Testimonies
Thousands of testimonies to the favours received through the prayers (intercession) of St. Thérèse of Lisieux have been collated and published worldwide; she famously said before her death that she would “…spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses.” Roses have become her signature and there is every reason to hope that people who pray before the Relics during their visit to England and Wales will receive similar blessings.
The Relics’ visit to America, during late 1999 and early 2000, created huge media interest, but aside from that and more importantly, lives were powerfully touched and changed. Sally Davies visited the Relics at a Carmelite Monastery; she had discovered that she had a tumour and was very anxious about it. One sister wrote: “A Carmelite sister was helping two small altar servers approach the Relics when she saw Sally place her hand on the casket and she prayed that Thérèse would take pity on her… Two weeks later, a radiant Sally knocked at the Carmel door. She had been to see her doctor and the tumour had disappeared… She told the sister that after the Mass (on the day of the visit of the Relics), when she returned to her car, her mother asked what perfume she was wearing. Sally responded that she wasn’t wearing any that day, but she too smelt the odour of roses.”[1]
In 2002 the Relics headed for the troubled country of Iraq. The blessings of the visit were many, not least, renewed hope and many positive effects on young people. The Archbishop of Baghdad, Most Rev Jean Sleiman, said: “The thing that most struck me about the crowds who were praying to Thérèse in Iraq, was the percentage of young people there… the youth generally gave the impression that they had been seduced by this ‘young woman contemplative’… She showed them how their uncertainties and sufferings can be transfigured through love.” [3]
Daire was a sceptic and visited the Relics in a church in Ireland in the year 2000. She wrote: “Despite my protestations, the curiosity still got the better of me… For me it wasn’t the presence of the relics that struck me, but the pervading atmosphere of serenity… I sat there with my thoughts and just pondered… For me it wasn’t really about the bones or the legacy. It became a small moment that brought me back into the fold of the Church and community.” [2]
The Little Way Association is based in England and Wales and assists the missionary work of the Catholic Church across the world, providing chapels, homes, schools and a wide variety of help to the needy overseas. Thérèse is its patron and the team testify to receiving two or three letters a month from UK benefactors giving thanks to the saint for favours received through her prayers.
We await with expectant faith that St. Thérèse’s prayers will bring about great things in our land as they already have across the world.
[1] “Je voudrais parcourir la terre…”: Thérèse de Lisieux thaumaturge docteur et missionaire by Guy Gaucher. Les Editions du Cerf. Paris 2003, page 175.
[2] A Gift of Roses: Memories of the Visit to Ireland of St. Thérèse by Dom Mullan. Wolfhound Press. Dublin 2001, pages 167 – 9
[3] “Je voudrais parcourir la terre, pages 244 and 247