“Therese, Faustina and Bernadette: Three Saints Who Challenged My Faith, Gave Me Hope, and Taught Me How to Love” ties beautifully together the theological virtues (faith, hope, and love) and shows us how they are particularly lived out in the lives of three of the most beloved saints of our modern era.  Author Elizabeth Ficocelli shares her personal relationship with these beautiful saints and how they helped her to grow in her understanding and trust in Christ.  More than just a biography of each saint, this work is a road map for the spiritual life based on the lives of women who are joyfully showing us the way.

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you can find the book here

“With openness and candor, Elizabeth Ficocelli reveals her personal experiences of living the challenges of her Catholic faith. Her peace and joy come in meeting these challenges by embracing the cross though the grace of prayer and the sacraments, as well as following the example of newfound friends, her favorite saints. This book will help anyone who also experiences challenges in life through the assistance of some wonderful friends!”–Mother Mary Assumpta Long, Prioress General, Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

“Tender, honest, introspective, and deeply personal, this book provides beautiful witness to the loveliness and wonder of the feminine genius! Elizabeth Ficocelli, writing from the insightful perspective of a convert to Catholicism who seeks to understand and unpack the mysteries of her own spiritual journey, reminds us in this gem of a book that we should all seek to acquire friendship with the saints and grow in the theological virtues. I highly recommend this book!”–Rev. Donald Calloway, M.I.C., Author of Under the Mantle

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(Vatican Radio) Have you ever read anything Saint Thérèse of Lisieux wrote? If you have or even if you haven’t be sure to listen to this programme focusing on the writings of this Doctor of the Church to mark the day the Church remembers her on October 1st.

Saint Thérèse was a Carmelite nun who died of tubercolosis in 1897 at the age of 24. Pope Pius XI who canonised her declared that the life she lived in Carmel did not go beyond the common order of things. However she sublimated that life to such an extent that she was proposed by four popes in succession as an example to follow.

She left us her autobiography, by the title: ” The Story of a Soul” . It became a best seller and is considered one of the greatest books of spirituality ever written.

In this programme written and presented by Jill Bevilacqua and produced by Sean Patrick Lovett we bring you a selection of readings from this book.

For a PDF download from Discerning Hearts of  St. Therese’s “The Story of a Soul“…click here

[powerpress] Msgr. Esseff reflects on the life and prayer of St. Therese, the Little Flower.  He speaks of her simplicity of heart and great humility in her “little way”.  He shares his experience of his own mother’s prayer and that of Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who both loved and prayed with the “Little Flower”.   The key is her “hiddeness”  and the beauty of a child.  She has a special message for woman the world over, especially for our culture in the United States.

He would encourage all of us to ask in petition you may have need of, an educational issue, a job decision, a health issue, whatever it might be, turn to  St. Therese in prayer, especially today and tomorrow (the feast of the Guardian Angels).  He shares the story of his cousin Jimmy, his accident and a stranger who came to his aid, and why the angels and the saints and the power of prayer have such an influence on our lives.

“For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”  – St. Therese of of Lisieux

Sometimes words are not full enough to describe someone.
Therese  is a melody.
A melody of grace lofting lyrically around our hearts in prayer;
a sound which invokes joy and sorrow, smiles and tears,
trust, hope and…love.
I’m not a musician, but I know a beautiful song when I hear it.
Her melody is one you wish never would end,
with Therese, “you hear the song”.

 

[powerpress]Bruce and I had a chance to speak with Brother Joseph Schmidt about St. Therese. He wrote about her in “Everything is Grace”.

This is  my VERY favorite book about St. Therese…it’s wonderful

MY ONLY OCCUPATION IS LOVE

“I do not desire either suffering or death, although both are appealing to me;
it is love alone which really attracts me…
I can ask for nothing with any enthusiasm
except the perfect accomplishment of the Divine Will in my soul,
unhindered by any intrusion of created things.
I can say, with the words of our father, St. John of the Cross,
in his Spiritual Canticle,
‘I drank in the inner cellar of my Beloved, and when I went forth into the meadow
I forgot everything and lost the flock which I used to drive.
My soul has employed all its resources in His service;
now I guard no flock, nor do I have any other duties.
Now my only occupation is love.’
Or again: ‘I know love is so powerful that it can turn
whatever is good or bad in me into profit,
and it can transform my soul into Himself.”
~ St. Thérèse

A MORNING PRAYER WRITTEN BY ST. THERESE

O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love.

O my God! I ask of Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all Eternity.

Amen.

PRAYER TO ST. THERESE

 

O little St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, who during your short life on earth became a mirror of angelic purity, of love strong as death, and of wholehearted abandonment to God, now that you rejoice in the reward of your virtues, cast a glance of pity on me as I leave all things in your hands. Make my troubles your own – speak a word for me to our Lady Immaculate, whose flower of special love you were – to that Queen of heaven “who smiled on you at the dawn of life.” Beg her as the Queen of the heart of Jesus to obtain for me by her powerful intercession, the grace I yearn for so ardently at this moment, and that she join with it a blessing that may strengthen me during life. Defend me at the hour of death, and lead me straight on to a happy eternity.

Amen