Showered With Roses

“I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will let fall from heaven a shower of roses.”
St. Thérèse of Lisieux

My love for St. Thérèse of Lisieux goes back to middle school. I heard a cool story about her in the 6th grade and immediately decided she was my girl. I chose her as my confirmation saint and the rest is history!  I read tons about her, prayed novenas, and placed in her hands so many different intentions over the years. 

Since today is her feast day, I just wanted to share a quick story about a powerful role she has played in my vocation. I spent many years discerning my vocation, though most of the time I deeply hoped I was called to marriage. In college, at 21 years old, I remember chatting with my friends about our potential weddings. We were sharing hopes and dreams and plans for them. I distinctly remember lamenting that I always wanted to get married on the feast day of St. Thérèse, but the next time it lands on a Saturday wasn’t  for another seven years, and I wasn’t going to wait until I was 28 years old to get married.

Sometimes, God has the last laugh. 

Seven years later, on October 1, 2016, the feast day of St. Thérèse, I was walking down the aisle to meet my groom.  We’ve been married three years today, and I couldn’t be more grateful. 

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Sometimes God’s plans for us are different that what we expect or think we desire. Sometimes we have to wait longer for their fulfillment than we expected. Sometimes it doesn’t look anything like what we expected, but his plan is always good and beautiful and his timing always perfect. 

St. Thérèse desired much to be a foreign missionary, but her poor health prevented it. She did enter the Carmelite monastery at age 15, but never left and died from tuberculosis at age 24. She spent her life striving toward holiness in the smallest of ways, her little way. Doing small things with great love was her invisible way of heroic virtue. Today, she is a doctor of the church and among other things, patron saint of missionaries.

I can’t believe it’s already been three years since I’ve been married  and can honestly say I’m even more grateful today than I was on our wedding day. So many dreams and prayers were fulfilled so beautifully, even though it wasn’t at all what I expected or even hoped for 10 years before. 

I know the prayers and intercession of St. Thérèse had something to do with the way these things fell together. Our path was certainly showered with roses in the form of spiritual gifts, consolations, and assurance that our vocation to love was, in fact, with each other.

So, on this feast day of St. Thérèse, ask her to pray for you, and see how she showers you with heavenly roses. 

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In honor of my favorite day… here’s a free gift designed by me for you: