Photo credit: Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States

At least 500 people venerated the writing-desk of St. Therese after the 5:15 p.m. Mass in the crypt of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. on October 3, 2013.

• Read the Catholic News Service Story.

• See the photo album of the Pontifical Mission Societies from the evening event.

• See a short story and photo album of the veneration of the writing-desk at the Children's International Eucharistic Holy Hour at the Basilica on Friday, October 4.

Tomorrow the desk returns to the Discalced Carmelite nuns, Therese's own order, at their monastery in St. Louis.

 Photo credit: William Hoffmann.

Click on the image to read Frequently Asked Questions about the writing-desk and about St. Therese's writing, including:

• What did Therese sometimes keep in her writing-desk that her novice mistress was not supposed to see?
• Why did Therese once spit into her inkwell?
• Whose photograph did Therese keep hidden in her writing-desk?

Photo credit: William Hoffmann

Click on the image to learn when  Therese got her first writing-desk, why she stopped using it, to whom she gave it, where she found a replacement, and much more.  See the last lines she ever wrote with the writing-desk that is on tour. 

"Saint Therese of Lisieux:
Running Like A Giant."

In this unique 35-minute documentary, Fabrice Maze recounts the 24 years of the earthly life and the extraordinary posthumous life of St. Therese of Lisieux.  We share in the footsteps of her family, the places of her childhood and adolescence, as well as in the daily milestones of her religious life.  Produced by the Shrine at Lisieux, Office Central de Lisieux, and Seven Doc, this documentary was actually filmed in Therese's two family homes, her parish church, and her Carmel, with photographs from that time.  The scenes of Therese's life are filmed in the rooms where they happened, with the very artefacts from that time.

"Saint Therese of Lisieux: Running Like a Giant" is a superb introduction to St. Therese and a splendid resource for individuals and groups. The film is a wonderful background for reading Therese's memoir, Story of a Soul. 

The same DVD also contains a second film, The Basilica of Saint Therese of Lisieux, in which we discover the biggest religious building constructed in France in the 20th century, a symbol of the worldwide radiance of Therese.  Bonus videos about the making of both films.

You may order this film online from Seven Doc, a company in France which produces splendid documentaries about spirituality and other topics.  An international film, this DVD is universal ("all regions"), and, when you play it, you can choose English or French audio.  In the version with French audio, you may select subtitles in German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese. I recommend it highly.

 For more information or to order, click on the image above or click here.  See the two-minute trailer.

The diocese of Orange, California has announced that the writing-desk on which St. Therese of Lisieux wrote Story of a Soul will be present at the eighth annual Orange County Prayer Breakfast on September 18 at Christ Cathedral, where more than a thousand people are expected.  The morning will include a procession and veneration of the writing-desk, which St. Therese used to write the manuscripts that, published in book form, have touched so many souls. The writing-desk will be in the diocese of Orange as part of a national tour sponsored by the Pontifical Mission Societies of the United States.

"We are blessed to have the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux present at this year’s celebration. The life of St. Thérèse offers a lesson for each of us, baptized into the continuing mission of Jesus,” said Bishop Vann. 

I hope very much that all the people who come to pray in the presence of the writing-desk will also read or re-read the memoir that made the desk famous:

In a sense, Therese comes to us on pilgrimage with this artefact.  She, who said "I really count on not remaining inactive in heaven; my desire is to work still for the Church and for souls," does not wait for us to come to France. Instead, through the grace of God, her spirit is poured out on the prayerful gatherings where the little, old writing-case she used is venerated.  Her pilgrimage will be complete only when her writings accompany the pilgrims home, and, as we read her story, she can write to each of us the words she wrote to her sister at the beginning of her first manuscript: "It is to you that I come to confide the story of my soul. . . . I shall begin to sing what I must sing eternally: the Mercies of the Lord!"

If you cannot come to see the writing-desk (see the tour schedule), please read Story of a Soul, the book hat made it famous.  If you plan to come to see it, read the book or Therese's other writings before you come.  Or, if you pray in the presence of the desk before you've read Therese's writings, read them afterward.  She has enabled countless people to read their own lives in the light of her story and to see how God's mercy overwhelms us, as it did her.