Submit your intentions for the Little Flower Novena
Dear friends in Carmel,
This year we, along with our entire Order, are rejoicing over the 150th anniversary of St. Thérèse’s birth. It is a blessing and a happy occasion which we are celebrating in our Discalced Carmelite communities in the whole Order, in our Semi-Province, and in the entire Catholic Church. This joyful celebration is an opportunity to thank our Heavenly Father for the gift of St. Thérèse’s life. Her example of holiness and the way she lived her Carmelite vocation is an inspiration to all Carmelites and to all who want to follow Christ in a humble and simple yet profound way.
After years of searching, young Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face discovered the path that would transform her life. The Little Flower had the grace to find and live the Mercy and Love of God the Father. Through her example and writings, the Little Flower teaches us that the Christian life is nothing other than the relationship of a little child with the father. St. Thérèse’s writings have helped many people discover the way to holiness. She, who did not have a spiritual director, with her Story of a Soul became the spiritual guide of many people who read or heard about her, helping them to walk in their spiritual way.
St. Thérèse read spiritual books that gave her the nourishment she needed in her life in Carmel. For example, when she read our Holy Father, St. John of the Cross’, writings, she said, “Ah! How many lights have I not drawn from the Works of our holy Father, St. John of the Cross!” (Story of a Soul, chapter VIII). Like our Little Flower who nourished her soul with spiritual writing, let us nurture our soul with her spiritual teachings. Her spiritual doctrine is still important and valid in our present time because, like in her time, we still need to follow a path of trust, love, and abandonment in Christ.
The young Carmelite nun Thérèse speaks about modernity in her time like the elevator:
"I would also like to find an elevator to rise up to Jesus, because I am too weak to climb the hard ladder of perfection."
(Story of a Soul, chapter X).
She discovered that the elevator that will take her up to heaven is the arms of Jesus. Let us get into the elevator of Jesus’s arms. Let us abandon ourselves into the loving and merciful love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who loves us infinitely. In our Lord’s free and merciful love, we will find our true happiness because we know that true happiness is not in having everything material, but in having a child’s heart, spirit, and behavior which allows us to feel that we are going the way God our Father has indicated to us. Remember that God our Father wants the happiness of all his children. Let us dedicate ourselves to live the will of God in our life as Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face dedicated her life to God in a cloistered convent.
As we pray the Novena to St. Thérèse this jubilee year, let us pray with her and at the same time, let us nourish our souls with her teachings. Let us not forget to pray for others, helping them like our Little Flower helps us with her prayers. Be sure that your prayers will bring blessings to others. With our prayers we hope in our Lord that He will bring you the care, consolation, and closeness with the merciful love of God our Father.
Together with St. Thérèse let us sing the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Very. Rev. Luis Joaquin Castañeda, OCD
Provincial