St. Therese of Lisieux. Copyright Br. Robert Lentz, OFM, Courtesy of Trinity Stores

 icons are windows of the holy.  As St. Therese herself is a window of the holy, this icon has a double significance.  Gaze on her and, through her, gaze on Christ this Advent. To see this icon with the artist's meditation, to send it as a free e-card, or to see other icons at Trinity Store, click on the image.

On the First Sunday of Advent, November 30, 1895, St. Therese confided to her close friend, the novice Marie of the Trinity, that she had offered herself to Merciful Love on June 9, 1895.  Marie of the Trinity at once expressed a desire to do the same, and the two agreed that Marie would offer herself the next day.  Thinking it over, Marie told Therese that, because she was so unworthy, she needed a longer time to prepare for such an important act.  Saint Therese's face "immediately lit up with joy," and she replied:

Yes, this Act is important, more important than we can imagine, but do you know—the only preparation which the good God asks of us? Well, it is that we recognize humbly our unworthiness! And since He has given you this grace, abandon yourself to Him without fear. Tomorrow morning, after thanksgiv­ing, I will kneel near you in the oratory where the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed. And while you pronounce your act, I will offer you to Jesus as a little victim which I prepared for Him.

Circular of Sister Marie of the Trinity on the Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux.  Chapter IV.

So Marie of the Trinity offered herself to Merciful Love on December 1, 1895.  She was the second disciple of St. Therese to follow Therese in making the offering; Therese's eldest sister, Marie of the Sacred Heart, had offered herself in the summer.  About her experience on December 1, Marie of the Trinity wrote:

I was so flooded with graces on that beautiful day, the most beautiful day of my life, that all day long I experienced in a very tangible way the presence of the Eucharistic Jesus in my heart.  I confided this to Sr. Therese of the Child Jesus, who was not at all surprised and answered me simply:

"Is not God omnipotent?  If we so desire, it would not be difficult for him to make his sacramental presence in our souls remain from one communion to the next.  [Therese had, in fact, asked this favor in her offering:  "Remain in me as in a tabernacle . . ."]  Through this extraordinary feeling that you experienced today, he wishes to give you the pledge that all the requests you have made of him in the Act of Oblation will be granted.  You will not always enjoy these feelings, but their effects will be no less real.  One receives from God as much as one hopes for."

Therese of Lisieux and Marie of the Trinity, by Pierre Descouvement.  Staten Island, New York: Society of St. Paul/Alba House, 1997, pp. 68-69.  I recommend this book to everyone who wants to konw Therese as she was in her intimate relationships.  

May we, like Marie, let Therese encourage us, in this Advent, to forget our ideas of our own unworthiness and to abandon ourselves to God without fear.

Celine, left, aged 12, and Therese, aged 8

The spirit of gratitude is a vital element of the way of confidence and love of St. Therese of Lisieux.  We can't be surprised that the saint to whom "everything is grace" radiated a spirit of gratitude.  In reading Story of a Soul, Therese's letters, poems, prayers, plays, and reported conversations, I have noticed again and again how often she spontaneously overflows with gratitude to God, to the person to whom she is writing, to Mary, to the saints, or to anyone she is remembering who has been good to her.  

St. Therese's counsel on the importance of gratitude to God

In the words of her sister Celine, writing of the years when Therese was her novice mistress at Lisieux Carmel:

"It is the spirit of gratitude which draws down upon us the overflow of God's grace," our holy Mistress said to me one day, "for no sooner have we thanked Him for one blessing than He hastens to send us ten addiitonal favors in return.  Then, when we show our gratitude for these new gifts, He multiplies His benedictions to such a degree that there seems to be a constant stream of divine grace ever coming our way."  She added, "This has been my own personal experience; try it out for yourself and see.  For all that Our Lord is constantly giving me, my gratitude is boundless, and I try to prove it to Him in a thousand different ways."  . . . . 

One day, when I was lamenting the fact that  God seemed to have abandoned me completely, Therese energetically admonished me:

"Oh! don't speak like that.  You know that at times I, too, become perplexed about circumstances or the turn of events, but I try to keep on smiling; I even turn to Our Lord and say 'Thank You.'  We are disloyal to His love whenever we do not trust Him completely.  Please!  never any 'imprecations' against divine Providence, but only, and always, a spirit of deep and lasting gratitude!"

My Sister Saint Therese,  by Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face (Celine Martin).  Rockford, Illinois: TAN Books and Publishers, 1997, pp. 97-98.

St. Therese on showing gratitude to those around us

Celine speaks of the tender gratitude Therese felt and expressed to anyone who did her the slightest favor; 

Even in her human contacts, Therese was always outstanding for this virtue of gratitude, however trifling the favor might be.  There was an added dimension to her spirit of gratitude, however, with regard to those priests who, in Our Lord's place, had, from time to time, solved her spiritual difficulties; to these benefactors she was eternally grateful.

My Sister Saint Therese, p. 97.

Celine's remarks about the gratitude Therese showed to the persons around her are echoed by another novice, Marie of the Trinity, who entered in June 1894, shortly before Celine.  Therese was her "angel" (in charge of instructing the newcomer in the community's customs), and Marie reports that Therese had done her quite a few favors for which she was grateful, but for which she had never expressed thanks.  Then Therese said to her:

You must get used to letting your gratitude be seen, to saying thank you with an open heart for the least little thing.  This is the practice of charity, to act this way; otherwise, it is indifference which, even if it is only exterior, freezes the heart and destroys the cordiality that is necessary in community.

Therese of Lisieux and Marie of the Trinity, by Pierre Descouvement.  Staten Island, New York: Society of St. Paul/Alba House, 1997, p. 110.

These two sources are a valuable look at St. Therese through the prism of two important relationships. Both were written by novices who lived under her care from 1894 until her death in 1897: Celine, the sister whom she called "the sweet echo of my soul;" Marie of the Trinity, for whom Therese experienced a deep spiritual affection.  The translationof Celine's memoir, My Sister Saint Therese, reflects that it was written in the 1950s, but this little book is rich in details of Celine's relationship with Therese and in conversations not reported elsewhere.  Therese of Lisieux and Marie of the Trinity, a more contemporary work, tells much about the relationship between the two young women and also about the life story of this early disciple of Therese and of what happened in the Lisieux Carmel after the death of Therese.  Which of her counsels to these two novices can you adapt to suit your own formation in the life of the spirit and in community life?  

 To cultivate the spirit of gratitude so important to St. Therese, consider these two other resources: the TED talk "Want to be happy?  Be grateful," by Brother David Steindl-Rast (a 14:30 video accompanied by a transcript) and his marvelous book, "Gratefulness: The Heart of Prayer: A Guide to Life in Fullness."  He remarks that "it's not happy people who are grateful, but grateful people who are happy."

I rejoice to think of the gratitude St. Therese has inspired in me and in her countless other friends; every day she is, as St. Paul wrote, "increasing the amount of thanksgiving that God receives."

 Advance to 21:27 of the October 14, 2014 episode of EWTN's "Vaticano" to see four minutes of film of the Church of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Rome, where the black lace veil the fourteen-year-old Therese wore for her audience with the Pope on November 20, 1887 is on display.  The veil was made by her mother, Blessed Zelie Martin, who was a manufacturer of point d'Alencon lace.  This is followed by a filmed interview with the French Carmelite friar Fr. Francois-Marie Lethel, O.C.D., who was engaged in the ecclesial proceedings that led to St. Therese's being named a Doctor of the Church in 1997.  He reflects on the significance of her doctorate.  Fr. Lethel preached the Lenten retreat to Pope Benedict and his household in 2011, and this is a rare chance for the English-speaking world to hear his thoughts on St. Therese. 

Note that this church ceased to be a parish church in 2011, but many people still visit it out of devotion to St. Therese.  If you're in Rome and want to visit it, it is known as the "Church of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Panfilo," in the Princiano Quarter, and is located at Via Gaspare Spontini 17 in Rome.  See a map.  The church's Facebook page.  More information about the Church of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Rome.

Download the flyer

in Word

as a PDF

as a jpeg

Visit the Web site "Discalced Carmelites of Philadelphia."