September with St. Therese - September 14

Welcome to our series tracing the last month of St. Therese's life on this earth which was September 1897. It's called September with St. Therese and I hope you will visit her every day for an inspirational message about our dear little saint.

We will bring you excerpts from Her Last Conversations and Novissima Verba which follow her struggle the last few months of her life. On days for which there are no specific quotes, I will select a passage from one of her writings.

"Someone brought her a rose; she unpetalled it over her Crucifix with much piety and love, taking each petal and touching it to the wounds of Our Lord.
'In the month of September, little Therese is still unpetalling 'the springtime rose.''
'When unpetalling for You the springtime rose,
I would love to dry Your tears!'
"When the petals were slipping off her bed onto the floor, she said quite seriously.
'Gather up these petals, little sisters, they will help you to perform favors later on...Don't lose one of them.'

'Ah! now...
I have the hope that my exile will be short!'

"Doctor La Neele had told her that she wouldn't have any agony, and when she still suffered more and more:
'And yet they told me that I wouldn't have any agony!....But, after all, I do want to have one.'
"I asked: 'If you were made to choose one or the other, which would you choose?'
'I would choose nothing!' Excerpted from Her Last Conversations

St. Therese, open our hearts to accept the sufferings that Jesus sends us. Teach us your little way and help us to see the graces that can come from joining our sufferings to the passion of Jesus.