Novena to Saint Therese: Fifth Day

Saint Therese, Doctor of the Church, whose writings gave renewed strength and sense of purpose to your sister Leonie in her vocation, we ask you to pray that all who have left the religious life may find the work that God has prepared for them, and receive from Him the graces to live their vocations fully.

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.

Novena to Saint Therese: Fourth Day

Saint Therese, we ask your intercession for those who struggle to pray after leaving the religious life. Through your help, may they come to know the presence of Christ in everyday life.

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.

Novena to Saint Therese: Third Day

Saint Therese, we ask your intercession for those who have many years of work ahead, building Christ’s Kingdom in the world: with the help of your prayers, may the love of God be proclaimed without fear through the lives of His faithful.

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.

Novena to Saint Therese: Second Day

Saint Therese, we ask your prayers for women who have left the religious life: that, like your sister Leonie, they may come through their grief to the fullness of joy in Christ.

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.

Novena to Saint Therese: First Day

Leonie’s Longing Prayer: Saint Therese, you knew what it was to suffer doubt and anxiety over your vocation. We ask your intercession for all those who are seeking their true calling after leaving the religious life, that they may find and know God’s will.

Closing 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.

August 15th: Solemnity of the Assumption

Many have painted her. But there was one

Who drew his radiant colours from the sun.
Mysteriously glowing through a background dim
When he was suffering she came to him,
And all the heavy pain within his heart
Rose in his hands and stole into his art.
His canvas is the beautiful bright veil
Through which her sorrow shines. There where the
Texture o’er her sad lips is closely drawn
A trembling smile softly begins to dawn …
Though angels with seven candles light the place
You cannot read the secret of her face.

From The Book of a Monk’s Life by Rainer Maria Rilke.