Mary and Therese

In our 600th  slice of Daily Bread we look at the connection between Mary, our Good Mother, and St. Therese of Lisieux, whose Memorial is observed today.  Therese is noted for her "little way" of simplicity and love. Her motto was taken from St. John of the Cross:  "Love is repaid by love alone" and her nine years in the Carmelite Convent of Lisieux revealed nothing outwardly spectacular,  She truly live the words of St. Paul:  "God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong.l" (1 Cor. 1:27). Yet, when her autobiography, The Story of a Soul was published, it made her a giant among the saints.  She was canonized in 1925, only 28 years after her death and is still one of the most beloved and popular saints of our time.  Br. Florentius put the founding of Central Catholic under her patronage and we honor her today as our patron saint.
Her devotion to Mary, not as well known as her "little way", finds resonance with Marists and as we begin the Month of the Holy Rosary, it is fitting that we offer a word about it.  Therese understood the profound insight of St. Augustine that we are all begotten with Jesus in the womb of Mary, thus making her truly our Mother.  The last poem Therese wrote recalls this childhood which we all share:
O you who came to smile on me
At the dawn of life's beginning,
Come once again to smile on me...Mother!
The night is nigh,
I fear no more yhour majesty,
So far removed above me,
For I have suffered much with you;
\Now hear me, Mother mild!
Oh let me tell you, face to face,
Dear Mary, how I love you;
And say to you forevermore:
I am your little child."

Bro. Rene