On March 19th, Saint Thérèse confides to her older sister, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart:
“I just asked St. Joseph to obtain for me from God the grace of spending my Heaven doing good on earth.”
Her sister replied to her, “You don’t need to ask that of St. Joseph”
But she insisted, “Oh, but yes! I need him to support my request!”
Just days before, St. Thérèse made the novena of grace, an infallible novena to St. Francis Xavier. Thérèse made the novena, as she said to Marie of the Sacred Heart, to obtain the grace of “spending her heaven doing good on earth!”
As Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart recalled, “she had just asked this of St. Francis Xavier, too, through the novena of grace.”
And, the young Carmelite doesn’t imagine that one day, along with St. Francis Xavier, she will be the co-patroness of the missions…
Learn more about March 1897 and the last year in the life of Saint Thérèse here.
Isn’t this such a touching story? Thanks to Father Iván Mora Pernía, ocd and the team at efemeridescarmelitanas.blogspot.com for the reminder on their Carmelite calendar!