<html> <HEAD> <TITLE>Two Missionary Brothers St. Th&eacute;r&egrave;se</TITLE> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <LINK REL=STYLESHEET TYPE="text/css" HREF="site.css" TITLE="Style"> <csscriptdict import> <script src="GeneratedItems/CSScriptLib.js"></script> </csscriptdict> <csimport user="../Test2.data/Components/footer.html" occur="82"></csimport> <style> <!-- span.MsoFootnoteReference {vertical-align:super;} --> </style> </HEAD> <body bgcolor="#ffffff"> <div align="center" style="width: 928; height: 498"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="619"> <tr> <td><img src="images/portrait2.jpg" width="161" height="133" border="0" alt="Saint Th&eacute;r&egrave;se"><img border="0" src="images/Image1.jpg" width="431" height="136"></td> <td></td> <td> <div align="right"> &nbsp;</div> </td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="620"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#eeeeee" width="35" valign="top"><img src="images/side_rose.gif" width="35" height="200" border="0" alt="&quot;&quot;"></TD> <TD bgcolor="#eeeeee" valign="top" width="108"> <a href="Article%20Index.html"><b>Back</b></a><p>&nbsp;</TD> <td bgcolor="white" width="4">&nbsp;</TD> <TD valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffcc" width="415"> <div align="center"> &nbsp;</div> <div align="center"> &nbsp;</div> <div align="left"> <p class="MsoBodyText2" align="left" style="text-align: center"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: red; font-style: normal"> This website and article are sourced from the St. Thérèse National Office, Carmelite Community, Terenure College, Dublin 6W, Ireland.</span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText2" align="left" style="text-align: center"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: red; font-style: normal"> Director, Fr. J. Linus Ryan, O. Carm.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"> <b><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;</span></b><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoTitle" align="center"><b> <span lang="EN-US"><font size="3">The Two Missionary Spiritual Brothers</font></span></b></p> <p class="MsoTitle" align="center"> <span lang="EN-US"><font size="2">by Fr. J. Carmel O Shea, </font><i><font size="2">O. Carm.</font></i></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In the Deposition of the Canonical Process for the canonisation of St. Thérèse, one of her sisters attested as follows:  When she entered Carmel her primary object was to pray for priests. Thus she plainly declared her intention personally at the Canonical Examination which preceded her Profession: <i> I have come to save souls and in particular, to pray for priests </i>. St. Thérèse had a great longing to be a priest. How frequently are her own words quoted:  The vocation of the Priesthood. With what love, my Jesus, would I bear Thee in my hands when my words brought Thee down from Heaven! With what love too would I give Thee to the faithful. She used to think often that if her little brothers had not been taken away to Heaven, she would have had the happiness of seeing them at the altar. It was a source of great regret to her that she was deprived of such a joy. But she did not consume her heart in useless regrets. Like her great Mother, St. Teresa of Avila, she was very practical. Since she could not be a priest, she would ask Jesus for an apostolic soul who would have the same desires as herself and who would receive in her stead the graces of the Lord in the priesthood. Since she could never stand at the altar, she would ask for a priest as her spiritual brother who would remember her each day at the altar and be united to her in the bonds of spiritual brotherhood. On the day of her profession, 8<sup>th</sup> September 1890, she made this petition with extraordinary fervour to her Divine Spouse. On that very day her prayer was answered, but God did not make it known to her then. Six years later when she was suffering intensely she learned of this answer to her prayer and it brought her very great joy and consolation. May we not, incidentally, learn from this a very important lesson regarding our prayers and petitions to God. Very often we are despondent and complain perhaps that our prayers have not been answered, when in reality God has granted our petitions but for our own spiritual good hides that fact from us.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">We come now to 15<sup>th</sup> October 1895, feast of St. Teresa of Avila. On that day Thérèse of Lisieux was working away in the convent laundry when her sister, Mother Agnes of Jesus, who was then the Prioress, called her aside and read a letter which she had just received. It was from a young seminarist who wrote that he had been inspired by St. Teresa of Avila to ask for a sister who would devote herself to his salvation, together with that of the souls who would one day be entrusted to him. He promised that when he was ordained he would always remember in the Holy Sacrifice the one who was chosen to be his sister in Christ. The seminarist was the Abbé Maurice-Barthélemy Belliére, then a second-year student at the Major Seminary of Sommervieu, Calvados and aspiring to be a priest.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">The following May 1896, she received her second spiritual brother. Mother Agnes of Jesus had gone out of office and Mother Gonzague was again Prioress. Early in May the latter received, through Pére Norbert of the Premonstratensians of Mondaye, a request from Pére Roulland of the Paris Foreign Mission Society to select one of her daughters to associate with his future missionary apostolate. Mother Gonzague chose St. Thérèse and wrote to Pére Roulland telling him, adding  of my good ones she is the best & you have a very fervent auxiliary who will neglect nothing necessary for the salvation of souls . When Mother Gonzague told St. Thérèse that she was giving her a <i>second</i> spiritual brother, the Saint represented to her that as she had given all  her slender merits to one future apostle she feared they could not be given to another. Mother Gonzague, however, assured her that obedience would give them a double merit. Thérèse tells us that in the depths of her heart she felt certain of this and that since the zeal of a Carmelite ought to embrace the whole world she hoped with God s help to be of use to more than two missionaries.  Like our holy Mother, St. Teresa, I wish to be a true daughter of the Church and to make all the intentions of Christ s Vicar the great aim of my life. Such was her desire.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">It is significant that the two spiritual brothers of the Saint were destined to be missionary priests and to labour in the two great classical missionary lands, the Abbé Belliére in Africa and Pére Roulland in China. Even before she came to know Pére Roulland, her second missionary brother, his soul was already bound to hers by spiritual ties. As has already been related, St. Thérèse, on the day of her profession, 8<sup>th</sup> September 1890, asked Jesus for an apostolic soul. On that very day Pére Roulland, then a seminarist, visited the shrine of Notre Dame de la Delivrande in Normandy. He was wavering in his vocation and doubtful about entering the major seminary. But when praying at this shrine of our Blessed Lady he was  suddenly and definitely fixed in his purpose of consecrating his life to God as a missionary priest. Can we doubt that our Saint s prayer was instrumental in saving that vocation? She would indeed reveal later that this vocation was saved by Mary, Queen of Apostles and Martyrs, for she knew that there was a mysterious link between that vocation saved and her petition for an apostolic soul. In a letter written on 1<sup>st</sup> November 1896, to Pére Roulland, then in China, she confided to him as follows:  Let me tell you a secret just revealed to me by the page containing the memorable dates of your life. On 8<sup>th</sup> September 1890, your vocation to the missions was saved by Mary, Queen of Apostles and Martyrs: on that same day a little Carmelite became the spouse of the King of Heaven. Bidding good-bye to the world forever, her one object was to save souls, especially the souls of apostles. She particularly asked Jesus, her Divine Spouse, for an apostolic soul& she wanted a priest to receive in her stead the Lord s graces, to have the same aspirations, the same desires as she. & My brother, you know the unworthy Carmelite who made that prayer. Don t you agree with me that our union, confirmed on the day of your ordination to the priesthood, began on 8<sup>th</sup> September 1890? &nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">When she made her petition St. Thérèse did not desire that she should know, or meet, in this life, the priest-brother for whom she had asked.  I thought that only in Heaven I should meet the apostle, the brother I had asked Jesus for; but our beloved Saviour & designed to give me, still in exile, the joy of knowing the brother of my soul, of working with him for the salvation of poor infidels. Oh! How great is my gratitude when I consider the delicacy of Jesus gifts. <a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><![if !supportFootnotes]>[1]<![endif]></span></a>&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">We can see, therefore, that in seeking the fulfilment of her desire she was not indulging in any mere spiritual or human sentiment. She was following with inflexible purpose the whole aim of her vocation  to make Jesus loved , and to give Him souls by helping the apostles who laboured in the vineyard, especially those working in the missionary lands. Supernaturally enlightened by the Holy Spirit indwelling in her soul, she realised very clearly that there could be much self-seeking in such desires and contacts. She wanted to be  as a grain of sand trodden underfoot and to follow a path of complete anonymity so far as creatures were concerned. This was the case especially in regard to her spiritual brothers. Indeed she warned Mother Agnes that if, after her death, young priests knew that she had been given as a spiritual sister to two missionary priests they would seek the same favour and this might become a source of great danger. Even in the convent itself the community generally did not know that the Saint had been given two spiritual brothers and when, from time to time, extracts were read from their letters it was not revealed to whom they were addressed.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US"> Beyond all doubt it is by prayer and sacrifice we can best help our missionaries. Such was her guiding principle and the help she gave them was above all by prayer and sacrifice. Here is her method described by herself and she assures us that our Lord inspired her in this matter.  One day after Holy Communion , she writes,  He made me understand these words of Solomon: <i> Draw me; we will run after Thee to the odour of Thy ointments </i>. O, my Jesus, there is no need to say: in drawing me draw also the souls I love. The words <i> Draw me </i> suffice. When a soul has been captivated by the odour of Thy perfumes she cannot run alone; as a natural consequence of her attraction towards Thee all those whom she loves are drawn in her train. As a torrent bears down on the depths of the sea whatsoever it meets on the way so, likewise, my Jesus, does the soul that plunges into the boundless ocean of Thy love bear with it all its treasures! My treasures, as Thou well knowest, are the souls it has pleased Thee to unite with mine and which Thou hast confided to me. &nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">It is revealing to recall that these ardent words were written in the last year of her life. The torrent of Divine love which filled her soul when she penned them, was boundless as the ocean itself. In her at this time was fulfilled the description of the Bride-soul as it nears the end of its earthly pilgrimage given by her Father in Carmel, St. John of the Cross.  At such a time , he writes,  the rivers of love of the soul are about to enter the sea, and they are so broad and motionless that they seem to be seas already. <a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><![if !supportFootnotes]>[2]<![endif]></span></a> St. Thérèse was then living the purest life of faith, which the mystical Doctor tells us is of all lives the most pleasing to God. On Easter Sunday of 1896 the dark night of temptation against faith descended on her soul, so that the very thought of Heaven, which had been her joy from her earliest years, became a subject of torture for her. It was a  night which lasted until the ecstasy of her last moment on earth. What a treasure, then, of prayer and sacrifice must have poured out from her heart for her missionary brothers during those long months of anguish. During them the tide of pain both of body and spirit mounted ever higher until it reached its highest peak in the final agony during which she said:  I would never had believed it possible to suffer so much. Never! Never! I can only explain it by my ardent desire to save souls.&  &nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">Let us now recall the external events of that year in relation to her spiritual brothers. As we have seen, she received her first missionary brother, the Abbé Belliére on 15<sup>th</sup> October 1895.&nbsp; A whole year elapsed before she had further tidings of him. The Saint explains it.  It must be admitted that at first I had no consolations to stimulate my zeal. After having written a charming letter full of heart and noble sentiments to thank Mother Agnes of Jesus, my Brother gave no sign of life till the month of July following, except a card in November to say he was going into barracks to do his military service. In the July letter to which the Saint refers the Abbé spoke of the severe temptations to which his vocation had been subjected during his military service. St. Thérèse was greatly grieved, for she attributed the struggles he had to wage to her own lack of fervour. In the first lette she wrote to him, dated 21<sup>st</sup> October 1896, she assured him that she never ceased to implore for him the aid of the Queen of the Apostles and reminded him of the beautiful words of Holy Scripture,  Blessed is the man that endures temptations . Her letter concludes with these words,  Since He has given you grace to come forth victorious from the struggle, I hope & that our sweet Jesus will fulfil your great desires. I ask Him that you may be not a <i>good</i> missionary, but a <i>saint</i> all aflame with love for God and for souls. She never met or saw the Abbé Belliére, but sustained by her prayers and encouraged by her letters, which he prized most dearly, he persevered manfully in his vocation. On 29<sup>th</sup> September 1897, the day before the death of his spiritual sister, he left France for the novitiate of the White Fathers in Algiers. Before taking ship at Marseilles he wrote to Mére Gonzague, expressing his deep appreciation of his spiritual sister,  & Sister Thérèse: What a saint! The following year having read the <i>Story of a Soul</i> which Mére Gonzague sent to him, he wrote to her and told her  that he felt the continual action of his beloved sister in his soul .&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">Our Saint s contacts with her second missionary brother Pére Roulland were closer and more varied. He became her spiritual brother towards the end of May 1896. On 28<sup>th</sup> June of the same year, that is about a month later, he was ordained in Paris. St. Thérèse prepared with her own hands a corporal, a pall and a purificator for his first Mass, sending them to him through the Prioress, Mother Gonzague. Some days after his ordination he came to Lisieux where he said Mass in the chapel of the Carmel and actually conversed with the Saint in the parlour. By the end of August he was on his way to China.&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText2" align="left" style="text-align: center"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: red; font-style: normal"> This website and article are sourced from the St. Thérèse National Office, Carmelite Community, Terenure College, Dublin 6W, Ireland.</span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText2" align="left" style="text-align: center"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; color: red; font-style: normal"> Director, Fr. J. Linus Ryan, O. Carm.</span></p> <div style="mso-element:footnote-list"> <![if !supportFootnotes]> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"><![endif]> <div style="mso-element:footnote" id="ftn1"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"> <a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title> <span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <span lang="EN-US"><![if !supportFootnotes]>[1]<![endif]></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> <i>Collected Letters.</i></span></div> <div style="mso-element:footnote" id="ftn2"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"> <a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title> <span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <span lang="EN-US"><![if !supportFootnotes]>[2]<![endif]></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> <i>Living Flame of Love</i>, Stanza 1, 24.</span></div> </div> &nbsp;</div> </TD> </TR> <tr> <td colspan="2"><img src="images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="&quot;&quot;" hspace="74"></td> <td width="4"></td> <td width="415"><img src="images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="&quot;&quot;" hspace="205"></td> </tr> </table> <hr noshade width="620"> <csobj w="650" h="25" t="Component" csref="../Test2.data/Components/footer.html" occur="82"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="620"> <tr> <td> &nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> </div> </csobj><br> <p></p> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </body> </html>