The Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
is today. There is information on her here. Prayers for all the Carmelites out there would be great, and prayers for my friend Sr. Claire Benedicta of the Cross, O.C.D., would be especially welcome. Happy feast day to Flos Carmeli, Kathy the Carmelite, and any other Carmelite bloggers I may have missed !
If any readers are in the Pittsburgh area, the local Latin Mass Community over at St. Boniface is having a Triduum of Solemn High Masses in honor of St. Therese, whose feast is October 3 on the Tridentine calendar. I mention it because the Oratory's organist/choir director is in charge of the music, and my choir will be singing at the Mass on Friday evening at 7 pm.
A quote for the feast:
"Once when shown a photograph of herself Teresa had said with a smile, 'Yes, that's the envelope. When will anyone see the letter inside? I should like to see that letter.'
Now at last she knew. That letter, inspired, worked over, and finished off by her Lord, was before Almighty God, and it seems that it was his will that its message should be at once spread throughout the face of the earth; the young warrior, victor over herself, was given the whole world in which to enlarge her conquests. From her brown scapular as from an apron she scattered roses like rain-not roses of paper or plaster or china or marble, but living ones, white or blood-red, roses of suffering and sacrifice and innocence (any self-respecting artist would hesitate at representing them); and in her hand she bore a banner with two devices, the smiling face of the Child and the agonized face of the Crucified. She did not call for a mawkish veneration, she did not put forward a soft and feeble example: everything was strong; she was of the stock of Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc, and her 'little way' was an heroic way-nothing less than plenary love of God and total surrender to him down to the least thoughts and actions; to become as a little child is to put oneself through the mill.
Imitation flowers and sham simplicity, products of an emotionalism that becomes sheer sentimentality, ought to be stripped from the devotion accorded to one from whom God withheld sensible consolation for almost the whole of her life. The figure of the 'shower of roses' has served its turn, and served it well in winning over the many who have a taste for the romantical and pretty. But these 'roses' are in fact graces, and grace is not carried easily: for complete fruition it requires a martyrdom of the soul. "-
From The Secret of the Little Flower by Henri Ghéon
is today. There is information on her here. Prayers for all the Carmelites out there would be great, and prayers for my friend Sr. Claire Benedicta of the Cross, O.C.D., would be especially welcome. Happy feast day to Flos Carmeli, Kathy the Carmelite, and any other Carmelite bloggers I may have missed !
If any readers are in the Pittsburgh area, the local Latin Mass Community over at St. Boniface is having a Triduum of Solemn High Masses in honor of St. Therese, whose feast is October 3 on the Tridentine calendar. I mention it because the Oratory's organist/choir director is in charge of the music, and my choir will be singing at the Mass on Friday evening at 7 pm.
A quote for the feast:
"Once when shown a photograph of herself Teresa had said with a smile, 'Yes, that's the envelope. When will anyone see the letter inside? I should like to see that letter.'
Now at last she knew. That letter, inspired, worked over, and finished off by her Lord, was before Almighty God, and it seems that it was his will that its message should be at once spread throughout the face of the earth; the young warrior, victor over herself, was given the whole world in which to enlarge her conquests. From her brown scapular as from an apron she scattered roses like rain-not roses of paper or plaster or china or marble, but living ones, white or blood-red, roses of suffering and sacrifice and innocence (any self-respecting artist would hesitate at representing them); and in her hand she bore a banner with two devices, the smiling face of the Child and the agonized face of the Crucified. She did not call for a mawkish veneration, she did not put forward a soft and feeble example: everything was strong; she was of the stock of Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc, and her 'little way' was an heroic way-nothing less than plenary love of God and total surrender to him down to the least thoughts and actions; to become as a little child is to put oneself through the mill.
Imitation flowers and sham simplicity, products of an emotionalism that becomes sheer sentimentality, ought to be stripped from the devotion accorded to one from whom God withheld sensible consolation for almost the whole of her life. The figure of the 'shower of roses' has served its turn, and served it well in winning over the many who have a taste for the romantical and pretty. But these 'roses' are in fact graces, and grace is not carried easily: for complete fruition it requires a martyrdom of the soul. "-
From The Secret of the Little Flower by Henri Ghéon
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home