "In Search of the Little Flower: The Full Life Story of Saint Therese of Lisieux," an excellent free, hour-long, online documentary about St. Therese produced by Sancta Familia Media for the historic first visit of the relics of St. Therese to Scotland in 2019. To my knowledge, this is the only good full-length documentary in English that is legally available online for free. Feast on it!
- Excellent films about St. Therese. Nine of these are short films you can watch for free online.
- "C'est la confiance," Pope Francis's Apostolic Exhortation for the Jubilee Year of St. Therese of Lisieux, October 15, 2023
- Resources for catechesis and prayer from the Diocese of Lancaster in Great Britain, designed for the visit of St. Therese's relics in 2009 but easy to adapt for the feast. Handouts about St. Therese's life, writings, and spirituality and two presentations for grades 5-8: one on Therese and humility and one on Therese and suffering. A model prayer assembly for primary schools.
- Liturgy resource: Prayers and readings of the Mass for the feast, with sample prayers of the faithful. Thanks to the Carmelites of Australia, who prepared these resources for the visit of St. Therese's relics in 2002.
The twenty-one independent prayers written by St. Therese, including the first critical edition of her "Offering of myself as a victim of holocaust to Merciful Love." For information or to purchase, click on the image.
- Prayers to St. Therese and a prayer written by her. Includes a litany to St. Therese, a prayer for students, and other prayers. Courtesy of the Irish National Office for St. Therese.
- Twelve short reflections on St. Therese's life, spirituality, and influence, prepared for the cetenary of the saint's death
- Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux
The Theresian feasts at Lisieux:
A Trio of Films
produced by Susan Ehlert
The feast of Saint Therese is celebrated in Lisieux on the last weekend of September every year. On Saturday evening the reliquary of St. Therese, containing the remains of her body, is escorted in a candelight procession from her Carmelite monastery through the streets of Lisieux to the basilica of St. Therese. As the pilgrims walk in procession, they sing, as hymns, the poems Therese wrote. All participate in a Mass or a prayer vigil at the basilica. At the end of the evening, the people light their candles again and leave them at the foot of St. Therese's statue outside the basilica parking lot.
The candlellight procession
Click here to view a film of Morning Prayer at the Carmel of Lisieux
Solemn Vespers at the Basilica of St. Therese on Sunday evening
After Vespers on Sunday, the reliquary is again taken in procession through the streets to Saint-Pierre Cathedral, where Therese and her family worshipped. Finally it returns to Carmel. Several thousand pilgrims travel to Lisieux for the feast-day ceremonies every year.
[I thank Susan Ehlert for generously contributing her unique videos and her services as a translator to make St. Therese more widely known and loved, especially among English-speaking persons].