As a Carmelite friar, or a member of the Carmelite order to which St. Thérèse of Lisieux belonged, many times over the last several years a young person has said to me: “St Thérèse is stalking me.” I have to admit, I appreciate their candor, but I want to also say, “This is the greatest thing ever, don’t take it for granted!” It really is incredible how St. Thérèse, one of our incredible Carmelite saints, seems to show up in people’s lives. She prophesied this. Shortly before her death in 1897, one of her sisters asked: “You will look down on us from Heaven, won’t you?” And Thérèse replied, “No, I will come down!” Looking at the experience of guidance and friendship from St. Thérèse in the lives of many people, we can truly say that she really does “come down” to us. Today we’ll explore four ways that we have seen this happen again and again.
4 Ways St. Thérèse Befriends People Here on Earth
Through Stumbling Upon Her Story
One of the most consistent ways that St. Thérèse seems to befriend people here on earth is through her spiritual autobiography, the Story of a Soul. Although St. Thérèse was a 19th century young woman without any advanced education, her spiritual writings in this simple book have made it one of the most beloved Catholic texts in our great tradition. So often Thérèse befriends people through this text. One French Carmelite I know (yes, he could be called a “French Friar”!) told me how when he was in college he went to a public library looking for a book of poetry while trying to write a poem for his girlfriend. He pulled out a random tome and it happened to be the works of St. Thérèse, a person he had never heard of. Flipping through the pages he stumbled upon her poem called “Living on Love” which moved him so much that he broke down crying. “This is everything!” he thought. His poor girlfriend never got her poem, rather, he became a Carmelite! Similarly, a friend of mine who is a mother of six children told me how she stumbled upon a little story book about Thérèse when she was a child. It impressed her so much that she asked: “St. Thérèse, please be my friend.” This started a spiritual adventure that has led her to become a strong Catholic wife, mom, and youth minister.
If you’d like to read (or re-read!) the Story of a Soul, I invite you to join me on Ascension’s Catholic Classics podcast starting October 1, St. Thérèse’s feast day! We’ll be reading and reflecting together through the entire text!
Through Roses
When St. Thérèse tried to articulate what her mission would be after her death, she said, “It will be like a shower of roses.” Indeed, so many favors and miracles have been granted that we can see she was speaking prophetically. Someone recently told me about doing a novena to St. Thérèse and how they got their answer through a waitress with a rose tattooed on her neck. A woman shared with me how she received certitude to continue in her relationship because her boyfriend gave her the blue rose she specifically asked St. Thérèse for. The rose symbol is powerful.
The mother of six I mentioned above told me her life has been continually guided by roses from St. Thérèse. Big milestones like which college to attend, the choice to get married, the labor and delivery of each new child, have all been accompanied by concrete signs of Thérèse’s guidance and friendship.
I have to admit I never get roses, I just get St. Thérèse herself. When I was making a vocation visit and agonizing about whether or not to go to seminary, I asked Thérèse to show me the way. The first thing I noticed as I was brought to my assigned room was her photo right above my bed. A similar thing has happened many times through the years.
Help with Difficulties
I recently read the true story of an Egyptian woman who got fired from her government job for being a Christian. Her small salary was the whole livelihood of her family and she fell into a deep anguish. After the meeting with her boss, she went immediately to the shrine of St. Thérèse in Cairo asking her help. The next day the woman’s boss called her back in. He was irritated and asked: “Why did you send a nun here to upbraid me and convince me to keep you on, that was a breach of confidence!” The woman was dumbfounded, “I didn’t tell anybody,” she replied. Then she had an idea and showed him a little photo of St. Thérèse. Her Muslim boss said: “Yes that was the woman, well, no matter, you can have your job back”.
Desire for Union with God
In Story of a Soul, St. Thérèse says to Jesus: “The soul who plunges into the shoreless ocean of Your Love draws with her all the souls it has pleased You to unite to hers.” St. Thérèse’s friendship makes us desire to take the plunge with her into union with Christ’s love. This is perhaps the greatest way she shows up in our life.
In short, ask St. Thérèse to be a friend and a guide for you. She will take you by the hand and lead you to union with God on her Little Way of Confidence and Love. She won’t just look down upon you with favor from heaven, she will “come down” herself to show you the way!
