St Therese, 1873-1897. Doctor of Confidence and Missionaries, Feast Oct 1st

For a beautiful picture of Therese, click below,

http://www.helpfellowship.org/St.%20Therese%20of%20Lisieux.htm

Do you have problems trusting others? If you do not, you are rare. Most of us have been lied to, cheated and promised things we never received. Many of us have been mentally, emotionally or physically abused to various degrees. Our heartaches, pain and conflicts come from foe and friends alike. Institutions, government, society and our culture have afflicted on us hurts and injury. Some of our deepest feelings and emotions have come from our dearest love ones. Is it any wonder we fail to trust others?

Paranoia, suspicions and disbelief pervade our world. We have been taken advantaged of more than we care to admit. It is extremely difficult to trust and have confidence in someone who has failed us. We are caught up in a web of anxiety in wanting to trust and reluctant to do so because of previous torments. We do not like to get emotionally involved because we do not want to be abused, taken advantaged of or hurt.

Unfortunately, we sometimes carry our sentiments that we have toward creatures to our Creator. It is often harder to trust, surrender and have confidence in God who is invisible than creatures who we can see. We have been misled and it is not easy to exercise confidence and trust in God when we have been betrayed and exploited by God's creatures. Our confidence toward God is often based on how we are treated by others.

God created and continues to create all creatures. We may not believe or acknowledge that God abides in mean and evil people. However, God is present and lives in all life. God has given us the breath of life and his Spirit animates our bodies and souls. We are made to turn to the Creator.

When we do not turn to God in childlike confidence, we know that something is incomplete, missing, or not exactly right. Life is about growing and learning. In order to survive, be satisfied and be at our best, human nature needs to trust and draw from God's grace. We will always be unsatisfied until we acknowledge our need for a higher power beyond our own. Peace of mind and heart comes from trust and confidence in God.

Confidence in God is a virtue that the Supreme Being bestows when we trust, hope and love with a sincere and pure heart. Our Father wants all creatures to daily trust in the Almighty's power exclusively. We get ample opportunities to trust because we are human and have our share of anxieties, temptations and worries. Our health, jobs, families and communities challenge us daily. Life for many is a struggle. We can sometimes be overwhelmed with problems from our disordered nature and the circumstances of our life. The greater the difficulties that each of us face, the greater are the gifts that God affords us, if we call upon God with confidence and trust.

It all starts within us. Confidence emphasizes faith in oneself and one's power but it does not usually imply conceit. Trust is an assured reliance on the character, strength or truth of someone or something. Trust is similar to hope, but not exactly. Hope is more pure, trusting and pleasing to God because it depends and relies exclusively on God. Hope is a theological virtue that is most pleasing to God and actually captures God. Hope is so valuable in life both in this life and the next life that one can not truly be alive without hope. The reason we know this fact categorically is that those who enter Hell abandon all hope. Hell is infinte horror because there is no hope. It is a living death. It is through hope that we obtain life everlasting.

Confidence and trust in God come from a loving family, wonderful parents and an environment that afford protection and security. Even with these gifts there is no guarantee that we are going to be able to grow and maintain confidence in God. Unless our minds and hearts are nourished on something beyond and bigger than we are, we will be dissatisfied. The Church as an institution can inspires trust. However, we really have to work at it. It's never easy. Scandals abound. We must believe and pray daily. Seize it! It's yours!

Most of us need to have a goal, intention, purpose or mission in life to keep us focused and motivated toward our aims in life. When God is included in our plans, our confidences, trust and especially our hope takes on enormous strengths. The bigger and purer our desires to please God, the more confidence we need. Then we will be assured of receiving from God, who never disappoints or is outdone in generosity. Hope is relying on God's infinite goodness, promises and extravagant kindnesses. We hope to obtain pardon of all our sins. We hope God's grace will give us eternal life now and after we pass.

Therese Martin had powerful desires to please God. Both, her hope and confidence, soared as she practiced virtue and prayer. That is what prayer does best. It obtains tremendous confidence in God.

Therese wanted to serve God and others in religion. She wanted also to give God everything daily. She longed to do more. She wanted to serve others exceedingly because she possessed charity which is God's burning and consuming life. She wanted and desired more than she was capable of giving. However, she reconciled to herself how she would accomplish all that she wanted to do. She justified it by reflecting that God never gives one a desire that he is not able to satisfy. She realized her mission in life was to pray for the church intensely and offer everything up for that intention. She reflected that each member of the church had a specific role and duty.

Missionaries have traditionally been as the legs and arms of the church in third world countries. Many missionaries in foreign lands today desperately need safe, fast and reliable transportation to carry God's message to those unfamiliar with the gospel. Therese knew that many are in dire need continually. She really longed to be a missionary. She burned with a desire to bring the "Good News" to others in foreign lands that did not know the Messiah. She wanted others to know Jesus because she experienced God's goodness greatly. She wanted to share Jesus. Her simple faith and confidence trusted that God would allow her to be a missionary 'in spirit'. We know today that Therese was not to be disappointed with her trust. The church proclaims her as the Patroness of Missionaries today.

We too can assume that same attitude of help toward missionaries by providing our time, talent and money. Missionaries are desperately in need of our help. By helping them within the gifts that God has given us, whether by our sacrifices or in the form of money, prayers, action or attitude, physical or spiritually, we share in their work. Our generous gifts by individuals, groups, foundations and corporation contribute significantly to the goals and missions of each and every missionary. These contributors know that in meeting transportation needs, they are also meeting critical human needs in the developing world: delivering food, fuel, medicine; evacuating the sick and dying; carrying crops, tools and construction materials; transporting students, volunteers and pastoral teams; visiting remote villages to baptize, forgive, marry and bury.

God infused into Therese the gifts of the Spirit. She received God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding in abundance. Therese believed that since God is total Spirit and all powerful, the Almighty would grant her this request because of her extraordinary confidence. From her Discalced Carmelite, contemplative convent in France, where she had joined at age fifteen, she heard about the missions all over the world. She read the stories. She remembered the names. She would pray for Father Venard, a missionary, and others that she heard and read.

St Theophane Venard who was a priest of the Paris Foreign Mission Society, (and the favorite missionary of St Therese because he was so ordinary) was canonized with 117 Vietnamese by the Pope in 1988. Many people have read her book and their whole life changed dramatically but, sometimes, ever so slowly. It can do the same for you. In fact, before St Therese was proclaimed a doctor, I started this website, knowing from others that she was to become a doctor and I wanted to write about her.

Our saint dreamt and lived the missionary spirit by making sacrifices and offering up everything, especially the difficulties she experienced. She would offer her own sacrifices with those of Jesus to God the Father. She would be a priest, which she longed for, in her own inimitable style and manner. She would be a secret and hidden priest. The church had given her to Jesus and she was going to give Jesus back to the church in her own special 'little way'. God's charity inflamed her and she even sought out hardships in the hope that her sacrifices might please God more if that were possible.

Missionaries, evangelizers, and those who are called by God, share in a special mission or calling. This can happen inside or outside of an organized religious organization. They do not have to go to a foreign country.

One might petition God to enkindle in you the same ardor as Therese had. Remember it is a gift to want to do this. She offered her life to God for priests, missionaries and those who were sharing God's word and life. They were on the battlefield. They were both active and visible for souls. She was in the foxhole; her mission was secret, hidden and invisible. However, all can have similar missions for the church.

Therese reflected that she would be the heart of the church with a missionary spirit. Her hidden sacrifices and prayers would be her offering to Jesus. This would serve as life-giving source of energy for the church and its members. Therese developed a passionate longing to be a lover of the church through her missionary spirit of prayer, sacrifices, and love for others. She had everything. Why couldn't she share it entirely with others?

St. Therese and St Francis Xavier are the patron and patroness of Foreign Missions. She had incredible confidence and hope in the Infant Jesus. She would talk to him as her, little Brother. She was absolutely determined and convinced that by doing little, hidden sacrifice, her infant Brother would answer all her prayers toward the missions. Prayer, and her desire to help others especially the unfortunates and have-nots, inflamed her to spend herself without regard for her health. Tuberculosis that was prevalent at that time, however, wasted her away slowly. She was only age twenty-four when she died. She died as the youngest doctor of the church. The church honored her almost immediately according to her guidelines with canonization-the highest and most glorious privilege she can bestow.

It was in this spirit of generosity that the practice of daily virtue and prayer flourished. Likewise, her extraordinary confidence in almighty God abounded. Her complete abandonment to God in a hidden, prayerful life amid many challenges is revealed in her book: The Story of a Soul. Her autobiography tells all. It was performing hidden virtues of faith, hope and charity in religious community that she excelled. She was good to all.

Our new doctor even sought out hard-to-get-along personalities to excel in virtue. She was a model and example for all. Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit she became a passionate lover of the church possessing a missionary spirit. She understood through God's gifts and with full confidence and trust, that God would complete all her desires. She stated confidently that since she always did the will of God on earth, God would do her will in heaven. That statement is constantly being proven true. Her intercessory powers and her presence, through the visitation of her relic worldwide, are extraordinary.

One of the lessons that the 'little flower', as she is often called, teaches is that we can have all that we want if we give back to God all that the mighty One wants from us. It is not how 'big' the deed done but how much confidence and trust we surrender to God. God 'sees' our intention as much as the deed we do. Therese could not do big things for God. She could not be an actual missionary. She could not preach the holy word outside her convent. She understood that God wanted her to do 'little' things and that would please the infinite One just as much. Her eminent holiness or her special style, called the 'little way', spread and caught on around the world, in part, through her book, The Story of a Soul. It has always been a best seller.

Sinners and mystics alike have felt the influences of our new doctor of missionaries. Her enormous spiritual charisma has touched others worldwide. She is the darling of all and her charm is irresistible. Therese is also the patron of florists around the world. There are few churches in the world that do not have a statue of St Therese of the Child Jesus or a statue of the Infant Jesus. Her intercessory powers are extraordinary because of her ordinary and simple confidence, trust and hope in her loving Brother-our Eternal God!

Through her intercession we can gain increased confidence and trust in a pessimistic world around us. We only need to do little things well and the big ones will fall into place. We need to practice ordinary things such as daily prayer. That's the biggest challenge because we do not always feel like praying. God is in the ordinary and plain events and circumstances of daily life. We can find the Almighty anywhere. God's likeness and image inundate us. The Deity's signature, glance and invitation are written on every flower, every smile we offer and every kind word we extend. We need to offset gossip, frowning, cursing and despairing with praising, smiling, forgiving, and, above all, praying. These are ordinary but powerful virtues, which our new doctor of the catholic church prescribed and excelled in. St Therese urges us, as we are able, to adopt and use her measures daily. Her 'little way' is a perfect prescription for us today. To investigate the summarized prescriptions of all the doctors click on the below link.

Doctors' Prescriptions

Therese and other people of goodwill will influence and transform our lives when we open our hearts and minds to the influence of God's goodness and graces. It is only by allowing the Spirit of Jesus to touch us profoundly through grace that we will become what God is by nature. We must remember Therese's ordinary yet extraordinary life. This holy, cloistered, Carmelite nun is a prototype for all missionaries. The church affirms this. Those who help missionaries, as their means allows and through their prayers for them, will be immeasurably blessed and graced. We can all aspire to live a generous life if we struggle to imitate Therese's virtues, sacrifices and prayer life according to God's will for us.

She has the power to convince us that little ordinary things done out of love and sacrifice for God are truly, infinitely pleasing to the divine Guest within us. Her influence will guide us to become more generous in service to the church and one's country if we entreat her. If you sincerely want to comprehend her missionary spirit beseech her to ask God to impress and impart her missionary spirit in you.

There are at least five missionaries in Statuary Hall in the United State's Capitol building in Washington, DC. Missionaries are heroic and patriotic men and women who inspire individuals, countries and the entire world. Read about them!

The world has a lot of have-nots. There are over six billion people on our planet. Five billion are in the 'third world'. Imagine that five/sixth of the world's population live on less than $2.00 a day. This might sound unreal, but it is the truth. In Africa alone the annual gross national product per capita for the world's ten poorest counties range from$80-$180. Fourteen of the twenty poorest indebted countries are in Africa. America spends $4,000 a year on health care for each of its citizens while Ethiopia spends about $3.

The AIDS epidemic is greater that the poverty situation although both are related.

More than 12 million children in sub-Saharan Africa - equivalent to every child in Britain under the age of 15 - have been orphaned by Aids, according to a recent report (5/2001) by the British charity Christian Aid.

By 2010, that figure will have risen to 43 million children, by which time the virus will have cost the South African economy alone more than 15 billion pounds ($22.5 billion), it warned.

Volunteers and church organizations throughout the world send missionaries and various professionals to help these needy people. We all know of the "blood-bath" wars in Rwanda and Burundi. Over 800,000 were slaughtered in only 100 days. It's all documented and has been published by the press.

We do not need to go to these places if God doesn't call us there physically. However, can we not pray to St Therese to help us commiserate with unfortunates and less gifted people around the world? Can we not offer prayers and little sacrifices for them daily?

Let us cry to God, if we are so moved, for Therese's missionary spirit to share with all needy people in the world, abroad and at home, especially in poverty areas such as Appalachia, inner cities of large metropolitan cities and rural impoverished locations. Many people are outcast, poor, forgotten, sick and alone.

Thanks to the many activities and prayers of missionaries and religious orders that the church offers us, we, too, can be most assured of helping the needy through these church members when we give to them our money, prayers and gifts.

Many corporations, foundations and philanthropists have billions. Many have given millions to non-profit organizations. Perhaps they can increase their generosity at the desperate and urgent needs of unfortunate victims from impoverished lands. Their gifts also help brave missionaries who give their entire life to the poor, the broken, the destitute and the dying.

Most of us can vividly remember Teresa of Calcutta. She took her name from St Therese and St Teresa of Avila. What a difference this Missionary of Charity sister achieved toward the needy on every continent! Lest we forget, regardless of our religion, we are all human beings on this planet and all of us are our brother's keepers whether we want to admit it or not. Every individual or group despite their financial status can contribute something according to their means.

Let us remember how Christ praised the widow's mite more than all the others who gave that day in the temple because she gave everything out of her want. The others gave out of their surplus. Jesus points out a spirituality in the gospels that Therese practiced with a consumming passion. Jesus' words penetrated Therese. She practiced ordinary 'little' virtues, extraordinarily.

One example of a particular group who gives to the missionaries is MIVA. The Missionary Vehicle Association since 1971 have been providing funds to missionaries around the world to help them by supplying vehicles they desperately need for all their ministries. MIVA America receives hundreds of requests from courageous men and women engaged in a wide range of vital, missionary ministries. All of them have tremendous transportation needs in developing countries on every continent where they serve.

All can remember Therese's example as we struggle to imitate her. Therese teaches us that God sees our intentions as much as our deeds. It is our helplessness and our human frailty, as a newborn infant, which draws his care, solicitude and attention. Therese fully comprehended that God is the providential provider of all his children especially the most needed, weak and fragile. The weaker she became toward the end of her life, the more her 'missionary' spirit and confidence abounded and soared in childlike trust toward her Father, infant Brother and divine loving Spirit.

Saint Therese is only the second doctor of the church in the Modern Era category. The other one is Alphonsus Liguori who died in 1787.

The following is from the Catholic Almanac, 1998 edition, and it quotes the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church. "In response to the many requests and after much attentive study, I have the joy of announcing that on Mission Sunday, October, 19th, 1997, in St Peter's Basilica in Rome, I will proclaim St Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, a doctor of the Church. I have wished to solemnly announce this event here (the Vicar was in France) because the message of St Therese, a young holy woman so present to our times, is of particular interest to you, young people. At the school of the Gospel, she indicates to you the path of Christian maturity. She calls you to an infinite generosity; she invites you to remain in the heart of the Church as disciples and ardent witnesses of Christ's charity."

"Therese's teaching" the Holy Father said, "is a true science." It is the luminous expression of her knowledge of the mystery of Christ and of her personal experience of grace. She helps the men and women of today and she will help those of tomorrow to be more aware of the gifts of God and to spread the Good News of God's love. She would encourage us to trust in the church's 2000 years of motherly wisdom and riches.

The Bishop of Rome is telling us-and not just the youth of the world-that Therese's message is for anyone who wants to share the gospel's unlimited message of love. She is a superb model not only because she is young but also because she possessed the confidence and spirit of a young child. All can aspire and hope to obtain this gift as we mature spiritually. It does not depend on how young or old we are. Many people today are increasingly cynical, pessimistic and skeptical. We are extraordinarily self-consumed. We live in a me-myself-I-oriented society to the utmost. It is most important to have self-esteem and assurance of oneself. However, if we are to imitate Jesus, we must become more generous, sharing and caring. How can this be done? Listen to her: "The best means to reach perfection is through receiving Holy Communion frequently. Experience sufficiently proves it in those who practice it."

The other significant fact to remember is the church is growing younger in attitude. Although we are older chronologically, our church is a young church. The Spirit is always affording fresh and new insights. It is our responsibilities to learn anew, see anew, and act anew, with the spiritual dimensions that God provides daily. Through the power of the eternal light, which is given to each of us to see, we can grasp God's plan if we ask, seek and knock. We need to keep the spirit and attitude of the child alive in us but act as adults as the situation demands.

In 1999, Mission Sunday was on October 24th. The Propagation of the Faith, a unique Catholic organization issued a flyer quoting Our Holy Father. He said: "Mission(Sunday) must therefore be the passion of every Christian, a passion for the salvation of the World". The reason he wanted it to be a passion for all Christians is because two-thirds of the entire world, that's about four billion people, do not yet know Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior and Redeemer. This may sound incredible, but it is true.

We can be sure that the 'little flower' mastered the message of the gospel and the letter and spirit of St Paul's epistles. He and St Peter are the two Princes of the Apostles. St Paul was one of the first missionaries of the new Church especially to the Gentiles. His missionary journeys and those who followed in his footsteps have given us the spirit of authentic missionary zeal. Sts Paul, Francis Xavier, Frances Xavier Cabrini and Therese and untold others possessed Jesus' consuming love for others. For info on some missionary families, spirit and zeal click on the below links.

      http://www.paulist.org/
      http://www.paulistpress.com/
      http://www.daughtersofstpaul.com/pbm/feedback.html
      http://www.vocations-holyfamily.com/

We too, by petitioning for that same spirit from God, will be given their gifts for the building up of the church in our own special way. We must remember that the poor may live very near us. They can be materially poor or spiritually poor. Some need physical shelter and some need the shelter of having a place in our hearts. We need to be open to them and show our generosity if we expect to act as God's children and adults. Therese's message is to pray and offer little sacrifices to God in total confidence. God is our Infant and Brother in all of us.

The History and devotion to our infant God goes far back. Another Carmelite, Fr. Cyril, in 1637 prayed before a small statue of the Infant Jesus. It had been found by him and discarded in the war. His hands were destroyed. Suddenly the statue spoke to the stunned Carmelite. He said: "Have mercy on me and I will have mercy on you. Give me hands and I will give you peace. The more you honor me, the more I will bless you."

For other links about Infant Jesus and Therese of the Child Jesus see below.

      http://karmel.at/eng/ocd.htm

The original statue had arms and was lost through the war. The Infant Jesus statue has been restored for a reason. However, as the Infant statue, found by Cyril, had no arms, there is another famous statue that remains with no arms. This statue is that of the Mary, Jesus' mother. It is in a house called Mary's house located near Ephesus, Turkey.

The statue of the armless Mary is within a little, stone house high on a wooded hillside near Ephesus. It is said to be the site where the Blessed Virgin lived out her last days on earth under the protection of the apostle John. This statue has not been restored for a specific reason. It is a reminder to the entire disable individuals in the world that they too, despite their disabilities, can identify with Mary, as they live out their last days on earth.

With Mary, the Mother of God, and all the saints, especially Therese and John, we can be assured in performing God's plan for us.

Through the intercession of the Infant Jesus, another devotion that St Therese practiced, we can identify with our Infant God and gain hope and peace in spite of any cross, disability or challenges. What counts is confidence in the Christ Child. Not without reason is St Therese declared the doctor of confidence and missionaries.

Therese's confidence and ardor for God obviously was also imbued with her confidence and great fondness toward Mary, the Mother of God. The below link concerning St Therese and the Blessed Virgin Mary. This site is rather large. Click below.

http://www.udayton.edu/mary/

Love is the Cross, and the Cross is Love. ~ St. Therese of The Child Jesus and The Holy Face

The resources and links on St Therese are nearly endless and are included with the other two Carmelite doctors: Sts Teresa and John of the Cross. By clicking on Teresa, John or Therese you will find endless Carmelite literature and websites. The below links include St Therese:
      http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintt02.htm
Follow the reliquary of St Therese's tour on earth through the below link:
http://therese-de-lisieux.cef.fr/ang/frameang.htm
http://www.sttherese.com/pilgrim_saint.html
http://www.saint-therese.org/
http:Therese Lisieux.html>
http://www.rc.net/org/therese/home.htm
      http://www.littleflower.org/
      http://www.silk.net/RelEd/therese.htm
      http://www.carmelnet.org/chas/terese_homily.htm
      http://www.carmelnuns.com/Doctorate.html
      http://www.ocd.pcn.net
      http://www.sacredheart.com/SaintThereseOfLisieux.htm
      http://showcase.netins.net/web/solitude/therese.html
      
      http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/therese.html
      http://members.aol.com/moonday3/therese.html
      http://www.scborromeo.org/saints/lisieux.htm
      http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/0898701481/artvisitwww/028-5602417-8709337
      http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/aug12.htm
http://www.albahouse.org/itah277.htm<
http://www.opengroup.com/babooks/156/156548133X.shtml
catholicmission
http://smafathers.org/
http://www.missionariestopreborn.com/

Another http://www.spiritains.qc.ca/Historique/brottier.htm
Another exciting FRENCH SITE relate to prayer:
http://www.priere.org/
http://www.glenmary.org/
World-wide Missionaries:
http://www.helpfellowship.org/

Lest we forget, Therese had a devotion to the child Jesus AND the Holy Face. Her official name in religion included BOTH:http://www.holyface.org/indexeng.htm

Living the Little Way of Love with Therese of Lisieux by John Nelson summarizes in a few pages her bold confidence and "tranquil trust" in God. In six, short, gorgeous chapters, the author enables one to be on 'cloud nine'. This young woman, through the author, imparts to us how to capture God with her daring, "loving-kindness" and invites us to be challenged and do the same. Radiantly written! Compellingly told! Perfect prose! A spiritual gem: http://newcitypress.com/

The Montfort Missionaries are exclusively dedicated to their sevice of humankind through the heart of Mary, the Mother of God.

http://www.montfortmissionaries.com/

The website entitled:

http://www.littlesouls.org

has many features that St Therese would wholehearted endorse. It contains beautiful information and stories that will both edify and surprise you with the concept and reality of what are little souls. This site is not only for the young but all Christians and contains sections that are powerful and moving about the passion of our Lord and Savior.

Imagine since she has gone to heaven, Therese's reliquary has toured 130 cities in a USA tour. Since then, she has toured a dozen counties. Currently (11/23) she's on an international tour. She toured Lebanan from Sept 1st,2002-Nov 15th. Next, she will tour Iraq and Egypt and more. Truly, Therese is in every sense of the word a traveling, celebrated missionary and seen by millions who flock to see her.

When the French saint was in the Washington DC metropolitan area around 3 years ago, she attracted 16,000 people. Her current international tour has drawn over a million.

This marvelous, miracle-worker saint inspires tremendous confidence and as the Pope said, her teaching is a true science.

Missionaries of the Church:

http://www.catholicmission.org/missionary_saints.html


For additional Carmelite links go to Sts Teresa and John at the below links:www.doctorsofthecatholicchurch.com/TA.html
      www.doctorsofthecatholicchurch.com/JC.html

This was sent to me by a friend about the time of my sister, Kathleen Ann Murphy's, death, and it provided a great consolation. Therese's words will be most encouraging for anyone who bears any sorrow.

Seven Disguises In Which God Frequently Sends His Graces by Therese of Lisieux

In the disguise of ingratitude from friends.
In the disguise of being misunderstood.
In the disguise of failure.
In the disguise of being dishonored.
In the disguise of sickness.
In the disguise of poverty.
In the disguise of our daily work.

Our Lord isn't anxious for us to suffer so let's not complain to him any more than is necessary! He sees us in our misery and looks forward to our final victory. If we could only appreciate the great work he's doing in preparing these crosses for us. - St. Thérèse of Lisieux

"The suffering endured for God are the greatest proof of our love for him" - Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, the last doctor of the church before Therese.