Online novena
Enter into Hope with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Day 4
The Little Way
Listen to this novena
Word of God
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (18:1-6)
At that moment, the disciples came up to Jesus and asked him, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child, placed him in their midst and said: “Amen, I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. But whoever makes himself small like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name, welcomes me. Anyone who is a scandal, a stumbling block to even one of these little ones who believe in me, it is better for him to have one of those millstones turned by donkeys hung around his neck, and to be swallowed up by the sea.”
Listening to Saint Thérèse
You know, Mother, I have always wanted to be a saint. Alas! I have always noticed that when I compared myself to the saints, there is between them and me the same difference that exists between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and the obscure grain of sand trampled underfoot by passers-by. Instead of becoming discouraged, I said to myself: God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can, then, in spite of my littleness, aspire to holiness. It is impossible for me to grow up, and so I must bear with myself such as I am with all my imperfections. But I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new.
We are living now in an age of inventions, and we no longer have to take the trouble of climbing stairs, for, in the homes of the rich, an elevator has replaced these very successfully. I wanted to find an elevator which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched, then, in the Scriptures for some sign of this elevator, the object of my desires, and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: Whoever is a LITTLE ONE, let him come to me. And so I succeeded. I felt I had found what I was looking for. But wanting to know, O my God, what You would do to the very little one who answered Your call, I continued my search and this is what I discovered: As one whom a mother caresses, so will I comfort you; you shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. Ah! never did words more tender and more melodious come to give joy to my soul. The elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more.
Manuscript C, 3
Excerpts from Saint Thérèse’s autobiography: Story of a Soul, translated by John Clarke, O.C.D.
Published by ICS Publications. Copyright © The Discalced Carmelite Friars, Washington Province.
Used with permission. www.icspublications.org
Reflection
We sometimes find definitions of Thérèse’s little way that correspond more to the imagination of commentators than to what the saint herself reveals in her writings. For example, Thérèse’s “little way, very straight, very short,” her “new little way” which she found in the Bible, is defined by the thirty-third Doctor of the Church in these terms: “The elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more.” In addition to trusting in Jesus’ infinite love, a trust that should lead us to that very love, there is a clear way of letting the Lord take hold of our lives and our whole being and lift us up to heaven: humility. It’s a tough battle, isn’t it? Faithful to the Lord who taught us to become as small as children, to take the last place and make ourselves servants rather than masters, Thérèse searched all her life for the last place on earth so that God could realize her own vocation by making her a great saint. This voluntary littleness, combined with her trust in God’s infinite love, made her look to the horizon of this life with immense hope. For true happiness is not of this world. It is for the little ones invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb.
And while her anguished words about suffering and death in the last weeks of her life should not be toned down, for Thérèse is human and beholds the coming great passage with fear, she also noted in the spring of 1897, three months before she died: “I find nothing on earth that makes me happy; my heart is too big, nothing called happiness can satisfy it. My thoughts fly towards Eternity, time is going to end!… my heart is peaceful like a tranquil lake or a serene sky; I do not regret the life of this world, my heart thirsts for the waters of eternal life!…”
By Jean de Saint-Cheron
Prayers
Psalm
Psalm 131
Lord, my heart is not proud;
nor are my eyes haughty.
I do not busy myself with great matters,
with things too sublime for me.
Rather, I have stilled my soul,
Like a weaned child to its mother,
weaned is my soul.
Israel, hope in the Lord,
now and forever.
Hail Mary
Our Father
Intercessions
Lord God, who lift up the humble, you chose Thérèse to reveal to us that holiness does not consist in greatness and perfection, but in trust and surrender:
R/ Lord,welcome us into your arms!
You gave Saint Thérèse the grace to place her life under the sign of spiritual childhood: grant us the grace to welcome each person as the newborn Child in the manger. R/
You inspired Saint Thérèse with devotion to the face of your suffering and abandoned Son: grant that all your children may see the weakest among us as signs of your presence in our world. R/
You gave Saint Thérèse the gift of choosing the lowest place during her life: grant that we may be guided in our choices by a healthy and fruitful humility. R/
In your wonderful goodness, Lord, you allowed Saint Thérèse to reveal to us a new little way that leads us directly to you; through her intercession, may we progress each day on this path of trust and abandonment, where we humble ourselves in order to better manifest your love. Through Jesus Christ, your Son.
Painting: Let the little children come to me, Maurice Denis (1870–1943). © Catalogue raisonné Maurice Denis.
Photo of Saint Thérèse: © Office central de Lisieux.
Flower paintings: © Alamy.
