I love Saint Therese, she is so wonderful and amazing! I Believe In Love is a great book based off of Saint Therese's writings (is writings the word I am looking for?) if you are interested.
Reminds me of the image late in Brideshead Revisited (of the narrator's impending collapse): snow piling up against the door, a great weight on the timber.
> There is not One Monolithic Holiness.
Reminds me of the observation at the start of the Rule of St. Albert "Many and varied are the ways in which our saintly forefathers" etc.
Would it be inappropriate to say this was a fantastic read...
BURMA SHAVE.
This had me reflecting on my own experiences reading Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle for the first time. I think I’ll find a copy of this book on Therese. Is there a good English translation? I am not yet proficient enough in French.
I had a similar reaction. I nearly rolled my eyes during the first part of the book--I confess--where she longs to join the community and goes on and on. Then, something happened in the latter half where I realized how humbly she was preaching the infinite mercy of God. This saint really gets her claws into you, making you reconsider contemplation along the journey to heaven.
>St. Therese taught me to imagine my suffering fulfilled in heaven—to imagine the loving embrace of Jesus, my wounds glorified, my vices abolished, my weaknesses crowned, my pride felled, and the holes in my heart overflowing with Christ’s love… for St Therese to come in and turn our weaknesses into strengths—to imagine the race already won— just broke me quite completely.
Scoot, I’m very, very happy for you. Therese is absolutely, 100% something else. I *very much* call her my sister, and in that, you are my brother.
I'd recommend you read "Maurice & Therese" next. It's a compilation of the correspondence between Maurice, a seminarian who eventually becomes a missionary in Africa, I think, and Therese while she's on her last year of life IIRC. They never met in person yet they held each in prayer. You, talking about her a "spending time with your sister" made me think of the book.
my first though- Ewww, a Carmelite! I just discerned, far too late I might add, to join the secular Carmelites. For once, I feel right at home somewhere. It's true, St Therese seems too simple, too pretty to be useful but her spirituality is actually quite deep and quite formidable to do, but fruitful. what I liked about the 'little flower' aspect was that the garden wasn't complete without the small, overlooked flowers. THAT, I could relate to. But your 'dirt' reference is one I didn't think of, interesting. btw, my pic is of St John of the Cross, another fav Carmelite. I was named after Therese, but I like him better, so...
Great to hear. I would also recommend reading "Courage To Be Afraid" and "Diary of a Country Priest." Both written by Frenchmen, they read like children in the school of St. Therese, although one is a spiritual conference, and one is fiction. I think you would enjoy them both.
I love Saint Therese, she is so wonderful and amazing! I Believe In Love is a great book based off of Saint Therese's writings (is writings the word I am looking for?) if you are interested.
I'll have to put Story of a Soul on my own reading list; I haven't read it yet, but wow. That is amazing.
> The anatomy of my collapse
Reminds me of the image late in Brideshead Revisited (of the narrator's impending collapse): snow piling up against the door, a great weight on the timber.
> There is not One Monolithic Holiness.
Reminds me of the observation at the start of the Rule of St. Albert "Many and varied are the ways in which our saintly forefathers" etc.
Would it be inappropriate to say this was a fantastic read...
BURMA SHAVE.
This had me reflecting on my own experiences reading Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle for the first time. I think I’ll find a copy of this book on Therese. Is there a good English translation? I am not yet proficient enough in French.
That God would start with dirt; resonates here Scoot!
The Novena to St. Therese is one of my favorites.
Don't be surprised when you receive roses!
In the communion of prayer, Scoot.
I had a similar reaction. I nearly rolled my eyes during the first part of the book--I confess--where she longs to join the community and goes on and on. Then, something happened in the latter half where I realized how humbly she was preaching the infinite mercy of God. This saint really gets her claws into you, making you reconsider contemplation along the journey to heaven.
>St. Therese taught me to imagine my suffering fulfilled in heaven—to imagine the loving embrace of Jesus, my wounds glorified, my vices abolished, my weaknesses crowned, my pride felled, and the holes in my heart overflowing with Christ’s love… for St Therese to come in and turn our weaknesses into strengths—to imagine the race already won— just broke me quite completely.
Scoot, I’m very, very happy for you. Therese is absolutely, 100% something else. I *very much* call her my sister, and in that, you are my brother.
God bless you, dear brother.🔥
I'd recommend you read "Maurice & Therese" next. It's a compilation of the correspondence between Maurice, a seminarian who eventually becomes a missionary in Africa, I think, and Therese while she's on her last year of life IIRC. They never met in person yet they held each in prayer. You, talking about her a "spending time with your sister" made me think of the book.
my first though- Ewww, a Carmelite! I just discerned, far too late I might add, to join the secular Carmelites. For once, I feel right at home somewhere. It's true, St Therese seems too simple, too pretty to be useful but her spirituality is actually quite deep and quite formidable to do, but fruitful. what I liked about the 'little flower' aspect was that the garden wasn't complete without the small, overlooked flowers. THAT, I could relate to. But your 'dirt' reference is one I didn't think of, interesting. btw, my pic is of St John of the Cross, another fav Carmelite. I was named after Therese, but I like him better, so...
I love from StTerese the image of Jesus knocking at a door with no handle. You must unlock the door from the inside to Let Him in.
Great to hear. I would also recommend reading "Courage To Be Afraid" and "Diary of a Country Priest." Both written by Frenchmen, they read like children in the school of St. Therese, although one is a spiritual conference, and one is fiction. I think you would enjoy them both.