Today was a big day in our house. The Church honors St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, and we celebrated her today for all that she has done in our family as our patroness.
My devotion to St. Therese began in college before my first mission trip as we begged her intercession as the patroness of foreign missions. She had recently been declared a Doctor of the Church for her Little Way. Somehow, this sweet unassuming saint made her way into my heart, and she has constantly and consistently lead me to the feet of Jesus.
Phil proposed to me on December 11, 1999, the night Therese's relics were in Lafayette. What a treasure! He proposed to me in front of the Tabernacle in the Cathedral where we would be married, and then we joined lots of friends over at the Carmelite Monastery to venerate her relics. What I remember most about her relics were the roses that surrounded them! They were everywhere. I'm sure I still have the rose I got that night tucked somewhere around here.
When we'd been married for a little over a year, I prayed my first novena to Therese, asking her intercession before the mighty throne of God. I wanted a baby. I'd been told by my wonderful doctor that, on my own, I had a 1% chance of conceiving naturally. He also told me to keep praying. I began my novena on September 23rd so that it would end on St. Therese's feast day. Nine months later, on June 23, 2002, we welcomed Jacob Edward to our family.
The Little Flower kept right on interceding for me apparently, because one week shy of Jacob's first birthday, I was expecting another baby. On October 1st, 2003, again on her feast day, we saw a sweet, acrobatic baby girl on the ultrasound monitor. We went back and forth for months on what her first name would be, but there was no question that her middle name would be Therese. And this ball of fire, Mary-Grace Therese, wears her name well. St. Therese has whispered into her heart and taught this stubborn, defiant, strong-willed child of mine to stay close to Jesus.
Along came Ava Catherine, born on September 19, 2006. When we were looking at baptism dates, the only date that fit both our calendar and the church's was October 1st. Go figure. Once again, this sweet saint would be a part of my children's lives. And I just learned yesterday that this baby's godparents attribute their courtship to Therese's intercession.
So today, we feasted! I woke Mary-Grace up shortly before 6am, and she and I went to Mass early...just us. This was a precious, precious moment that I hope to make into a tradition for the two of us. We came home to a decorated table and made French toast since Therese is from France. We read a beautiful book called God's Little Flower that I bought a couple of days ago. I think it captures her spirit wonderfully, and Jacob especially was most intrigued.
The kids and I prayed our last day of the novena, and prayed for all of the children we know who are named after her: Liliana Therese, Malia Therese, Emily Therese, Mia Therese, Angelle Therese, Madeleine Therese, Ashley Therese, and for the many we couldn't recall.
We spent the afternoon making spoon saints for all of our friends that we'd invited over for the evening. We learned that eclairs were Therese's favorite dessert, so we made our own out of ladyfingers, redi whip and chocolate icing. They were yummy and fun to make. I also made a cake in the shape of a daisy (St. Therese is quoted as saying, "In the world of souls, the living garden of the Lord, it pleases Him to create great Saints, who may be compared to the lilies or the rose; but He also created little ones, who must be content to be daisies or violets."), and we adorned it with fresh roses. Lastly, there was rosy punch.
We'd invited the girls godparents and their children over for dessert in their pjs to honor our family patroness. One of their girls is also named after St. Therese. Jacob's godmother couldn't come because of a meeting, but she'll come tomorrow night to celebrate with us. She, too, has a huge devotion to the Little Flower. Everyone went home with a vanilla rose lollipop!
As she was dying of tuberculosis at age 24, St. Therese said, "After my death, I shall let fall a shower of roses... I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth." And so she has. On the 7th day of my novena this year, a dear friend living in Paris called me to tell me that she'd gone to Lisieux on Sunday on her way home from a business trip, and that she'd prayed for us there. There it was...my shower of roses.
