St. THERESE NOVENA - Fourth Day

THE LITTLE FLOWER: LIGHT AMIDST A CULTURE OF DEATH

NOVENA - FOURTH DAY
Opening Prayer: O my God! I believe in You: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in You: O secure them. I love You: teach me to love You daily more and more.

WORD: "I find joy amid my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my own person whatever is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the salvation of His Body, the Church." (Col 1:24)

Reflection: SUFFERING-- THE PRICE OF SOULS

Caught up in the extravagant love of Jesus, Thérèse realized that this love sought to give itself totally to souls yet so many refuse it. One Sunday after Mass, seeing a picture of Jesus Crucified, she was "struck by the blood flowing from one of the divine hands. I felt a great pang of sorrow when thinking this blood was falling to the ground without anyone’s hastening to gather it up. I was resolved to remain in spirit at the foot of the Cross and to receive the divine dew."

At that moment, Jesus wounded her heart with the same love with which he gave up his life. Scarred with this love, Thérèse burned with an intense longing for the salvation of souls: "I understood I was then to pour it out upon souls. The cry of Jesus on the Cross sounded continually in my heart : 'I thirst!' These words ignited within me an unknown and very living fire. I wanted to give my beloved to drink and I felt myself consumed with a thirst for souls."

When Thérèse heard of Pranzini, a murderer caught after his last assault, she felt the urge to pray for his soul. Though he never went to Confession or received Absolution, Thérèse prayed that Our Lord give her a sign that he was saved. Before his execution, Pranzini asked for a Crucifix, three times kising the Sacred Wounds. Upon hearing this, Thérèse cried with joy at the thought that Jesus had saved yet another soul for Heaven. After this, she had the thirst to pray for more souls, learning that the salvation of others depends on our willingness to be so joined with Jesus-so taken over by him-that our sufferings serve his salvific purpose. "I would never have believed that it was possible to suffer to such an extent; I can only understand it through my intense desire to save souls."


Remember Thou that amorous complaint,
Escaping from Thy lips on Calvary's tree:
"I thirst!" Oh, how my heart like Thine doth faint.
Yes, yes! I share Thy burning thirst with Thee.
The more my heart burns bright with Thy great Heart's chaste fires,
The more I thirst for souls, to quench Thy Heart's desires.
(St. Thérèse)


DAILY PRAYER
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.

St. Thérèse, beloved friend, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. We come before you in our need. We believe that you listen to us and approach God for and with us. You are love in the heart of the Church. You are love in the heart of God. With childlike faith and selfless love, you were ushered in the circle of our Lord's passion, offering us His Holy Face as the key to the mystery of suffering.
O Little Flower, remembering your promise "to do Good upon earth" and to shower down your "roses" on those who invoke you, obtain graces for these intentions which we place before you:
- For those who are sick and suffering, especially those with terminal illnesses
- For all who are burdened by physical and mental affliction, disease, and all forms of addiction
- For all who have lost faith in the Gospel of life, and especially for those whose old age or infirmity temps them to despair
- For all whom society has abandoned; for those who have no one to pray for them, for those who contemplate suicide
- For their families and all who care for them, nurses, doctors and health care workers
- For our political and religious leaders and all with positions of influence,

O St. Thérèse, our sister, obtain for us a strong faith and love to embrace the Risen Lord. May your intercession discourage the enemy and banish from our land the scourge of the Culture of Death. Anchored in prayer, fill us with apostolic zeal to become living witnesses to the Merciful Love of God and the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. To the Child Jesus, whose Holy Face, radiant with the wounds of his blessed Passion, is our light and our salvation, be glory and honour in this dark night and in the everlasting day. Amen.

1 'Our Father,' 1 'Hail Mary,' 1 'Glory be' in reparation for sins against the gift of life.