August 29, 2013. 

The Pontifical Mission Societies announced today that the wooden writing-case (the “écritoire”) that belonged to St. Thérèse of Lisieux began a tour of the United States this week.  The tour is sponsored by the Pontifical Mission Societies in collaboration with the Carmel of Lisieux, which has generously lent the writing-case.

Father Andrew Small, OMI, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, traveled to Lisieux to pick up the writing-case, which has never before been outside the monastery.  The United States is blessed to be the first country to welcome this important possession of St. Thérèse.  Except for the manuscripts themselves, no souvenir of St. Thérèseis closer to her extraordinary memoirs, published in book form as Story of a Soul in 1898, than the écritoire. All three manuscripts of this great spiritual classic, which has transformed so many lives, were written on this little wooden writing-desk.
   

The tour opened on Wednesday, August 28, the anniversary of the death of St. Thérèse’s mother, Blessed Zélie Martin.  The first stop was Las Vegas, where several Catholic Hispanic organizations had been meeting.  The writing-case is scheduled to be venerated in about twenty dioceses between now and late October, when the tour is scheduled to end on the East Coast.

The first event of the tour was a prayer service at St. Joseph, Husband of Mary parish in Las Vegas.  During the prayer service, which began at 5:30 p.m., each person present was invited to write her or his name on a piece of paper and place it on the writing-case.  “This simple act is a way for pilgrims to unite their hearts with the heart of St. Thérèse and to place all their hopes and sorrows in heaven with her,” said Father Andrew.  “Returning the writing case to Lisieux, I will also carry with me the many names of those who have entrusted their cares and hopes to the intercession of St. Thérèse.”

See the current tour schedule, which is constantly being updated.

For more about the role of the écritoire in St. Thérèse’s life, please watch "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway."  You will learn when and where she used it; why she used this writing-case only after 1894; what happened to her first writing-case; and which of her writings she composed using this little writing-desk.  I will also write about the links between the Pontifical Mission Societies and St. Therese, both during her lifetime and after her death. For more about the mission tour, please watch www.OneFamilyinMission.org, where you can learn more about the Pontifical Mission Societies.

 by Maureen O’Riordan for “Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway”