An extraordinary charity
What makes St. Therese such a great saint was not because she accomplished many great things, but that she accomplished simple tasks with extraordinary charity. According to author Segundo Galilea, the spirituality of St. Therese is not complicated. No excessive will power was exercised and no emphasis was made to accomplish what was difficult. She rather insisted on the quality of love and charity in everything that she did. The spirit of extraordinary charity she placed in all that she did was rooted in God - in the core of her heart and soul as a Carmelite nun.
Her "Little Way"
Even in her childlike attitude is found an amazing wisdom that leads us to see how small each one is in relation to God and all the trials and tribulations experienced in life. This is especially seen when Therese said to her sister Celine:
"Do not try to rise above your trials, for we are too small to rise above our difficulties. Therefore, let us try to pass under them."
All things in the Church for God
Because of her extraordinary charity, St. Therese wanted to live and experience every existing vocation in the Church. She wanted to become a contemplative, a missionary, a martyr, an evangelizer, a penitent, an educator, dedicated to the poor, and the servant of the sick. Like St. Paul, she wanted to be all things to all people so that she may win many souls to God.
St. Therese did live all what she desired for God as she expressed in her desire to be many things for Him. She "mystically" (as Segundo Galilea stated) lived the substance of every Catholic vocation in her state of life as a Discalced Carmelite. Through God's divine grace, she has "mystically" integrated the entire multiform mission of the Church in her soul.
A missionary in heart and soul
St. Therese sacrificed herself for the missions. But unlike St. Francis Xavier who traveled thousands of miles, preached the gospel incessantly, and died a martyr, St. Therese never left her Carmelite convent. Her missionary journey was more an inner journey - what author Mary Neill, OP, calls the "emigres de l'Interieur". In her inner journey, St. Therese experienced "spiritual martyrdoms" and "dangerous adventures". She traveled the inner geography of her soul in a very deeply affecting way that really touches the heart of anyone who has read her autobiography. Many will be inspired to live a more contemplative approach to life after reading her autobiography.
What also made St. Therese a true missionary in heart and soul was her ministry and mission of encouraging missionaries through her correspondence with them. In the midst of laundry work, cleaning rooms, looking after linen, she took time to bring courage and faith to the missionaries she corresponded with. She wrote to Carmelite sisters in Hanoi, Vietnam, to Pere Roulland (a missionary in China), and to a seminarian named Maurice Belliere.
"The Story of a Soul"
A lot can be learned from St. Therese. Not only from secondary sources on her life and spirituality, but most important of all the primary source of her little Way - her autobiography, "The Story of a Soul". It is really a very inspiring book - one that anyone can identify with spiritually. She writes her autobiography in a candid and very simple style. After reading the book, one will truly know in mind, heart and soul, that there is a God who truly loves all - no matter how small or simple one is.
Sources of this blog post
- Great Saints Great Friends, by Mary Neill, OP, and Ronda Chervin
- The Doctors of the Church, by John F. Fink
- The Friendship of God, by Segundo Galilea
No comments:
Post a Comment