Reflection: The Angel of Peace

In 1916, one year before the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, the Angel of Peace appeared to the three shepherd children, Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia. The Angel came to prepare the children for the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917.

During the third apparition, the Angel came in dazzling beauty, holding in his left hand a chalice, and in his right hand over the chalice. Drops of blood were falling from the host into the chalice. Leaving the host and the chalice suspended in mid-air, the angel prostrated himself touching the ground with his forehead. Then the Angel said the following prayer three times:

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you! I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you! Angel of Peace 1916

The Angel then rose and took the chalice and host into his hands. He gave the host to Lucia and the contents of the chalice to Jacinta and Francisco, saying: "Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their sins and console your God." The Angel taught them to pray this prayer of reparation:

"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore you profoundly. I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I pray for the conversion of poor sinners."

Francisco took these words seriously to heart. In the remaining years of his life. when the children were sent to school, he realized that he had a short time to live. He did not have any desire to go to school, but told his sister and cousin to go ahead and he would remain in church where he could make reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is offended. Francisco was penetrated with the Love of what he called "the hidden God," that he often spent many hours on his knees in silent adoration before the tabernacle.

Apostolate of Reparation:
Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. You will thus draw down peace upon your country.  Angel of Peace, 1916

The three shepherd children were consumed with zeal to make their lives a sacrifice. Little Francisco and Jacinta died very young and were canonized saints this year. Lucia became a sister and lived until an old age. She is now Blessed Lucia. She was given the mission to tell the world about Our Lady of Fatima and her messages.

Meditation to the "hidden God"
Go to Eucharistic adoration or sit before the tabernacle often. Ask Jesus to grant you the desire to spend time in silent adoration. Ask Jesus to penetrate your heart with His Love that you may be consumed with zeal to offer sacrifices and make reparation for the offenses against Him. As you sit with the Lord, give Him your crosses and sufferings and ask Him to help you carry them. Ask Jesus to give you strength and hope. Then be still and open your heart to receive His Love and Peace  

Our Lady of Fatima, Saint Francisco, Saint Jacinta and Blessed Lucia, pray for us and all those for whom we pray through this ministry.

Reflection: Saint John Paul II, pray for us!

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of Saint John Paul II. Let us pray to him and ponder Mary as he did that we may say to her, Totus Tuus.

"Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother. Live in me. Act in me. Speak in and through me. Think your thoughts in my mind. Love, through my heart. Give me your dispositions and feelings. Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus. Correct, enlighten and expand my thoughts and behavior. Possess my soul. Take over my entire personality and life. Replace it with yourself. Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving. Pray in me and through me. Let me live in you and keep me in this union always."  Saint Pope John Paul II

On October 22, 1978, Pope John Paul II began his pontificate with these words:

“Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ.” 

I was blessed to attend his Canonization on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27, 2014. It was a grace more than I could have ever imagined. From the time he became Pope, I always felt a closeness to him. I have come to know him as a personal intercessor for my family. The way it unfolded for me to go to Rome, I believe that he invited me to his Canonization.

When I was in Saint Peter's Square, I took this photo of the image of Mary holding Jesus. After the attempt was made on John Paul's life, he looked around Saint Peter's Square and saw there was no image of Mary. He had this image painted there. Totus Tuus, Totally yours, was the way he lived his life, totally for Mary. She always leads us to her Beloved Son Jesus. I have been thinking about John Paul and how much I love him. I know he is with me. I love his writings on the Gospel of Life, Love, Suffering, the Rosary and the Dignity and Vocation of Women because they draw me into the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

The witness of his life and the words he spoke in his many homilies, speeches, and encyclicals are more relevant today than ever. John Paul II had a powerful influence on the Church and on the world. Today let us pray to Saint John Paul II for all families and for our priests, who were so dear to his heart. So many vocations to the priesthood came through the powerful witness of Pope John Paul II. Let us pray to him for all families and that an abundance of vocations will be nurtured and born in our families. Let us ask him to help us be unafraid and to open wide the doors to Christ for our families and for all those for whom we pray.

We entrust all the names we have received and all the names we will receive to Our Lady of the Rosary. We thank Jesus for giving His Mother to us.  Jesus we trust in You.

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

Today is the feast day of Saint Margaret Mary, who was chosen by Christ to awaken the Church to the of the love of God symbolized by the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her early years were marked by sickness and a painful home situation. "The heaviest of my crosses was that I could do nothing to lighten the cross my mother was suffering." After considering marriage for some time, Margaret entered the Order of Visitation nuns at the age of 24. A Visitation nun was "not to be extraordinary except by being ordinary," but the young sister was not able to enjoy this anonymity. A fellow novice termed Margaret humble, simple and frank, but above all kind and patient under sharp criticism and correction. She could not meditate in the formal way expected, though she tried her best to give up her "prayer of simplicity."

After being a sister for three years, she received the first of her revelations from Jesus and was filled with the Presence of God, though always afraid of deceiving herself in such matters. Christ requested that His love for humankind be made evident through her. During the next 13 months, He appeared to her at intervals. His human Heart was to be the symbol of his divine-human love. By her own love, she was to make up for the coldness and ingratitude of the world by frequent and loving Holy Communion, especially on the first Friday of each month, and by an hour's vigil of prayer every Thursday night in memory of his agony and isolation in Gethsemane. He also asked that a feast of reparation be instituted.

Like all saints, Margaret suffered for her gift of holiness. Some of her own sisters were hostile to her. Theologians who were called in declared her visions delusions. Later, parents of children she taught called her an impostor, an unorthodox innovator. Claude de la Colombiere, a Jesuit, recognized her genuineness and supported her and he became her confessor. He was canonized by Saint Pope John Paul II in 1992, Against her great resistance, Christ called her to be a sacrificial victim for the shortcomings of her own sisters, and to make this known. After serving as novice mistress and assistant superior, she died when she was 43 years old while being anointed. She said,

"I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the Heart of Jesus."

Christ spoke to Saint Margaret Mary: "Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for me in this sacrament of love.... I come into the heart I have given you in order that through your fervor you may atone for the offenses which I have received from lukewarm and slothful hearts that dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament." (Third apparition)

Around the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a crown of thorns. There is a wound, from the soldier's spear, showing that our sins hurt Him in the Heart. The flames coming from His Heart show the intensity of His Love. Above the flames is a cross showing that His Love for us was so great that He died for us. These are the symbols of His passion. We were redeemed by the cross and we will be saved by it.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.  Saint Margaret Mary, pray for us.

Litany of Humility

A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good.

Humility is a virtue that a person recognizes his or her total dependence on God. It restrains the unruly desire for personal greatness and leads a person to an orderly love and appreciation of self with respect to God and neighbor.

Saint Bernard wrote, "Humility is the foundation and guardian of virtues for without it no other virtue can exist in a soul. Should she possess all virtues, all will depart when humility is gone." Saint Francis de Sales wrote to Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, "God so loves humility, that whenever He sees it, He is immediately drawn thither."

Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of Heart, for My yoke is easy and My burden light." Matthew 11:28-30

Mary, the Mother of God, was the first and perfect disciple of Jesus. From her childhood, she practiced the virtue of humility. By imitating her, we can learn how to practice humility and how to follow her Beloved Son Jesus.

Litany of Humility
Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930)
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided
that I may become as holy as I should…

O Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us to imitate Jesus, your Beloved Son.  "Learn from Me, because I am meek and humble of heart."

100th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima

The Miracle of the Sun

The Blessed Mother appeared to the three shepherd children in Fatima from May to October, 1917. The news of Fatima spread more, and people learned that a miracle was to happen. The children began to speak of the miracle which was to happen. On October 13, 1917, seventy to one hundred thousand pilgrims came to the Cova da Iria. It was pouring down rain and everything was very muddy.

The children's families were very uncertain and feared that if the miracle did not take place, the people would want to kill the three children. Once there, moved by an interior impulse, one of the children, Lucia, asked the people to shut their umbrellas and pray a Rosary. Soon after that, there was a flash of light, and Our Lady appeared above the oak tree.

"What do you want of me?" asked Lucia.

"I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honor.

I am the Lady of the Rosary.

Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes."

Lucia said to Our Lady: "I have many things to ask you: the cure of some sick persons, the conversion of sinners, and other things . . . "

"Some yes, but not others. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins." Looking very sad, Our Lady said: "Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already so much offended."

Then, opening her hands, she made them reflect onto the sun, and as she ascended, the reflection of her own light continued to be projected on the sun itself.

Lucia cried out to the people to look at the sun. Her aim was not to call their attention to the sun, because she was not even aware of their presence. She was moved to do so under the guidance of an interior impulse.

After Our Lady had disappeared into the distance, Saint Joseph appeared with the Child Jesus and Our Lady was robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus appeared to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When this apparition disappeared, Our Lord and Our Lady appeared; it seemed that it was Our Lady of Sorrows. Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as Saint Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and Our Lady appeared once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, holding the child Jesus in one hand and the brown scapular in the other hand.

The rain stopped and a thick mass of clouds broke. The sun looked like a disc of dull silver, and began dancing wildly. The people shouted out: "MIRACLE!" It seems that the majority of the people saw the sun trembling and dancing, whirling around; it descended almost low enough to burn the earth with its rays. It shone with an intensity never before seen, but was not blinding. This lasted only an instant. Then the immense ball began to "dance". The sun began to spin rapidly like a gigantic circle of fire. Then it stopped momentarily, only to begin spinning again. Its rim became scarlet; whirling, it scattered red flames across the sky. Their light was reflected on the ground, on the trees, on the bushes, and on the very faces and clothing of the people, which took on brilliant hues and changing colors.

After performing a zigzag bizarre pattern three times, the globe of fire seemed to tremble, shake, and then plunge in a zigzag toward the terrified crowd. All this lasted about ten minutes. Finally, the sun zigzagged back to its original place and once again became still and brilliant, shining with its everyday brightness. The cycle of the apparitions had ended. Many people noticed that their clothes, soaking wet from the rain, had suddenly dried. The miracle of the sun was also seen by numerous witnesses up to twenty-five miles away from the place of the apparition. Many thought the end of the world had come, as the sun seemed to fall upon them. People reported color changes in objects on earth, caused by the rays of the sun. Some expressed sorrow for their sins aloud. Some who had come to ridicule the children now believed.

This was the great Miracle of the Sun which Our Lady had performed so that all may believe.

Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of the Rosary, this prayer ministry is consecrated and entrusted to Jesus through you. Pray for us and all those for whom we pray.

Our Lady of the Rosary

This prayer ministry is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, entrusted and consecrated to her.  Today is her Feast Day.  The month of October is dedicated to the "Most Holy Rosary."

"O Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain that unites us to God, bond of love which unites us to the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults of Hell, safe port in our universal shipwreck, we will never abandon you.  You will be out comfort in the hour of death: yours our final kiss as life ebbs away.  And the last word from out lips will be your sweet name, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompei, O Dearest Mother, O Refuge of Sinners, O Sovereign Consoler of the Afflicted, may you be everywhere blessed, today and always, on heaven and on earth." Apostolic Letter on the Rosary, Saint Pope John Paul II 

Miracle of the rosary
On Sunday, October 7, 1571, the Christian and Turkish fleets met in Lepanto Gulf, off the coast of Greece. The bitter battle finished with a brilliant victory of the Christians who where vastly outnumbered. That very evening Pope Saint Pius V had at Rome a clear knowledge of this success. The same afternoon, the Confraternities of the Rosary, particularly in Rome, had marched through the streets in procession reciting the Rosary. This victory put an end to the naval power of the Turks and saved Christian Europe. To this day this victory has been attributed to the praying of the Rosary.

The Power of the Rosary
The most holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or, above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the holy Rosary. With the holy Rosary, we will save ourselves; we will sanctify ourselves; we will console our Lord, and obtain the salvation of many souls. Conversation between Sr. Lucy of Fatima and Fr. Fuentes, Dec. 26, 1957

"The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors."  Pope Pius XI

"Among all the devotions approved by the Church, none has been so favored by so many miracles as the Rosary devotion." Pope Pius IX

"The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying." Pope Leo XIII

"The rosary is a magnificant gift of God to humanity because through this prayer, we attain extraordinary graces. With the rosary in your hand, you will not be discouraged and you will have clarity of mind and extraordinary freedom in your heart." Mother Elvira Petrozzi, Foundress of the Cenacolo Community in Medjugorje, with fifty-six houses in fifteen countries, welcoming the lost and desperate. 

Our Lady of the Rosary, we entrust to you all the names we receive through this prayer ministry. Keep them under your protective mantle and always in your loving care.

Saint Maria Faustina, pray for us!

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Faustina. The writings in her Diary help us to pray and draw us closer to Jesus and His Divine Mercy. She is closely connected to this ministry of intercessory prayer offering hope and healing

Sister Maria Faustina died of tuberculosis in Krakow, Poland, on October 5, 1938. Saint Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1993 and canonized her in the year 2000. He called her the "first saint of the new millennium." Speaking of her and the importance of the messages in her Diary, the Pope called her "the great apostle of Divine Mercy in our time."

Her name will always be linked to the Feast of the Divine Mercy, celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter, the Divine Mercy chaplet and the Divine Mercy prayer recited each day by so many people at 3 o'clock, Mercy Hour.

"At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion."  Diary of Saint Faustina 1320

At the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, this prayer is included at the 3 o'clock hour:

Saint Faustina, you told us that your mission would continue after your death and that you would not forget us. Our Lord also granted you a great privilege, telling you to "distribute graces as you will, to who you will, and when you will." Relying on this, we ask your intercession for the graces we need, especially for the intentions received through this ministry. Help us, above all, to trust in Jesus as you did and thus to glorify His mercy every moment of our lives.  Amen.

O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You. From the Opening Prayer of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Saint Maria Faustina, pray for us and for all those we pray for through this ministry.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Today we celebrate the life of Saint Francis of Assisi who inspired the Church by following all that Jesus said and did, with humility, joy and obedience. Serious illness and prayer led him to a complete self surrender like that of Christ. In prayer, he heard Jesus speak to him:

"Francis! Everything you have loved and desired in the flesh, it is your duty to despise and hate, if you wish to know My Will. And when you have begun this, all that now seems sweet and lovely to you will become intolerable and bitter, but all that you used to avoid will turn itself to great sweetness and exceeding joy."

From the Cross in the neglected field-chapel of San Damiano, Jesus told him,

"Francis, go out and build up my house, for it is nearly falling down."

Francis gave up every material thing he had, even his clothes, to give to the poor. His own earthly father demanded restitution for Francis' "gifts" to the poor. Francis desired to be totally free. He believed and lived what Jesus said: "Announce the kingdom! Possess no gold or silver or copper in your purses, no traveling bag, no sandals, no staff." Luke 9:1-3

During the last years of his short life, he was half blind and seriously ill and two years before his death, he received the stigmata, the painful wounds of Christ in his hands, feet and side. How did Francis respond to blindness and suffering? It was during his suffering that he wrote the beautiful Canticle of the Sun praising God for creation. He never recovered from this illness and died at the age of 45. He founded all the Franciscan orders and is the patron saint of ecologists and merchants. On his deathbed, he said over and over again the last addition to his Canticle of the Sun, "Be praised, O Lord, for our Sister Death."

The Canticle of the Sun

Most high, all powerful, all good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing. To you, alone, Most High, do they belong. No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance.

Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.

Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.

Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Happy those she finds doing your most holy will. The second death can do no harm to them.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve him with great humility.

Saint Francis was a witness of a life of faithfulness, of poverty, of humility and of simplicity. May we follow in his footsteps and develop these virtues so that we may grow in our knowledge and love of Jesus and Mary.

The Holy Guardian Angels

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. Every person on earth has a guardian angel who watches over him at the moment of birth. Prior to birth, the child is protected by the mother's guardian angel. The protection of our guardian angel continues throughout our whole life until the moment of death. Our guardian angel accompanies the soul to purgatory or heaven, and becomes our coheir in the heavenly kingdom.

Guardian Angels are servants and messengers from God. "Angel" in Greek means messenger. In unseen ways, the angels help us on our earthly pilgrimage by assisting us in work and study, helping us in temptation and protecting us from physical danger. The role of the guardian angel is to guide us to good thoughts, works and words, and to preserve us from evil.

"See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared."  Exodus 23:20

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith (328)."

There have been many times in my life when I have felt the presence of my guardian angel's protection, as well as the presence of the guardian angels of my loved ones. This prayer ministry began through prayers for a precious little baby, Lily Grace. When she needed heart surgery as an infant, I sensed Our Blessed Mother's presence, that she was standing over her in the operating room, surrounded by angels. It brought me great comfort knowing her guardian angel and Mother Mary had Lily Grace under her loving protection.

Call upon the help of your guardian angel who is always with you to guard, protect and guide you wherever you go and whatever you do.

Guardian Angels, protect all the families and all those for whom we pray.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, pray for us!

Today we celebrate the feast day of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower. She is the Patroness of the John 10:10 Prayer Ministry.

Saint Thérèse had devotion to Mary and turned to her in prayer as her mother. Her own mother died when she was four years old. During a devastating illness when she was ten years old, she experienced a cure through Mary's intercession. Saint Thérèse saw that the statue of Mary in her bedroom smiled at her. From that moment, she no longer experienced the troubles caused by anxiety and perhaps depression. She understood that the road to Jesus was through abandonment to His Will, like a little child who sleeps without fear in the Father's arms.

At the age of fifteen, she entered the religious life in a Carmelite cloister. She is the patron of the missions and she loved to pray for priests. She loved the Scriptures and found that the Word of God was a lamp for her feet. She would love to retain favorite passages or lines from Scripture so that they came back to her during the day and energized her commitment to Jesus Christ. In fact, Saint Thérèse wrote that often enough a word from God, an insight, a sense of direction, a response to a situation came to her not during the hour of prayer but when she was about her daily work. Her spirituality is known as the "little way" doing small things with great love, doing great things for God by remaining little like a child. Her vocation was Love.

Prayer, for Saint Thérèse, was a way of walking with God in her daily dities. Whether it was a period of meditative prayers with the other nuns in the community or lifting her heart to God in short prayers of intercession or praise, she realized that God was with her. Her deep trust in God and in God's love for her paved a way of joy and happiness. She is now known as the "little flower" and what brought her to Heaven was love. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997.

"Draw me, we will run..."
To ask to be drawn is to will intimate union with the object which holds the heart captive. If fire and iron were gifted with reason, and that the latter said to the fire: "Draw me," would not this prove that it desired to become identified with the fire even so far as to share its substance? Well, that is exactly my prayer. I beg of Jesus to draw me into the flames of His Love, to unite me so closely to Himself that He may live and act in me. I feel that the more the fire of love inflames my heart, the more I shall say: "Draw me," the more also will the souls who draw near to mine run swiftly in the fragrant odors of the Well-Beloved. Words of Saint Thérèse, Story of A Soul, Chapter XI

Through the intercession of Saint Thérèse, the lives of many people have been permanently changed. Her love for souls is immeasurable. With gratitude, we pray: Through your intercession, Saint Thérèse, teach us to be willing to become like little children. We ask you to "shower your roses" upon us and those we pray for.