ACT OF OBLATION OF ST. THÉRÈSE OF THE CHILD JESUS

OF THE HOLY FACE TO THE MERCIFUL LOVE OF GOD

J.M.J.T.

Offering of myself as a Victim of Holocaust to God’s Merciful Love.                                                                         9^th June 1895

O My God! Most Blessed Trinity, I desire to Love You and make You Loved, to work for the glory of Holy Church by saving souls on earth and liberating those suffering in purgatory. I desire to accomplish Your will perfectly and to reach the degree of glory You have prepared for me in Your Kingdom. I desire, in a word, to be a saint but I feel my helplessness and I beg You, O my God! To be Yourself my Sanctity! 

Since You loved me so much as to give me Your only Son as my Saviour and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of His merits are mine. I offer them to You with gladness, begging You to look upon me only in the Face of Jesus and in His heart burning with Love. 

I offer You, too, all the merits of the saints (in heaven and on earth), their acts of Love, and those of the holy angels. Finally, I offer You, O Blessed Trinity! The love and merits of the Blessed Virgin, my dear Mother. It is to her I abandon my offering, begging her to present it to You. Her Divine Son, my Beloved Spouse, told us in the days of His mortal life: “Whatsoever you ask the Father in my name He will give it to you!” I am certain, then, that You will grant my desires; I know, O my God! That the more You want to give, the more You make us desire. I feel in my heart immense desires and it is with confidence I ask You to come and take possession of my soul. Ah! I cannot receive Holy Communion as often as I desire, but, Lord, are You not all-powerful? Remain in me as in a tabernacle and never separate Yourself from Your little victim. 

I want to console You for the ingratitude of the wicked, and I beg of You to take away my freedom to displease You. If through weakness I sometimes fall, may Your Divine Glance cleanse my soul immediately, consuming all my imperfections like the fire that transforms everything into itself. 

I thank You, O my God! For all the graces You have granted me, especially the grace of making me pass through the crucible of suffering. It is with joy I shall contemplate You on the Last Day carrying the scepter of Your Cross. Since You deigned to give me a share in this very precious Cross, I hope in heaven to resemble You and to see shining in my glorified body the sacred stigmata of Your Passion. 

After earth’s Exile, I hope to go and enjoy You in the Fatherland, but I do not want to lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for Your Love alone with the one purpose of pleasing You, consoling Your Sacred Heart, and saving souls who will love You eternally.

In the evening of this life, I shall appear before You with empty hands, for I do not ask You, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is stained in Your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in Your own Justice and to receive from Your Love the eternal possession of Yourself. I want no other Throne, no other Crown but You, my Beloved! Time is nothing in Your eyes, and a single day is like a thousand years. You can, then, in one instant prepare me to appear before You. 

In order to live in one single act of perfect Love, I Offer Myself as a Victim of Holocaust to Your Merciful Love, asking You to consume me incessantly, allowing the waves of infinite tenderness shut up within You to overflow into my soul, and that thus I may become a martyr of Your Love, O my God! 

May this martyrdom, after having prepared me to appear before You, finally cause me to die and may my soul take its flight without any delay into the eternal embrace of Your Merciful Love.

I want O my Beloved, at each beat of my heart to renew this offering to You an infinite number of times, until the shadows having disappeared I may be able to tell You of my Love in an Eternal Face to Face! 

Marie, Francoise, Thérèse of the Child Jesus

and the Holy Face, unworthy Carmelite religious.

This 9^th day of June,

Feast of the Most Holy Trinity,

in the year of grace, 1895. 

---oOo---

St. Thérèse’s Prayer for Priests

St. Thérèse’s devotion to the Priesthood is to be found in all its fullness in a prayer which she used to say daily and which she learnt off by heart; this is all the more remarkable in view of her known distaste for lengthy set forms of prayer.

 ‘O Holy Father, may the torrents of love flowing from the sacred wounds of Thy Divine Son bring forth priests like unto the beloved disciple John who stood at the foot of the Cross; priests: who as a pledge of Thine own most tender love will lovingly give Thy Divine Son to the souls of men.

May Thy priests be faithful guardians of Thy Church, as John was of Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and thoughtfulness towards Thy children. May they teach souls to enter into close union with Thee through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is specially the guardian of the treasures of Thy Divine Heart.

Give us priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary, priests who will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care with which Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.

Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for Thy beloved Son, open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and give Him a generation of priests formed in thy school and having all the tender thoughtfulness of thine own spotless love.’ 

Prayer 

In honour of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face and to beg favours through her intercession.

O Father in Heaven, Who through St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, dost desire to remind the world of the Merciful Love that fills Thy Heart, and the childlike trust we should have in Thee, humbly we thank Thee for having crowned with so great glory Thine ever faithful child, and for giving her wondrous power to bring unto Thee, day by day, innumerable souls who will praise Thee eternally.

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, remember thy promise to do good upon earth, shower down thy roses on those who invoke thee and obtain for us from God the graces we hope for from His infinite goodness. 

(here mention your requests)

 

Prayer for Students

God, our Father and Creator through the intercession of St. Thérèse, we ask for insight and wisdom to see the signs of Your Love in the people and in the events of our lives.

May we discern what we have to do as students and give us the strength to do it. Grant us success in our work and examinations.

Help us to believe in Your Great Love for each one of us, so that we may live in truth and radiate Your Love in our lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Prayer 

O Holy little Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face who during thy short life on earth became a mirror of angelic purity, of love strong as death and of wholehearted abandonment to God, now that thou rejoicest in the reward of thy virtues, cast a glance of pity on me as I leave all things in thy hands.

 

Make my troubles thine own – speak a word for me to Our Lady Immaculate, whose flower of special love thou wert – to that Queen of Heaven “who smiled on thee at the dawn of life.” Beg her as Queen of the Heart of Jesus to obtain for me by her powerful intercession, the grace I yearn for so ardently at this moment, and that she join with it a blessing that may strengthen me during life, defend me at the hour of death, and lead me straight on to a happy eternity. 

 

Amen.

 

 

Prayer to St. Thérèse

 

St. Thérèse, please draw me into your great life of love. Teach me that no act is too small to fill with love. Give me great respect for all others. Remind me that everyone is a child of God especially loved by Him. Draw me into the very respect of God Himself for us all. Draw me into His big heartedness – widen the horizons of my mind and heart. Then I may be able to think nothing, feel nothing, wish nothing, do nothing except what will build up someone else.

Help me to do this over and over again – to practice with you, being Love in the heart of Mother Church.

Amen.

 

Aloysius Ryan, O. Carm., Carmelite Church, Kildare.

  

A prayer to St. Thérèse

St. Thérèse, please draw me into your great praise of God and your surrender to His Merciful Love.

Rather, help me to open my heart and empty it . . . really empty it this very moment of everything about myself, so as to let Him fill me, soak me brimful with His Love. Then I will be able to love Him at least a little bit. Keep me always receiving from Him, always turned towards Him “come, come, come”.

Help me to become more aware of His great plans of love for my whole life.

Help me not to be so busy and preoccupied about everything myself. “He made us, we belong to Him”. 

Help me to abandon myself freely to play before the Child Jesus (Prov 8, 30) with you “to offer myself to Him as his little plaything . . . that He will treat me like a little ball of no value, that He can throw on the ground, kick, pierce, leave in a corner or press to His Heart . . . to amuse the little Jesus and abandon myself to His childish whims”. 

“O little Child Jesus! My one treasure, I abandon myself to Your Divine whims. 

I wish for no other joy but that of making you smile”.

Aloysius Ryan, O. Carm., Carmelite Church, Kildare.

  

Prayer

 

To St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus to obtain World Peace.

O St. Thérèse, Little Flower of Jesus, who won universal confidence, obtain for all nations the blessing of fraternal union.

Exert thy wondrous influence over hearts, so that all the children of the great human family may unite in love of the same Father who is in Heaven. Teach nations and individuals the great law of evangelical charity which thou hast so well understood and practised here below and dost continue so gloriously now thou art in Heaven. That a lasting agreement being thus established between nations the desire of the Vicar of Jesus Christ may be soon realised: “Peace as a fruit of Justice and Charity”.

Amen.                                                                                                                

Wishes of St. Thérèse

“Love your littleness and your poverty, it is that, as well as your blind trust in His Mercy which pleases the good God.” 

“May prayer and sacrifice be your whole strength; these are invincible arms; they, far better than words, can move hearts, I know it by experience.”

Before her death St. Thérèse said: “After my death I will let fall a shower of roses”.  “I will spend my Heaven doing good on earth.”

  

Quote from ‘Story of a Soul’

 

“Ah! In spite of my littleness, I would like to enlighten souls as did the Prophets and the Doctors. I have the vocation of the Apostle. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach Your Name and to plant Your glorious Cross on infidel soil. But O my Beloved, one mission alone would not be sufficient for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary not for a few years only but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages. But above all, O my Beloved Saviour, I would shed my blood for You even to the very last drop.”

 

(Autobiography of St. Thérèse – ‘Story of a Soul’ – Man. B, Ch 9).

 

 

 

 

Petition Prayer

 

Lord Jesus, through the life of St. Thérèse, you have brought new hope to all who long to open their hearts to you. Teach us the secret of her ‘Little Way’ and help us to realise that we can always talk with You and bring You our gratitude, our smiles and our tears.

 

Stay with us, Jesus, so that in the midst of our busy hours, we may turn to You in loving trust. Transform each passing moment of time into a moment of prayer. Fill every troubled heart with the confident faith of St. Thérèse. In joy and in sorrow, in every circumstance, may our hearts rest in Your peace.

Amen.

 

 

Prayer to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Teach us how to open our hearts

Without reserve

to the Holy Spirit

as you did,

to seek and find God’s will

in all the crisis and choices,

in the joys and disappointments

of our lives.

Gain for us too

the grace to do His will

with courage and untroubled hearts

so that we may radiate a joy and a

gladness like yours

in the service of Our Lord.

 

 

Prayer to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus

 

God, Our Father,

You promised Your Kingdom

to the little ones

and the humble of heart

Give us the grace

to walk confidently in the way

of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus,

so that helped by her prayers,

we may see Your glory

and share in Your Kingdom. 

 

Litany of Saint Thérèse

of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face.

 

Lord, have mercy.                            

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy, Christ, hear us.         

Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father in Heaven,                 

have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,      

have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit,                             

have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God,                              

have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,                                            

pray for us.

Saint Joseph,

pray for us.

Saint Teresa of Jesus,

pray for us.

Saint John of the Cross,      

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face,    

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, Gift of God to Carmel,                          

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, Gift of God to the Church,                         pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, Doctor of the Universal Church,         

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, Patroness of the Missions,              

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, Secondary Patroness of France,                      pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, beloved child of the heavenly                               Father,

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, passionately in love with Jesus,

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who so wanted to resemble the Child                  Jesus,             

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who so wanted to resemble the

suffering of Jesus

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, on fire with love through the Holy

Spirit,

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who gave us the ‘little way of spiritual                 childhood',

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who only sought the truth,                  

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who ‘chose all’ that God wanted,        

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who understood and practiced

humility of heart,

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who forgot yourself to make others                      happy,

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who fought with the weapons of      

prayer and sacrifice,

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who wanted to love like Jesus                 Himself,

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who understood and lived charity,      

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who praised the works of the                            Creator,

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who praised the mercies of the                  Lord,

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, poor, chaste, and obedient,                

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, faithful in the littlest things,                 

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, whose weakness is folly,                   

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, free and joyful,                        

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, patient and courageous,                   

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, simple in joy and suffering.                 

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, tried in your faith,                        

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who hoped against all hope,               

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who refused God nothing,                   

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, rapidly consumed by Love,                   

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, martyr of Love,                        

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, nourished by the Word of God,            

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, burning with desire for the Eucharist,              

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, love in the heart of the Church,           

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, word of God for the world,                   

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, teacher of the spiritual life,                  

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, apostle of Mercy,                        

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, offered to Merciful Love,                   

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who came before God with empty hands,         

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, happy in your weakness,                   

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, trusting in spite of everything,             

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who found in abandonment to the Father an ocean of peace,    

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, consumed with zeal for the salvation of souls,    

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, sister and friend of priests,                  

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, support of your brother missionaries,              

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, mother of a multitude,                        

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, everyone’s sister,                        

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, seated at the table of sinners,           

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, who made a condemned criminal your first child,    

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, close to prisoners, sister of the wounded in life,    

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, friend of unbelievers,                        

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, close to those who are tempted and who doubt,    

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, close to those who despair,                 

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, presence of pardon and peace,           

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, witness of God, our Merciful Father,            

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, witness of Christ, Servant and Saviour,         

pray for us.

Saint Thérèse, witness of the Spirit of Love and Holiness,    

pray for us.

 

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.    

Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,    

Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,    

Have mercy on us.

 

Pray for us, Saint Thérèse, that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

 

Let us pray.

 

God our Father, You have promised your Kingdom to those who are willing to become like little children. Help us to follow the way of Saint Thérèse with confidence so that by her prayers we may come to know your eternal glory. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.