The Liturgical Way of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Rather than being honored and carefully preserved, the very Mass that formed St. Thérèse of Lisieux into a saint is today maligned and persecuted.
The Unmentioned Martin
Like many, I first encountered St. Therese of Lisieux on a prayer card. I was a kid and felt fascinated by a saint who did not look much older than I. I read her words about wanting to shower roses from heaven and kept the prayer card tucked into the mirror on my bureau, peeking … Read more
The Triumph of Teresian Trust
“Oh! how I wish I could make you realize what I mean! …It is trust, and nothing but trust, that must bring us to Love.” ∼ St. Therese of Lisieux In that wonderful Pre-Raphaelite painting by Holman Hunt, called “Light of the World,” in which Jesus is shown gently knocking on a door so that … Read more
Friendship with God
I have an Evangelical friend (I’ll call him Tom) with whom I regularly meet for coffee to engage in friendly “debate” over our differing theological views. In one of our earlier meetings, beginning to explain the Catholic understanding of predestination against his more-or-less Calvinist view, I premised that God created man for friendship with him. … Read more
The Holy Household of Louis and Zélie Martin
“The good God gave me a father and mother more worthy of Heaven than of earth.” So wrote St. Thérèse of Lisieux of her parents, Bl. Louis and Zélie Martin, who married at midnight on July 13, 1858 and whose feast is celebrated on July 12. In considering the parents, we tend to look first … Read more
The Long War Against the Family (Part III)
If you’ve been with us for the first two parts here and here, you’ll recall the three waves of attack against the family—(1) the assertion that marriage enslaves, (2) that children are a burden, and (3) that sexual difference is a fiction. How to respond? I’d like to conclude our short history by reflecting not … Read more