This year, we will celebrate the World Mission Sunday on October 18. It’s very providential that we begin this month, with the feast of St Therese of the Child Jesus popularly known as the “Little Flower’ on October 1.
From the time she entered Carmel at the age of 15 until her death when she was not yet 25 years old, Therese, whose motto of monastic life was, “To love Jesus and to make him loved.” She never left her Cloistered Carmel in Lisieux-France and yet, she was named Patroness of the Missions, without ever having gone to a missionary land.
As most of our parishes in Goa were founded before the canonisation of Therese, to our knowledge not a single one is dedicated to her, with the exception of the Public Oratory attached to the Carmelite Monastery, Margao, which is placed under her patronage.
But her popularity can be gauged from that fact that we see her statues in many Churches. There are, however, some schools (Calangute, Raia, Vasco, Sant Estevam) and a higher secondary (Candolim) which have taken her as their patroness.
St Therese was greatly influenced by the writings of St John of the Cross specially, The Spiritual Canticle, where he writes: “A little of this pure love is more precious to God and the soul, and more beneficial to the Church… than all these other works put together.” St Therese herself exclaims, “Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant count as nothing.”
The world would never have heard of Thérèse had she not been told to write down her childhood recollections. Her story of life was published after her death as a book: The Story of a Soul. It took the Christian world by storm. Thomas Merton, a famous Trappist monk, attributed his vocation to her inspiration.
Dorothy Day an American journalist wrote a biography of Therese. Our own St Teresa of Kolkata whose baptismal name was Agnes, chose the name of “Teresa” because she was inspired by St Therese’s capability to do ordinary things with extraordinary love.
We can easily trace the influence of the Little Flower in some famous sayings of Mother Teresa “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love,” “I am not sure exactly what heaven will be life, but I know that when we die and it comes for God to judge us, he will not ask, ‘How many things have you done in your life?’ rather he will ask, ‘How much love did you put into what you did.’” Both of these women are beautiful examples about how we can become instruments of God’s love.
The “little way” of spiritual childhood proposed by Therese, which is the way of trust and complete self-surrender, the way of simplicity and perfection in the doing of small things and daily duties, has become a pattern for numberless people.
St Therese’s spirituality is very well lived by our Cloistered Carmels, who are truly power houses of prayer. People entrust their intentions and petitions to their intercession. In Goa too, we have Cloistered Carmel Convent at Chicalim where 16 nuns live a hidden life and silent witness as a praying community. This Carmel is a source of blessings to the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.
Do we feel that missionary life is not meant for us for we cannot do great things or travel distant lands? Do we feel inadequate because of our age and learning? Do we think that holiness is only for a few? Then, the life of St Therese challenges us today.
(The writer is Superior at the Carmelite Monastery in Margao)
