Opening Prayer
Daily Meditation from The Story of a Soul:
Like the Prophets and Doctors, I would be a light unto souls, I would travel to every land to preach Thy name, O my Beloved, and raise on heathen soil the glorious standard of Thy Cross. One mission alone would not satisfy my longings. I would spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth, even to the most distant isles. I would be a Missionary, not for a few years only, but, were it possible, from the beginning of the world till the consummation of time. Above all, I thirst for the Martyr’s crown. It was the desire of my earliest days, and the desire has deepened with the years passed in the Carmel’s narrow cell. But this too is folly, since I do not sigh for one torment; I need them all to slake my thirst. Like Thee, O Adorable Spouse, I would be scourged, I would be crucified! I would be flayed like St. Bartholomew, plunged into boiling oil like St. John, or, like St. Ignatius of Antioch, ground by the teeth of wild beasts into a bread worthy of God. With St. Agnes and St. Cecilia I would offer my neck to the sword of the executioner, and like Joan of Arc I would murmur the name of Jesus at the stake.
Leonie’s Longing Prayer:
Saint Therese, your love could not be contained within the boundaries of one vocation: you longed to give everything to God. Teach us, too, to extend our love beyond any limitations we have set, and to seek new paths in the service of Christ all our days.
Concluding Prayer:
O God, who didst inflame with Thy spirit of love the soul of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, grant that we may also love Thee, and make Thee much loved. Amen.
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