1 October: SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS

October 1
SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS
VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

Feast

Thérèse Martin was born at Alencon in 1873. At the age of fifteen she entered the Carmel at Lisieux. She practiced heroic humility, evangelical simplicity and trust in God, and taught the novices these virtues by word and example. She offered her life for the salvation of souls and the growth of the Church. She died September 30, 1897. Canonized in 1925, she was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1997.

Invitatory

Ant. The Lord reveals himself to little ones; come, let us worship him.

Invitatory psalm, as in the Ordinary

Office of Readings

Hymn

Let all who lovingly avow
Those gifts the Christ Child came to share
Acclaim Thérèse’s virtues now
And praise her name in song and prayer.

Her patroness and mother chose
The lofty peaks of Carmel’s height
And there Thérèse in fervor goes
To follow Christ, her one delight.

Inspired by Jesus to convey
Amazing secrets of his grace,
She taught the world the simple way
Of childhood that the Gospels trace.

More like an angel than a child
She gathered virtue’s flowers at will
By whose sweet scent was God beguiled,
Whose tender fragrance charms us still.

Yet joy itself could not portray
The surge of her immense desire
Nor cloister walls have strength to stay
A love that swept the world like fire.

All glory, Jesus, be to you
This day revealed to little ones,
To Father and blest Spirit, too,
While age on age forever runs.

L.M.
Nomen decusque concinant

Ant. 1 Your mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, *
there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures *
where he gives me repose.

Near restful waters he leads me, *
To revive my drooping spirit.

He guides me along the right path; *
he is true to his name.

If I should walk in the valley of darkness *
no evil would I fear.

You are there with your crook and your staff; *
with these you give me comfort.

You have prepared a banquet for me *
in the sight of my foes.

My head you have anointed with oil; *
my cup is overflowing.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me *
all the days of my life.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell *
forever and ever.

Ant. Your mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

Ant. 2 See what love the Father has shown us, to let us be called children of God; yet that is what we are.

Psalm 103

My soul, give thanks to the Lord, *
all my being, bless his holy name.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord *
and never forget all his blessings.

It is he who forgives all your guilt *
who heals every one of your ills,

who redeems your life from the grave, *
who crowns you with love and compassion,

who fills your life with good things, *
renewing your youth like an eagle’s.

The Lord does deeds of justice, *
gives judgment for all who are oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses *
and his deeds to Israel’s sons.

The Lord is compassion and love, *
slow to anger and rich in mercy.

His wrath will come to an end; *
he will not be angry forever.

He does not treat us according to our sins *
nor repay us according to our faults.

For as the heavens are high above the earth *
so strong is his love for those who fear him.

Ant. See what love the Father has shown us, to let us be called children of God; yet that is what we are.

Ant. 3 The Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and believed in me.

As far as the east is from the west *
so far does he remove our sins.

As a father has compassion on his sons, *
the Lord has pity on those who fear him;

for he knows of what we are made, *
he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass; *
he flowers like the flower of the field;

the wind blows and he is gone *
and his place never sees him again.

But the love of the Lord is everlasting *
upon those who hold him in fear;

his justice reaches out to children’s children +
when they keep his covenant in truth, *
when they keep his will in their mind.

The Lord has set his sway in heaven *
and his kingdom is ruling over all.

Give thanks to the Lord, all his angels, +
mighty in power, fulfilling his word, *
who heed the voice of his word.

Give thanks to the Lord, all his hosts, *
his servants who do his will.

Give thanks to the Lord, all his works, *
in every place where he rules.

My soul, *
give thanks to the Lord!

Ant. The Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and believed in me.

V./ Your word is a lamp for my feet
R./ And a light on my path.

First Reading
From the first letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians

I Cor. 12:27-31; 13:1-13

You together are Christ’s body,
but each of you is a different part of it

The body is one and has many members, but all the members, many though they are, are one body; and so it is with Christ. You, then, are the body of Christ. Every one of you is a member of it. Furthermore, God has set up in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, healers, assistants, administrators, and those who speak in tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles or have the gift of healing? Do all speak in tongues, all have the gift of interpretation of tongues? Set your hearts on the greater gifts.

Now I will show you the way which surpasses all the others. If I speak with human tongues and angelic as well, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and, with full knowledge, comprehend all mysteries, if I have faith great enough to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give everything I have to feed the poor and hand over my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous; it does not put on airs; it is not snobbish. Love is never rude; it is not self-seeking; it is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over injuries. Love does not rejoice in what is wrong, but rejoices with the truth. There is no limit to love’s forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure.

Love never fails. Prophecies will cease, tongues will be silent, knowledge will pass away. Our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect. When the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child I used to talk like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways aside. Now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. My knowledge is imperfect now; then I shall know even as I am known. There are in the end three things that last: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.

Responsory

R./ When I am lifted up from the earth, * I will draw all people to myself.
V./ Fragrant is the scent of your perfume; let us follow in your footsteps. * I will draw all people to myself.

Second Reading
From the autobiography of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus

(MS B, f. 3r-3v: ed. J. Clarke 1975, pp. 193-94)

In the heart of the Church I shall be love

My desires caused me a veritable martyrdom, and I opened the Epistles of Saint Paul to find some kind of answer. Chapters Twelve and Thirteen of the First Epistle to the Corinthians fell under my eyes. I read there, in the first of these chapters, that all cannot be apostles, prophets, doctors, etc., that the Church is composed of different members, and that the eye cannot be the hand at one and the same time. The answer was clear, but it did not fulfill my desires and gave me no peace. Without becoming discouraged, I continued my reading, and this sentence consoled me: Yet strive after the better gifts, and I point out to you a yet more excellent way. And the Apostle explains how all the most perfect gifts are nothing without Love. That Charity is the excellent way that leads most surely to God.

I finally had rest. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by Saint Paul, or rather I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church had a body composed of different members, the most necessary and most noble of all could not be lacking to it, and so I understood that the Church had a heart and that this heart was burning with love. I understood it was love alone that made the Church’s members act; that if love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel and martyrs would not shed their blood. I understood that love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places… in a word, that it was eternal!

Then, in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out, “O Jesus, my Love… my vocation, at last I have found it… My vocation is Love!”

Yes, I have found my place in the Church and it is you, O my God, who have given me this place; in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be love. Thus I shall be everything, and thus my dream will be realized.

Responsory

R./ Joy and gladness fill my heart; * the Lord has been merciful to me.
V./ He has looked with favor on his lowly servant and taken account of my soul’s needs. * the Lord has been merciful to me.

Where the Vigil Office is celebrated:

Canticles (Alternative 1)

Ant. The Lord spread his wings like an eagle; he lifted her up and bore her on his shoulders. The Lord alone was her leader.

Canticle I

Dt 32:3-7, 10-12

The deeds of kindness which God wrought for his people

How often have I longed to gather your children as a hen gathers her young under her wings (Mt 23:37)

I shall praise the name of the Lord. *
O give glory to this God of ours!
The Rock – his deeds are perfect, *
and all his ways are just,
a faithful God, without deceit, *
a God who is right and just.

Those whom he begot unblemished *
have become crooked, false, perverse.
Is it thus you repay the Lord, *
O senseless and foolish people?
Is he not your father who created you, *
he who made you, on whom you depend?

Remember the days of old, *
consider the years that are past;
ask your father and he will show you, *
ask your elders and they will tell you.

Israel God found him in a wilderness, *
in fearful, desolate wastes;
he surrounded him, he lifted him up, *
he kept him as the apple of his eye.

Like an eagle that watches its nest, *
that hovers over its young,
so he spread his wings; he took him, *
placed him on his outstretched wings.
The Lord alone was his guide *
and no other god was with him.

Canticle II

Song 1:3-4a; 2:8-10; 3:1b-2, 4bc

The faithful soul finds the beloved

Where have you hidden yourself, my Beloved? (St. John of the Cross)

Your name is oil poured out; *
therefore the maidens love you.
Draw me after you, let us make haste; *
your anointing oils are fragrant.
The king has brought me into his chambers; *
we will exult and rejoice in you.

The voice of my beloved: †
Behold, he comes, *
leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle, *
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands behind our wall, *
gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.

My beloved speaks and says to me: †
“Arise, my love, my fair one, *
and come away.”

I sought him whom my soul loves; *
I sought him, but found him not.
“I will rise now and go about the city; *
in the streets and in the squares
I will seek him whom my soul loves;” *
I sought him, but found him not.

I found him whom my soul loves. *
I held him, and would not let him go.

Canticle III

Song 4:8ab, 9bc, 12, 15; 5:2; 6:3; 8:6-7a

The strength of love

Love turns labor into rest (St. Teresa of Jesus)

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; *
come with me from Lebanon.
You have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, *
with one jewel of your necklace.

A garden locked is my sister, my bride, *
a garden locked, a fountain sealed.
A garden fountain, a well of living water, *
and flowing streams from Lebanon.

I slept, but my heart was awake. *
Hark! my beloved is knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, my love, *
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew, *
my locks with the drops of the night.”

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; *
he pastures his flock among the lilies.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, *
as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death, *
jealousy is cruel as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire, †
a most vehement flame. *
Many waters cannot quench love.

Ant. The Lord spread his wings like an eagle; he lifted her up and bore her on his shoulders. The Lord alone was her leader.

Gospel

Jn 17:17-26

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

I have sent them into the world

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:

Holy Father,
consecrate them in the truth;
your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
I have sent them into the world,
and for their sake I consecrate myself
so that they too may be consecrated in truth.
I pray not only for these,
but for those also
who through their words will believe in me.
May they all be one.
Father, may they be one in us,
as you are in me and I am in you,
so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave to me,
that they may be one as we are one.
With me in them and you in me,
may they be so completely one
that the world will realize that it was you who sent me
and that I have loved them as much as you loved me.

Father,
I want those you have given me
to be with me where I am,
so that they may always see the glory
you have given me
because you loved me
before the foundation of the world.
Father, Righteous One,
the world has not known you,
but I have known you,
and these have known
that you have sent me.
I have made your name known to them
and will continue to make it known
so that the love with which you loved me may be in them,
and so that I may be in them.

Te Deum

You are God: we praise you; *
You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father: *
All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, *
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might, *
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you. †
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you. *
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you: *
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, *
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the King of glory, *
the eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free *
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death, *
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory. *
We believe that you will come, and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people, *
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints*
to glory everlasting.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.
— Govern and uphold them now and always.

Day by day we bless you.
— We praise your name for ever.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.
— Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, show us your love and mercy,
— for we have put our trust in you.

In you, Lord, is our hope:
— And we shall never hope in vain.

Prayer

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.

---

Morning Prayer

Hymn

Her boundless love for Christ her Lord
Impels Thérèse to greater things.
The martyr’s and apostle’s crown
To crown of virgins now she brings.

To be a victim of God’s love
Her heart aglow with mystic fire,
She begs her Spouse by love consume
Her life, a holocaust entire.

When death, the herald of true life,
Brings to its close, her life’s brief race,
She calls, “I love you” as she dies
And hastens to meet Christ’s embrace.

Now savoring all heaven’s joys,
The glories by her virtues won,
May she that shower of roses send
Which once she promised to her own.

O King of meek and gentle heart
Who for the little ones prepare
Your feast, grant us who follow her
In childlike trust, to enter there.

All praise be to the Father now,
Praise also to his only Son,
The Spirit in all virgin souls,
As ages endless through time run.

88.88.
Immensa Christi caritas

Psalmody

Ant. 1 My soul clings to you; with your right hand you have raised me up.

Psalms and canticle from Sunday, Week I

Ant. 2 You holy and humble of heart, bless the Lord.

Ant. 3 The Lord takes delight in his people, and crowns the humble with salvation.

Reading

Romans 8:14-17

All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. You did not receive a spirit of slavery leading you back into fear, but a spirit of adoption through which we cry out, “Abba!” (that is, “Father”). The Spirit himself gives witness with our spirit that we are children of God. But if we are children, we are heirs as well; heirs of God, heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so as to be glorified with him.

Responsory

R./ I will pour out upon her * a river of peace. Repeat R./
V./ And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream, * a river of peace.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
R./ I will pour out upon her * a river of peace.

Canticle of Zechariah

Ant. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he send laborers into his harvest.

Intercessions

Our Lord Jesus Christ has given Saint Thérèse to us as a model of the evangelical life. Let us pray to him and say:

R/. Hear us, O Lord.

Lord, you said, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come to me and drink;” — give us an intense thirst for your love. R/.

Lord, you said, “If you do not become as little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven,” — help us to love you in simplicity of heart. R/.

Lord, you told us, “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents;” — help us to have a childlike trust in your mercy. R/.

Lord, you said, “Whoever does the will of my Father will enter the kingdom of heaven,” — give us a spirit of faithful obedience to all your commands. R/.

Lord, you said, “Whatsoever you do to one of the least of my brethren you do to me;” — may we see you today in our brothers and sisters, and love you in them. R/.

Lord, you said, “The harvest is great, but the laborers are few; pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he send laborers into the harvest;” — give to all of us the missionary spirit of Saint Thérèse, who longed for the salvation of souls. R/.

Our Father…

Prayer

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.

---

Daytime Prayer

Psalms from the current weekday.

Midmorning

Ant. The Lord chose you for his own, to praise him and give glory to his name.

Reading

2 Corinthians 12:9b-10

I willingly boast of my weakness instead, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I am content with weakness, with mistreatment, with distress, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ; for when I am powerless, it is then that I am strong.

V./ The Lord is my strength and my song.
R./ In you I trust; I shall not be put to shame.

Midday 

Ant. The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to little ones.

Reading

1 John 4:17-19

Our love is brought to perfection in this,
that we should have confidence on the day of judgment:
for our relation to this world is just like his.
Love has no room for fear;
rather, perfect love casts out all fear.
And since fear has to do with punishment,
love is not yet perfect in one who is afraid.
We, for our part, love
because he first loved us.

V./ You, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer.
R./ From eternity this is your name.

Midafternoon

Ant. The Lord looks kindly on the prayer of the needy, and his word is addressed to the lowly.

Reading

1 John 3:1-2

See what love the Father has bestowed on us
in letting us be called children of God!
Yet that is what we are.
The reason the world does not recognize us
is that it never recognized the Son.
Dearly beloved,
we are God’s children now;
what we shall later be has not yet come to light.
We know that when it comes to light
we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.

V./ I will run in the way of your commandments.
R./ For you have given greatness to my heart.

Prayer

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.

---

Evening Prayer

Hymn

From clear high mansions of that shining palace
Where you enjoy the light of God’s dear presence,
And plead our causes, mindful of your promise
Show’r down your roses.

Roses of faith to shed its light supernal,
Roses of hope when obstacles surround us,
And for our strengthening in daily living
Roses of pure love.

Through your own childlike confidence and candor
Send us the rose of quietly discerning
Love of a Father, shining in each happening
Both sweet and bitter.

This be our portion, God forever blessed,
Father eternal, Son and Holy Spirit,
Whose is the glory which through all creation
Resounds forever.

11.11.11.5.
Luce divina rutilantis aulae

Psalmody

Ant. 1 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Psalm 113

Praise, O servants of the Lord, *
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed *
both now and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting *
praised be the name of the Lord!

High above all nations is the Lord, *
above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God, *
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down, *
to look down upon heaven and earth?

From the dust he lifts up the lowly, *
from his misery he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes, *
yes, with the princes of his people.
To the childless wife he gives a home *
and gladdens her heart with children.

Ant. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Ant. 2 For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not proud *
nor haughty my eyes.
I have not gone after things too great *
nor marvels beyond me.

Truly I have set my soul *
in silence and peace.
As a child has rest in its mother’s arms, *
even so my soul.

O Israel, hope in the Lord *
both now and forever.

Ant. For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.

Ant. 3 God chooses those the world considers weak to confound the strong.

Phil. 2:6-11

Though he was in the form of God, +
Jesus did not deem equality with God *
something to be grasped at.

Rather, he emptied himself, +
and took the form of a slave, *
being born in the likeness of men.

He was known to be of human estate *
and it was thus that he humbled himself,
obediently accepting even death, *
death on a cross!

Because of this, *
God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name *
above every name,

So that at Jesus’ name +
every knee must bend, *
in the heavens, on the earth,
and under the earth, *
and every tongue proclaim
to the glory of God the Father: *
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Ant. God chooses those the world considers weak to confound the strong.

Reading

1 Timothy 2:1, 3-6a

First of all, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for all men. Prayer of this kind is good, and God our Savior is pleased with it, for he wants all men to be saved and come to know the truth. And the truth is this:
“God is one
One also is the mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as a ransom for all.”

Responsory

R./ I will tell of your name to my friends: * in the midst of the assembly I will praise you. Repeat R./
V./ For you have not despised the poor in their distress; * in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
R./ I will tell of your name to my friends: * in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.

Canticle of Mary

Ant. Father, I have made your name known to those you have given me: make them holy in the truth.

Intercessions

Let us pray to God, our almighty Father, for his Church throughout the world:

R./ Lord, remember your covenant with us.

May we be inspired by the example of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus; — may your Church give itself to you in love. R/.

May all contemplatives be faithful witnesses of your goodness; — so that the world may believe in you. R/.

May we bear one another’s burdens in a spirit of love; — so that your faithful people may see your face in us and imitate your Son. R/.

Fill us with a faithful missionary spirit; — for you desire all the world to know the truth of Christ. R/.

Grant to all the faithful departed the joy of seeing your face; — for Christ wants those you gave him to be with him where he reigns in glory. R/.

Our Father…

Prayer

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.