Today is the feast of St Thérèse. What a great saint! What a powerful intercessor!

Apparently, Pope Francis employs Fr Putigan’s Novena to St Thérèse. On the one hand, this doesn’t surprise me, since Fr Putigan was a Jesuit priest, and it’s easy to imagine his novena is popular within the Society of Jesus. On the other hand, I am surprised that Francis would pray 24 Glorias every day for nine days. Bear in mind, he’s not a fan of numerical pedantry:

There are some restorationist groups. I know some, it fell upon me to receive them in Buenos Aires. And one feels as if one goes back 60 years! Before the Council… One feels in 1940… An anecdote, just to illustrate this, it is not to laugh at it, I took it with respect, but it concerns me. When I was elected, I received a letter from one of these groups, and they said: “Your Holiness, we offer you this spiritual treasure: 3,525 rosaries.” Why don’t they say, ‘we pray for you, we ask…’, but this thing of counting…

Still, it is evident that the Holy Father certainly does call on St Thérèse for favours, and even dares to ask for the sign of a white rose.

Apart from her intercessory apostolate, St Thérèse is also a great spiritual master. A Doctor of the Church, no less. If you aren’t a student of hers already, it’s time to become one!

I have helped a friend of mine develop a website relating her Little Way of Spiritual Childhood. The site is a veritable goldmine of open domain texts about spiritual childhood and “the little things.”

www.spiritualchildhood.info

spiritual-childhood

In addition to texts from and about St Thérèse, the site draws from St Josemaría Escriva, Fr Joseph Kentenich, and several others. Check it out and bookmark it. It certainly deserves more than one visit!