An Anniversary Surprise…
On Our 11th Anniversary
Holy Guardian Angels, who unceasingly behold the Face
of the heavenly Father, pray for us.
Ideas for Celebrating the Feast of St. Therese
The Feast of St. Therese is celebrated on October 1st on the New Calendar, and on October 3rd on the Traditional Calendar. Here are some ideas to celebrate this special feast:
Prayers:
- Pray a Nine Day Novena to St. Therese. You can find a few options here, here and here.
- Pray the Rosary with St. Therese.
- Pray a Novena to St. Therese Beginning on her Feast Day.
- Pray the Litany to St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
- Pray the Morning Prayer written by St. Therese.
A MORNING PRAYER WRITTEN BY ST. THERESEO 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.
Food/Snacks:
- Make little éclairs, since they were St. Therese’s favorite treat.
- Bake the Rose Petal Coconut Cake suggested in My Nameday, Come for Dessert
for dessert.
- Serve Rose Wine or perhaps the Rosy Punch, suggested in The Cook’s Blessings for the adults and a non-alcoholic version for the children.
- Bake a Pink Rose Cake using strawberry cake mix and a rose shaped pan
or cupcake pan
.
- Make roses out of fruit roll-ups to decorate cakes and mini cupcakes.
- Serve French Food today in her honor. Perhaps French Toast or crepes for breakfast!
- A couple other cupcake options are Barbara’s St. Therese Cupcakes and these Rose Cupcakes.
- Here is an instructional video on how to make marzipan roses.
- Catholic Culture also suggests a Rose Leaf Jam.
- You can also purchase St. Therese of Lisieux Tea from Sancti Teas. (no longer available)
- Make St. Therese “Shower of Roses” Chocolates to give to friends and family or for party favors.
Reading, Audio and Video:
You can check out a whole bunch of great books about St. Therese here.
Books for Children::
- Catholic Treasure Box Books
- The Little Flower of Jesus
- Saint Therese of Lisieux: And the “Little Way” of Love
- The Little Flower: The Story of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
- God’s Little Flower : The Story of St. Therese of Lisieux
- Saint Therese and the Roses (Vision Books Series)
- Olivia and the Little Way
- St. Therese: The Little Flower
- Saint Therese of Lisieux: The Way of Love
A Few of My Favorites::
- The Story of a Soul
- The Story of a Family
- Therese and Lisieux
- Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s St. Therese – A Treasured Love Story
- St. Therese, The Little Flower: The Making of a Saint
- Fulton Sheen Classics: St. Therese Sermons
- Fulton Sheen on the Spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux
- Therese (Score)
Movies ::
Copywork:
- Any of her quotes would be wonderful. You can find a few of them here.
- Copy work I created at Writing Wizard for “T” Week from the quote in An Alphabet of Catholic Saints
.
Crafts:
- Make St. Therese Sacrifice Beads.
- Make these darling Paper Roses, or these Paper Flowers.
- Make Chocolate Roses.
- Paint a St. Therese Wooden Doll.
- Knit a St. Therese Doll. The pattern can be purchased here from my friend Amy. This is the beautiful one she made for my little Rose. (You can also purchase a darling St. Therese Doll from Saintly Silver and another of our favorites from Catholic Child.)
- Embroider a St. Therese Doll using Charlotte’s lovely pattern. Here is the one that I embroidered last year during “E” Week.
- Cut out the St. Therese Paper Dolls and laminate them, or color your own from Paper Dali!
- Make a St. Therese Spoon Saint.
- Create a St. Therese Faith Folder. (You can see samples of my girls completed St. Therese Folders here and here.)
- Another idea is to print out one of the many online images of St. Therese, and make homemade holy cards.
- St. Therese Crossword – Can You Find Your Way?
- Down the Garden Path
- St. Therese Planting Seeds on Earth (Fill in the Blanks)
- Promises, Promises, Promises (Word Scramble)
- St. Therese Word Search
- St. Therese Speaks (Alphabet Key)
- St. Therese Speaks Puzzling Words (Puzzle)
- Round and Round we Go (Circle Puzzle)
- A Real Handful (Matching Game)
- A St. Therese Crossword
- St. Therese of Lisieux Word Search
- The Story of St. Therese (Fill in the Blanks)
- Quote from St. Therese on her Deathbed (Pick the correct letter)
Coloring Pages:
- Here are a couple great coloring pages of St. Therese as a child and in her habit. (Thank you Charlotte!)
- Color the St. Therese page in Fenestrae Fidei.
- Print and color one of these coloring pages from The Little Ways.
- Color the coloring page that matches the picture in An Alphabet of Catholic Saints
- Color the lovely St. Therese Paper Doll from Paper Dali!
- Here is a beautiful stained glass coloring page.
Celebrating Michaelmas ~ 2010
The Little Flower Novena
Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love.
V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray: O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love: O my God! I believe in Thee: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee: do Thou secure them. I love Thee: teach me to love Thee daily more and more.
The Act of Contrition: O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
Ninth Day
Dear Little St. Thérèse, by love and suffering while you were on earth, you won the power with God which you now enjoy in heaven. Since your life there began, you have showered down countless blessings on this poor world; you have been an instrument made use of by your divine Spouse to work countless miracles. I beg of you to remember all my wants. Sufferings must come to me also, may I use them to love God more, and follow my Jesus better. You are especially the little missionary of love. Make me love Jesus more, and all others for His sake. With all my heart I thank the most Holy Trinity for the wonderful blessings conferred on you, and upon the world through you. Intercede for us all the days of our life, but especially during this Novena and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask through your intercession. Amen.
Thought for the day: The Mission of the Little Flower. I do not intend to remain inactive in Heaven. I want to work for the Church and for souls. I have asked this of God and I am certain that He will grant my request. I will spend my Heaven doing good upon earth. This is not impossible, since the angels though always enjoying the beatific vision, watch over us. No, I cannot be at rest until the end of the world. I beseech Thee, O Jesus, to cast Thy divine glance on a great number of little souls. I beg of Thee to choose in this world a legion of little victims, worthy of Thy Love.
Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day:
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
A Spiritual Bouquet…
I haven’t had much time to blog lately – between contractors, homeschooling, doctors appointments, and a baby shower I hosted this past weekend – other than the novena to St. Therese Prayers and the giveaway posts. However, I wanted to to ask if you could all add one more very special intention to your prayers…
Last week, on Tuesday, September 21st, after putting a cake in the oven for my mom’s birthday, I got online to check our email. I noticed a prayer request that had just come through from our Homeschool Group from my friend Kristin, Rascal’s Godmother. Before I could even finish reading the first sentence, my eyes filled with tears and I couldn’t finish reading. . . Our dear friend, Danielle, had just received the heartbreaking news that morning that her husband, Major Robert Baldwin – who had just been home for 2 weeks R&R, had been killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult this is for Danielle and their 4 young children ages 8, 4, 3, and 7 months. Danielle has asked for prayers and I thought I would pass that request on to all of my friends and visitors here at Shower of Roses. I would like to send Danielle and her children a “Spiritual Bouquet” of prayers and was hoping that you all would join me in praying for Rob’s soul and that our dear Lord will comfort Danielle and their beautiful children in this time of sadness.
If you could either email me, or leave a comment below (by October 6th), specifying the number and types of prayers that you will offer and I will include them in a card for their family:
______Rosary
______Chaplet of Divine Mercy
______Holy Communion
______Masses
______ Holy hours
______Other Prayers
The Little Flower Novena ~ Day 8
Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love.
V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray: O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love: O my God! I believe in Thee: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee: do Thou secure them. I love Thee: teach me to love Thee daily more and more.
The Act of Contrition: O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
Eighth Day
Dear St. Thérèse, like you I have to die one day. I beseech you, obtain from God, by reminding Him of your own precious death, that I may have a holy death, strengthened by the Sacraments of the Church, entirely resigned to the most holy Will of God, and burning with love for Him. May my last words on earth be, “My God. I love You.” Intercede for us all the days of our life, but especially during this Novena and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask through your intercession. Amen.
Thought for the day: Death. It says in the catechism that death is nothing but the separation of the soul and body. Well, I have no fear of a separation which will unite me forever with the good God. I am happy to die because I shall be able to help souls who are dear to me, far more than I can here below. Life is not sad; it is very joyous. If you say, “This exile is sad,” I understand you. We are wrong to give the name “life” to something which will end; it is only to the things of Heaven that we should apply this beautiful name.
Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day:
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
The Little Flower Novena ~ Day 7
Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love.
V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray: O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love: O my God! I believe in Thee: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee: do Thou secure them. I love Thee: teach me to love Thee daily more and more.
The Act of Contrition: O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
Seventh Day
O little martyr of Love, you know now even better than in the days of your pilgrimage that Love embraces all vocations; that it is Love alone which counts, which unites us perfectly to God and conforms our will with His. All you sought on earth was love; to love Jesus as He had never yet been loved. Use your power in heaven to make us love Him. If only we love Him we shall desire to make Him loved by others; we shall pray much for souls. We shall no longer fear death, for it will unite us to Him forever. Obtain for us the grace to do all for the love of God, to give Him pleasure, to love Him so well that He may be pleased with us as He was with you. Intercede for us all the days of our life, but especially during this Novena and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask through your intercession. Amen.
Thought for the day: Love of God. I will love God alone and will not have the misfortune of attaching myself to creatures, now that my heart perceive what He has in store for those who love Him. What attracts me to the kingdom of Heaven is the call of our Lord, the hope of loving Him as I have so desired and the thought that I shall be able to make Him loved by a great number of souls who will bless Him forever. When Christ said, “Give Me a Drink,” it was the love of His poor creatures that He, the Creator of all things, desired. He thirsted for love. Remember that the dear Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you, for you alone. Remember that He is consumed with a desire to come into your heart.
Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day:
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
The Little Flower Novena ~ Day 6
~ Day Six ~
Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love.
V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray: O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love: O my God! I believe in Thee: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee: do Thou secure them. I love Thee: teach me to love Thee daily more and more.
The Act of Contrition: O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
Sixth Day
St. Thérèse, Patroness of the Missions, be a great missionary throughout the world to the end of time. Remind our Master of His own words, “The harvest is great, but the laborers are few.” Your zeal for souls was so great, obtain a like zeal for those now working for souls, and beg God to multiply their numbers, that the millions to whom Jesus is yet unknown may be brought to know, love and follow Him. Intercede for us all the days of our life, but especially during this Novena and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask through your intercession. Amen.
Thought for the day: Zeal for souls. Let us work together for the salvation of souls. We have only the day of this life to save souls and to give them to the Lord as proofs of our love. I tell Jesus that I am glad not to be able to see, with the eyes of my soul, this beautiful heaven which awaits me, in order that He may vouchsafe to open it forever to poor unbelievers. I cannot perform brilliant works; I cannot preach the Gospel or shed my blood. But what matter? My brothers work in place of me, and I a little child, keep very close to the royal throne. I love for those who are carrying on the warfare. My deeds, my little sufferings, can make God loved all over the world.
Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day:
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
The Little Flower Novena ~ Day 5
This photo was taken just a few days before Therese’s entrance into Carmel on April 9th of 1888, the feast of of the Annunciation. Therese was very happy to unite her own consent with the Blessed Mother’s fiat.
~ Day Five ~
Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love.
V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray: O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love: O my God! I believe in Thee: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee: do Thou secure them. I love Thee: teach me to love Thee daily more and more.
The Act of Contrition: O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
Fifth Day
Little Flower of Jesus, from the very first moment of your religious life you thought only of denying yourself in all things so as to follow Jesus more perfectly; help me to bear patiently the trials of my daily life. Teach me to make use of the trials, the sufferings, the humiliations, that come my way, to learn to know myself better and to love God more. Intercede for us all the days of our life, but especially during this Novena and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask through your intercession. Amen.
Thought for the day: Patience in Sufferings. I do not fear trials sent by Jesus, for even in the most bitter suffering we can see that it is His loving hand which causes it. When we are expecting nothing but suffering, we are quite surprised at the least joy; but then suffering itself becomes the greatest of joys when we seek it as a precious treasure. Far from resembling those beautiful saints who practiced all sorts of austerities from childhood, my penance consisted in breaking my self-will, in keeping back a sharp reply, in doing little kindnesses to those about me, but considering these deeds as nothing.
Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day:
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.
0 Comments