St. Thérèse of Lisieux Novena 2021, Day 2: Loving my littleness

SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 131

My soul is like the weaned child

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time on and forevermore.

MEDITATION
Letter 197
17 September 1896

Loving my littleness and my poverty

Dear sister, after that, how can you say that my desires are the mark of my love? Ah! I feel that this isn’t really what pleases the Good Lord in my little soul, what pleases him is to see me love my littleness and my poverty — it’s the blind hope that I have in his mercy… That’s my only treasure.

PRAYER

St. Therese of the Child Jesus,
remember your promise to do good on earth;
send your shower of roses in abundance
on those who call upon you,
and obtain for us from God the graces
we are waiting to receive from His infinite goodness.

mention your intentions here

God our Father,
you have promised your kingdom
to those who are willing to become like little children.
Help us to follow the way of Saint Thérèse with confidence
so that by her prayers
we may come to know your eternal glory.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever. Amen.

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Edith Stein.

Let us unite in prayer