Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
James Martin, S.J.September 30, 2008

Today (Oct 1) is the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, popularly known as the "Little Flower."  Though her spirituality is derided by some contemporary Catholics for being saccharine and sentimental, her "little way" of doing small things with great love holds enormous appeal to millions of believers, who find in Therese  a companionable presence.  She is arguably the most popular of all modern-day saints, beloved by people as diverse as Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day (who penned a moving book about her), Pope John Paul I (who called her a "steel bar," for her resolve) and John Paul II.  Here is my favorite of passage from her autobiography, "The Story of a Soul."  Using the image of the garden, she reminds us that all of us are loved by God in our marvelous particularity. 

"Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery.  He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy.  I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers.  And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus’ garden.  He willed to create great souls comparable to lilies and roses, but He has created smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God’s glances when He looks down at His feet.  Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be."

Happy feast day to all our Carmelite sisters and brothers, and to all those who walk the "little way" to God.

James Martin, SJ

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
15 years 6 months ago
Recently I heard a Discalced Carmelite friar give a talk. He talked about power. He talked about weakness and vulnerability. This Carmelite explained that when we are vulnerable, we are more willing to ask God for help. He counseled that little by little our weakness teaches us that our interior journey with God is one of intimacy, tenderness, delicacy and giving. These are the things Jesus taught. He taught that power hardens. It is the kind of power that thinks it is superior to others or takes advantage of others because they are simple or poor or men or women or children or sick or old or alien or whatever. Little Flower pray for us. http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=146
15 years 6 months ago
Thank you Fr. Martin for posting this, also for your book "My Life with the Saints." It is such a treasure. I attended a delightful and insightful talk on contemplative prayer according to "The Cloud of Unknowing" by Father William Meninger, a Trappist monk. On this talk he elaborates St. Therese of Lisieux's thought of prayer. I would like to share this beautiful passage: "For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy; in a word, something noble, supernatural, which enlarges my soul and unites it to God. Little Flower pray for us, as we grow side by side in the world of souls, Jesus' garden. Peace from Chicago.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024