ST. THERESE of LISIEUX and the statue that smiled!
What is not so easily understood when looking at the life of many saints, is their longing for mystical union, as it was with Therese and her "Jesus." The spirituality that perhaps only the very simple can live, or theologians can explain. But it is spirituality with a communion of deep love for God, and neighbor.
Therese had a great love for humanity. She wanted to be a priest, a natural fulfullment to such love as the heart of a priest belongs to everyone, yet no one, as I once heard a priest explain the vocation of priesthood. Yet for a young girl, who due to her determination finally did enter the Carmel at fifteen, and for a woman who lived in the 1800's, the desire for priesthood was an extraordinary statement. And it appears from her writings that if she had lived she fully expected to be a missionary priest. She also declared that she wanted to be a great saint, which put off more than one confessor and her superiors in Carmel. However, they did not see that Therese wanted to be great for God, not for herself. In that sense it was natural for her to declare her desires.
In the Carmel she taught the novices her "little" way, a hidden path of obedience, and small sacrifices made with patience, great things, not big things, done for God. She fell ill, praying for priests and their mission, and missionaries of the world. Perhaps it was these prayers that eventually carried her mission of love around the world in a way she could never imagine. Therese died in the Carmel at the age of twenty-four on September 30, 1897.
God gives gifts to His chosen ones or those who seek Him or their personal Jesus, or light of love. His answers to prayer are not set within the boundaries of earthly time and Therese's life is proof of it. Can you wait for the promise of what is yours, as Therese is now showering her roses from heaven to those who seek her intercession?
Saint Therese, if you ask her, will take an interest in your life. Not only to intercede for you to God, to one day go to heaven, but she is concerned about your earthly problems as well. The saints walked this earth, struggling with human concerns such as sickness, misunderstanding, alienation, and the daily struggles of getting along with others
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