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Welcome back to our nine-day novena asking for the intercession of "the greatest saint of modern times": Doctor of the Church St Thérèse of Lisieux. The novena is traditionally offered in the lead up to her feast on October 1. We ask the saints in Heaven to pray for us, just as we would ask our friends on earth to pray for us, because they are even closer to God and so their prayers contain even greater purity and power.
Novena prayer: Day 2
For each of the nine days, pray this prayer:
St Thérèse, you said you would let fall from Heaven “a shower of roses” as a sign of your prayers for us. Please bring my special intention before God (mention intention here).
Please pray for me to believe as you did in God's great love for me, so that I might imitate your complete trust in Him. Pray that I may live my life in union with God’s plan for me, and one day see the Face of God whom you loved so deeply.
Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
A Family Little Way
Thérèse is our family patron, a natural outcome of both Colin and me having personal devotions to her before we ever met. (Actually, she is also deeply integral to the story of how we met—I'll be sharing that story next week if you'd like to come back to read it.)
For years, we have prayed this novena in preparation for Thérèse's feast day. When our children were very young, however, their engagement in a spoken novena was pretty low. So we decided to make our family novena a hands-on experience. We developed a "Little Way list" of small, concrete actions we could do each day of the novena to connect specifically with Thérèse's life and spirituality.
Although this little tradition began for young kids, we found that it also helped us enter more deeply into the spirit of the Little Way. You can choose a daily novena act from this list, and hopefully find inspiration to add your own small acts of great love.
In the absence of opportunity for grand missions, Thérèse looked for the teeniest sacrifices to offer in love to God.
Choose a small sacrifice for the day that the whole family undertakes: maybe it's drinking only water rather than soft drinks, tea, or juice that day; maybe it's taking ten minutes of screen time to offer extra prayer; maybe it's intentionally forgoing a daily treat.
Commit to a whole day of striving to avoid complaints; talk together at dinner about how it went.
Commit to a whole day of actually looking at the people around you in stores, checkout lines, counters where you order; it's amazing how such a small choice can genuinely open up deeper connections.
If a holy hour seems impossible, visit the adoration chapel for a "holy moment."
Plan something small this week that makes you feel more alive: maybe a meal with friends, maybe a walk or bike ride outdoors, or something else that engages your senses and relationships.
Thérèse drew strength from sheer confidence in God's love for her.
Write and deliver little cards of affirmation for friends; this is especially fun if you deliver the cards secretly to their front porch or mailbox.
Create paper roses and deliver bouquets to a different neighbor each day; you can also write promises for a spiritual bouquet on the petals or leaves.
Have a family affirmation circle: at dinner, pass sheets of paper with each person's name at the top and take turns silently writing what you love about each person
Make a playlist of music that especially fills you with a sense of hope and confidence in God's love. Listen to it throughout the novena.
Thérèse deeply loved her family and credited them with her conversion.
Plant a rosebush somewhere on your property as a reminder to pray for each other every time you water or tend it.
Visit a retirement or assisted living home and bring small chocolates to share with residents (Thérèse loved chocolate and her own father suffered dementia at the end of his life).
Call grandparents, extended family members, or other relatives you don't see often just to express your love and gratitude for them; you can adapt this to FaceTime for little bits or texting for teens.
Have each member of the family choose an image of Jesus that resonates personally. Display the images somewhere they can be seen immediately upon waking. When you see it, offer a moment of prayer and conversation with Jesus before you do anything else.
Thérèse had a special devotion to praying for priests.
Write and deliver short cards of gratitude to local priests;
Offer a spiritual bouquet to local priests.
Bake and deliver cookies for your pastor.
Come back tomorrow for Day 3 of the novena. You can also subscribe here so you don't miss anything.
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