La Bible avec Thérèse de Lisieux†
(The Bible with Thérèse de Lisieux)

Today I will begin posting biblical comments from Saint Thérèse de Lisieux drawn from the book, La Bible avec Thérèse de Lisieux† (The Bible with Thérèse de Lisieux). St. Thérèse's comments on the bible were gleaned from her letters and published in 2006 by Éditions du Cerf in France. Surprisingly, she had no access to a complete bible in her convent. Her biblical quotes were taken from her divine office and the readings at mass. The book has not been translated into English as far as I know, so I will translate her comments. (I was a French teacher at one time so I can read and speak French.)

St. Thérèse was a young Carmelite nun who became a Doctor in the Catholic Church and the patron saint of foreign missions. The title of "doctor" came from her spiritual approach of "la petite voie," the little way. Quite simply, she believed that the road to holiness entailed doing everything with love, from washing potatoes to scrubbing the floor to dealing with irascible nuns. I prefer to think of her as the "love doctor."

Also surprising is that she never traveled abroad, but became the patron saint of foreign missions through her many prayers and letters of support on their behalf. Let us therefore be mindful of all the good that cloistered nuns like the Carmelites do for the world by their many prayers.

On a personal note, I once had a vivid dream of St. Thérèse. It was during a period in my life when I had become very scrupulous, thinking that I had to do everything perfectly to please God. Being scrupulous disturbs your peace and is very frustrating. I have since come to understand that striving for perfection is good, but falling short of perfection is inevitable. We are all weak creatures and God understands that. He knows we all sin, but he doesn't want occasional failures to keep us from striving for holiness. As I used to say to the visitors at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg, Md. where I was a tour guide/docent: "Just do your best and let God do the rest." 

A prayer I say every morning helps me keep perspective: "Thank you, Holy Spirit, for leading me to holiness; for taking what is imperfect in me and making it perfect for the Father; and for giving me the courage, wisdom and strength to always do what is pleasing to the Father."

St. Thérèse also suffered from scrupulosity. Regarding my dream, St. Thérèse approached me with an open book in her hands: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, which he wrote to deal with his own scrupulosity. You can read his comments on being overly scrupulous here.

So I have a particular fondness for St. Thérèse since she helped me to overcome my scruples and attain peace of mind. As I mentioned, she could only comment on the scriptures that she read at prayers or mass, so I will add my own personal comments where necessary. I hope you enjoy St. Thérèse as much as I do. Her goal after death was to spend heaven on earth helping us. I believe the dream I had about her shows that she is very much alive and still working among us. 

Let us follow her "little way." It is much easier to do many small acts of kindness than to accomplish great deeds in one fell swoop. And let us together discover "the secrets hidden in the Gospel!" To quote Thérèse:

"Show me the secrets hidden in the Gospel

Ah! This book of gold is my dearest treasure...!"‡

"Declare me innocent, O LORD, for I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering." (Psalm 26:1)

Meditation: I trust in the Lord and so am not tempted to act without integrity when challenges arise.

"I come to your altar, O LORD, 

singing a song of thanksgiving and telling of all your wonders." 

(Psalm 26:6-7)

Meditation: I come to God's house not for me, but to praise God in public.

"Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation!" (Psalm 27:9)

Meditation: "I see in the future souls who will be consecrated to you. When these souls seek your face, deign, O Jesus, with just a single look from you, to make them more brilliant than the stars in Heaven!"§

"Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close." (Psalm 27:10)

Meditation: (Living outside her family home in the convent) "Now I can say with the psalmist, 'My father and my mother have abandoned me, but the Lord has taken care of me.'"§

^†de Lisieux, St. Thérèse. La Bible avec Thérèse de Lisieux. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf et Desclée De Brouwer, 1979. Print.

^‡de Lisieux, St. Thérèse. La Bible avec Thérèse de Lisieux. Paris, France: Les Éditions du Cerf et Desclée De Brouwer, 1979. 28. Print. Trans. John P. Gross.

§ibid, p.73.

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Here is the second prayer from my book, 100 Prayers of Purity for the Mission of Our Lady of America. Enjoy!

Prayer 2

Madonna in Glory¹

We gather about you, O chaste and holy Mother, Virgin Immaculate, Patroness of our beloved Land, determined to fight under your banner of holy purity against the wickedness that would make all the world an abyss of evil, without God and without your loving maternal care. We consecrate our hearts, our homes, our Land to your Most Pure Heart, O great Queen, that the kingdom of your Son, our Redeemer and our God, may be firmly established in us. Amen.<sup>3

1</sup>"Madonna in Glory." Web. 18 May 2016.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ File:Dolci_ Madonna_ p1070185.jpg>
"Creative Commons License." Web. 18 May 2016.
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>

³"Prayer by Sister Mary Ephrem at Our Lady of America." Our Lady of America. Web. 28 May 2016.  <http://www.ourladyofamerica.org/prayers_mildred.php>.  

Copyright © 2010 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material must be done in its entirety with the copyright notice intact. This book is not for sale, but is offered to the public free of charge in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and for the glory of God.