“I know that true Charity consists in bearing out neighbor’s defects–not being surprised at their weakness, but edified at the smallest virtue.” 

St. Therese of Lisieux

She is the Little Flower, Doctor of the Church, St. Therese of Lisieux, known and loved the world around. St. Therese is a hero and model for our times and will continue to speak to all times to come. 

In her “Little Way” she teaches us the weight and merit of offering little, even minor and miniscule, sufferings as offering of great love. The practice of the Little Way seems so simple, yet it is a practice of incredible courage and faith. St. Therese gifted the world with her practice, showing us that even the smallest most humble of lives, if offered in love, is as beautiful and spiritually powerful as a great preacher or martyr or evangelist. 

“The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.”

St. Therese of Lisiuex

In everything she strove to be childlike and joyful, accepting every little pebble in her shoe and inconvenience out of love for her sisters and God for the salvation of souls. 

“Another time I was working in the laundry, and the Sister opposite, while washing handkerchiefs, repeatedly splashed me with dirty water. My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face, to show the offender I should be glad if she would behave more quietly; but the next minute I thought how foolish it was to refuse the treasures God offered me so generously, and I refrained from betraying my annoyance. On the contrary, I made such efforts to welcome the shower of dirty water, that at the end of half an hour I had taken quite a fancy to this novel kind of aspersion, and I resolved to come as often as I could to the happy spot where such treasures were freely bestowed.”

St. Therese of Lisiuex

St. Therese could turn this little annoyance into something joyful. I’d have sat and stewed about it, she jumped in and enjoyed it offering sacrifices all the while! I imagine her there as I see the smiles on my toddlers enjoying splashing in the muddy water of their water table outside. 

“When something disagreeable happens to me, instead of a melancholy look, I answer by a smile. At first it did not always succeed, but now it has become a habit which I am glad to have acquired.”

St. Therese of Lisiuex

St. Therese was and is a shining example of childlike trust in divine providence. She walked her Little Way with steady feet and hands open to receive whatever gifts and graces and opportunities for love met her along the way. In so doing she was saving souls without even leaving her convent. This childlikeness is what makes her such a model for us, and our children, in our times.

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The plan for the day, plus a few anecdotes:

Reading:

There are a myriad of book for children written on St. Therese of Liseux’s life and little way. 

A quick internet search will turn up dozens! We have the Catholic Children’s Treasure Box series, each of which contain a vignette of the life of St. Therese. I do also love Magnificat’s picture books and they have one titled Therese: The Little Flower of Lisieux by Sioux Berger. For my older kids we have Mary Fabyan Windeatt’s The Little Flower: The story of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. For high schoolers on up There’s always her autobiography Story of Soul. I return to that one every once in a while for a reminder and refresher on the practice of her Little Way.

Prayer:

Pray together this Morning Offering by St. Therese:

“O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love. O my God! I ask thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in Heaven for all Eternity. Amen.”

Activity

“When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens. I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.” –St.Therese

Years ago I overheard a conversation in church between two women, one of which was going through some difficult health issues. The woman was describing her devotion to St. Therese, and how the practice of making small sacrifices and asking for the intercession of St. Therese had given her so much peace. She said she even saw those roses, little consolations to her, in unexpected places. In one case it was an actual rose left on a park bench at a particular time of trial and prayer. The woman saw this as a rose showered from heaven, a gift and encouragement from St. Therese.

I wasn’t eavesdropping, I promise, they were chatting in the pew ahead of me as I prayed. But, that snippet of conversation sparked a little idea for me. That year on October 1st, we purchased a bouquet of roses, printed off the quote above on strips of paper and tied the quotes to the stems of the roses. Then we drove around and quietly dropped roses on doorsteps of friends and neighbors. The idea was to offer a little joy in honor of the St. Therese, a little reminder of her intercession and the nearness of God on our journeys.  It’s a small outward gesture, a small activity which makes connections in our children’s minds about offering gifts out of love (even physical ones!) and ties in a physical representation and reminder of the Little Flower.

In addition, make sacrifice beads and encourage your family to practice one of her small ways to bear trials and difficulties as practices of love for the salvation of souls. Smile at inconveniences, offer them up, and pull a bead for every trial encountered with surrender and joy.

One day a while ago my children were inspired to collectively make sacrifices and track them on their sacrifice beads. It was Advent at the time, we had our star chest out for giving gifts to Jesus and a friend had recently gifted us all a string of sacrifice beads. The children went around offering so many little sacrifices for each other, with such cheerful chatter and energy that they emptied our store of stars before the morning was out. Not wanting to quench this enthusiasm we took an impromptu trip to the craft store to get more stars, all the while they pulled those beads on their cords and racked up so many sacrifices while out that I had to purchase double what I had intended to. They were all small things: putting someone’s things away, giving up the “better” seat in the car, pushing the cart at the store for me, getting dressed cheerfully. It made for quite a day, and, I believe, was working spiritual graces as well as creating an atmosphere of joy in our home and family.

Treat:

Riffing of the theme of roses, I’m planning on purchasing one of my kids’ favorite chocolate treats: Cadbury’s Roses. There’s a British import store nearby that carries them. It’s going to be a fun surprise for them!

In addition, or alternatively, any favorite French treat will suit the day: Tarte aux Normandes (apple tarte), I’ve even seen them done with beautiful apple roses! If the blackberry pie from the Archangels weren’t still so fresh in my memory, I might attempt it! Croissants, crepes, chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) if it’s cool enough where you live (I’m in balmy southeast Texas, so…).

We’ll also enjoy a French inspired dinner with Tarragon Chicken and haricots verts (green beans).

How will you celebrate the Little Flower this year? Do share your celebration as we all call on the intercession of the small but powerful St. Therese!