This website and article are sourced from the St. Thérèse National Office, Carmelite Community, Terenure College, Dublin 6W, Ireland.

Director, Fr. J. Linus Ryan, O. Carm. 

Thérèse, His Shining ?Star?

Words of Pope Pius XI

 I ? Pius XI?s address on 11^th February 1923, at the time of the approval of the miracles needed for Thérèse?s Beatification. 

It is certain that God?s voice and the people?s voice are as though divinely united to exalt the Venerable Thérèse of the Child Jesus: but it is God?s voice that has made itself heard first. It is not it that harmonises with that of the people, it is the voice of the people that has recognised and followed the voice of God. Yes, God?s voice has made itself heard first: above all, in the incomparable preparation the splendours of which we admire today and it is, in fact, God Himself we admire in the truly heroic virtues of this wholly celestial creature. The people?s voice is lifted up next, without delay; the voice of a fervent, suppliant people that has been coming in pilgrimage to her. 

To this voice of the people, the miracles have come to add their eloquence and it is really God who, in this marvellous harmony, makes us hear His voice in all its strength and all its magnificence: Vox Domini in virtute, vox Domini in magnificentia. Yes, it is the voice of God that prepared this soul to make her to climb the sublimest heights of perfection, quick and light as a deer: Vox Domini praeparantis cervos. It is the voice of God which, by the resplendence of the miracles, has been revealing the treasure of the virtues He had condensed in this heart: Vox Domini revelabit condensa, for the virtues of this great soul are a real miracle: ?By the Lord has this been done and it is wonderful in our eyes.? It is enough to read the life of ?little Thérèse,? even in an abridged account, to feel one has the right to say of her, borrowing the expression of the divine poet [Dante], that she is ?the thing come down from Heaven upon earth to show us a miracle:? ?Cosa venuta di Cielo in terra a miraculo mostrare.? 

And that miracle is full of teachings that are as proper to the glorifying of God as they are profitable to us. The opulent virtue of God, the infinite richness of the divine artist are manifested to us in the supernatural order as in the natural order. One might even say that for us knowledge of the natural order is like an initiation and an introduction to an understanding, far more precious, of the supernatural order. 

The same God who launches into space the imposing masses of worlds, ruled with a marvellous harmony, carves also, in the secret of the rock, the facets of the crystals which no less eloquently speak of the perfection of His wisdom. The same hand that brings into being the giants of life, on the earth and in the oceans, forms also the invisible organisms of the infinitely small. 

It is so also in the supernatural order. To confine ourselves to recent Centenaries: the same God who brings into being those giants of holiness and of the apostolate that were St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier ? behind whom stand, ever resplendent on the horizon of the spiritual life, the incomparable figures of Peter and of Paul, of Athanasius, of Chrysostom, of Ambrose and of Charles Borromeo ? that same God at this moment reveals Himself to us as one who, with an infinite love, has formed in secret so exquisitely fine a miniature of perfect holiness, this altogether humble, altogether little and so virginal child. Recognise here in the supernatural order the same process to which God is pleased to have recourse in the natural order, just as that Christian poet whose fiftieth anniversary we shall shortly be celebrating [Manzoni] has sung: ?God makes spring up in our fields the ear to nourish and the flax to clothe us; He spreads medicinal essences in the plants. He it is who has created the pine that braves the winds and the willow bending to one?s hand; the fir-tree that resists winter and the poplar which does not fear the rains: and it is He, also, that brings to birth the flower whose fine tissue spreads out the magnificence of its colours for Him alone, which breathes forth towards Heaven the perfumes of its petalled chalice and dies in silence.? This silent flower, this tissue of resplendent tints, this perfume that spreads itself at large, this beauty that shows itself only to the gaze of God ? is not this the little Thérèse of the Child Jesus? 

What words does God wish to say to us? 

What does she wish to say to us, ?little Thérèse,? who has become ? she also ? a word of God? for God speaks through His works and the characteristic of those most united to Him is that they speak to us, they also, not by words but by their works. God says to us and ?little Thérèse? with Him, that it is something, if not greater at least as great as the action and power of the genius, something which, before God, is as precious as the great qualities of wisdom and organisation ? efficacious as they nevertheless are in the Christian apostolate ? such as those of St. Francis of Sales and St. Teresa of Jesus (Teresa of Avila). 

Yes, it is something which, before God, is as least as precious: it is humility, the gentle and sincere humility of the heart, the total fidelity to the duties of one state, whatever it may be, in whatever sphere and in whatever degree of the human hierarchy God may have placed us and called us to work; the disposition towards every sacrifice, the abandon which trusts in the hand and the heart of God and above all the true charity, the real love of God, the genuine tenderness for Jesus Christ, responding to the tenderness that He himself has evidenced for us, that charity which ? as the Apostle said to the faithful of Corinth and the Church this Sunday, not without providential coincidence, recalls to us ? is kind, patient, active always and bearing all things, ready for every dedication and every immolation. That is the path which, without permitting everyone to attain to the heights to which God has led Thérèse, is not only possible but is easy for all. As St. Augustine observes, not everyone can preach and do great works. But then, who is incapable of praying, of humbling oneself and of loving? 

Such is the lesson that ?little Thérèse? offers us today, in order that we may be able to raise our aspirations to the perfection of Christian life. And it is in the splendid light of these ineffable realities that, with all our heart, We congratulate the religious family of Carmel on the new flower the charity of the Divine Heart has caused to spring up in its garden. We congratulate you, Eminentissime (Cardinal Vico, postulator of Thérèse?s Cause) and all those who have co-operated to bring to a good completion such a beautiful enterprise. 

On this anniversary of the apparition of Lourdes which brings to an end the first year of Our Pontificate, we thank God for having willed to join to the happy auspices which, through the Immaculate Virgin, presided over Our elevation to the papacy the promises coming to Us from the dear Star that is Thérèse of the Child Jesus, miracle of virtues and prodigy of miracles. We recommend to her, not only Our poor and humble Person, not only the works of evangelisation entrusted to the Order of Carmel and all the Missions that were so dear to her and which inspired in her such fervent accents and such high aspirations, but also the whole Church, all the immense family that the heart of God has deigned to bequeath to Our heart; and from that heart, We draw down the warmest and most abundant blessing for each and every one of you, for everything that occupies your spirit and your heart, in order that that blessing may enter in wherever your thoughts and your affections enter. 

II ? Pius XI?s homily during the Solemn Mass of Thérèse?s canonisation, 17^th May 1925 

Venerable Brothers and beloved Sons, 

Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort [2 Cor. 1:3] who, in the midst of the numerous solicitudes of the Apostolic Ministry, has accorded Us the joy of inscribing as the first one in the Catalogue of Saints, this virgin whom ? the first one also, at the beginning of Our Pontificate ? we raised to the honours of ?Blessed;? this virgin, I say, who made herself a child in accordance with grace: but a childhood that, being inseparable from a real strength of soul, fully merits, in keeping with the very promises of Jesus Christ, to be exalted and glorified in the heavenly Jerusalem and before the Church militant. 

We thank God equally for that which He has permitted Us to do today, We standing in the place of His only Son ? to repeat and to instil into all, from the height of this Chair of truth and in the course of this august ceremony, the teaching of the Divine Master, so salutary is it. When His disciples asked Him who ?would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? (Matt. 18:1), calling a child and setting it in the midst of them, He spoke these memorable words: ?Amen, I say to you, unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.? (ibid. 3). 

The new Saint Thérèse was penetrated by this evangelical doctrine and put it into practice every day of her life. More than that, she taught this Way of Spiritual Childhood by her words and her example to the novices of her Convent and revealed it to all by her writings, which have spread throughout all the world; and assuredly, no-one could have read them without being charmed, without reading and re-reading them with great pleasure, great fruit. 

For this artless child, coming to flower in the enclosed garden of Carmel, not content with adding to her name that of the Child Jesus, retraced in herself His living image; and so, whoever venerates Thérèse, venerates at the same time, one can say, the Divine Model she reproduced. 

That is why We conceive today the hope of seeing come to birth, in the souls of Christ?s faithful, a holy avidity, as it were, to acquire this evangelical childhood, which consists in feeling and doing things, under the sway of virtue, as a child feels and does things naturally. Just as little children whom no shadow of sin blinds, no lust of passion entices, rejoice in the tranquil possession of their innocence and, knowing nothing of malice and dissimulation, speak and act as they think and reveal themselves on the outside as they really are: so Thérèse appeared more angelic than human and as endowed with the simplicity of a child, in the practice of truth and justice. The Virgin of Lisieux always had present to her mind these invitations and these promises of the Divine Spouse: ?Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me.? [Prov. 9:4], ?You will be carried on my breast and caressed on my knees.? ?As a mother caresses her child, so I will comfort you.? [Isai. 66: 12-13]. 

Aware of her feebleness, she delivered herself up and abandoned herself wholly to Divine Providence and relying wholly upon His aid, worked to acquire, at the cost of every sacrifice, the perfect holiness of life to which she had resolved to tend, by a full and joyous abdication of her will. 

Let us not be surprised if in this holy Nun the words of Christ are fulfilled: ?the one who makes himself little as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.? [Matt. 18:4]. It has thus pleased Divine Goodness to endow and enrich her with a gift of Wisdom altogether exceptional. From the lessons of the catechism she drew abundantly the pure doctrine of faith; that of asceticism from The Imitation of Jesus Christ, book of gold; that of mysticism from the writings of her Father, St. John of the Cross. Above all, she nourished her spirit and her heart by assiduous meditation on the Sacred Scriptures and the Spirit of Truth unveiled to her and taught her what ordinarily He hides from the wise and the prudent and reveals to the humble. She acquired indeed ? as Our immediate Predecessor testified ? such a knowledge of supernatural things that she was able to trace for others a path of salvation that is certain. 

This superabundant participation in divine light and grace enkindled in Thérèse so strong a flame of love that she lived in it solely, rising above everything created and was, at the end, consumed by it ? so much so that, a little before her death, she was able to make the artless avowal that she had given nothing to the good God except love. It was evidently also under the influence of this ardent charity that the Virgin of Lisieux conceived that resolution and that solicitude to do everything for love of Jesus, with the sole aim of pleasing Him, of consoling His Divine Heart and of obtaining the salvation of many souls who would love Him eternally. Of her having started to do this ever since her arrival in the heavenly Homeland, we have proof in that mystical rain of roses that God permitted and still permits, her to shower upon the earth, as she ingenuously foretold. 

Also, Venerable Brothers and very dear Sons, We ardently desire that all the faithful make themselves worthy to share in this abundant effusion of graces, through the intercession of ?little Thérèse.? But We wish even more that they contemplate her attentively with a view to imitating her, becoming children themselves, since without that they will not, according to the oracle of Christ, be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 

If this Way of Spiritual Childhood becomes general, who can fail to see how easily will be achieved that reform of human Society which was Our intention from the beginning of Our Pontificate and especially in promulgating this solemn Jubilee! 

We, then, make Our own that prayer of the new Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus which ended the precious Book of her Life: 

?O Jesus, we beseech you to cast your Divine Gaze down on a large number of little souls and to choose for yourself in this world a legion of little victims worthy of Your Love!? 

III ? Radio message of Pius XI after the Blessing of the Basilica of St. Thérèse at Lisieux, 11^th July 1937 

Here We are with you, the Shepherd with his dear flock, the Father with his beloved Sons. 

Here We are with you, in the most holy name of our Divine Redeemer, of our lovable King of the Tabernacle; in the name of Saint Thérèse who, today more than ever, is the honour and glory of Lisieux and its Carmel. 

Our most dear Son and Cardinal Legate a latere (Cardinal Pacelli, the future Pius XII, representing the Pope at the Blessing of the Basilica) brings to the midst of you Our Person: he speaks to you in Our name; he is, by his pious and eloquent words, Our interpreter. 

We come to you to pray with you, being well persuaded that that is the most opportune form, nay even the most necessary one, of taking part with you in these truly divine hours which the infinite goodness of Our Lord grants you and for rejoicing with you at this new and ineffable smile that the Immaculate Virgin, of Lourdes and of all your shrines, wishes so much to shed upon your and Our dear France. 

The ?most opportune? form ? We said ? while the Divine King, from His eucharistic throne and your and Our dear little Saint, from her glorious tomb, enlightens our spirits with the splendour of faith and enkindles in our hearts the divine fervours of prayer. 

And We added: ?the most necessary?, since the woes and dangers that menace us are so numerous that they make us think more than ever of the words of the Divine Master: ?We ought always to pray and not to faint?. [Luke 18:1]. Let us pray, then, beloved Sons: Oremus! oremus! 

Let us pray to our Divine Creator, who is by that very fact the Sovereign Master of Heaven and of earth, of peoples and of nations. 

Pray, that He may will to grant a little tranquillity in order and in peace to a world troubled and turned upside down; to all those peoples oppressed by the sorrows of the present time and anxious about tomorrow: and this by a return to the right road, that is to say by acceptance of His Divine Sovereignty, by obedience to His holy laws, by the practice of justice and a greater charity towards those who are disinherited and by that very fact are the ones who suffer most. 

Pray, beloved Sons, that, as the Divine King of the Tabernacle has created our souls and given all His precious blood for them, He will similarly deign also to sanctify and save them, in making them, here and now, in awaiting heavenly glory, living basilicas where He will be pleased to dwell with His sanctifying grace and all His blessings: basilicas so beautiful, so magnificent, that no worldly beauty could compare with them, not even the delightful splendours of the new Basilica of Lisieux. 

Let us pray, beloved Sons, for those who have charge and guard of those living basilicas ? of your souls, We say ? and of every soul: so that, thanks to their assiduous prayers, to their enlightened zeal, to the industry and the works of their apostolate, to the exemplary holiness of their lives, the reign of Jesus Christ may be maintained and increased more and more in the world and that they may be able, from one day to another, to approach fearlessly and rather with confidence, to the tribunal of God to render account of their mission ? that is, account of all your souls. 

This is to tell you, very dear Sons, to pray with an altogether filial piety for Ourself, whose responsibility is so great and whose rendering of account so near. We say to you: ?Pray for Us; We pray for you? and with the apostle, ?Pray for one another, that you may be saved.? [James 5:16]. It is Our duty to pray for you. And how sweet this duty is for Us and how conscious we are of it, well knowing ? and remembering with gratitude ? that you have prayed and pray for Us with all your brothers of the great Catholic family. 

This is also to tell you, Our beloved Sons, to continue to pray for Us; and may this be for Us to obtain, above all and at any cost, a full and perfect conformity with the most lovable will of our Divine King, Jesus Christ, in that spirit of rich simplicity and of spiritual Childhood, that is to say, of filial abandon, which merited to your and Our dear Saint Thérèse of Lisieux to be so pleasing to the heart of the Divine Spouse. 

And now, may there descend on us, each and every one, that Blessing which ever is the desire of good sons and of the devoted faithful, as you are: the Blessing of the Father, the Father of old, whom your prayers have recalled to mind on the road of life, for a new day?s journey, to when and where ? God alone knows ? the Blessing of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. 

This Divine King, whose pleasure is to converse with the simple and who takes His delight amongst the lilies [Prov. 3:32; Song of Songs, 2:16] could not but grant this yet other rose at the intervention of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, ever invoked more earnestly. We know this through the sisters of her family, natural and supernatural. May this Blessing remain upon you ? each and every one ? and upon all the dear things and the dear persons you wish it to go to. 

Through the prayers and the merits of the Blessed Mary, Ever-Virgin, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of all the Saints: Benedictio Dei omnipotentis Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, descendat super vos et maneat semper. 

This website and article are sourced from the St. Thérèse National Office, Carmelite Community, Terenure College, Dublin 6W, Ireland.

Director, Fr. J. Linus Ryan, O. Carm.