Saint of the Day for Kids App welcomes World Youth Day pilgrims from all over the world. As the main developer for the App, I have attended including:
- Denver, Colorado, United States of America
- Rome, Italy
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Cologne, Germany
That is a lot of travelling and meeting youth from all over the world.
Saints for Prayer
One of the highlights of World Youth Day is the highlight of various patrons of World Youth Day. You may be wondering if we have included any of the intercessors and patrons for World Youth Day in Rio, Brazil this year (2013). WE DO!
St. Therese of Lisieux.
Therese belonged to a very holy family. Her mother and father loved Jesus so much and they taught Therese and her four sisters to love Jesus too. Therese was the youngest in the family and everyone loved her very much and took very good care of her. When Therese was only 4 years old, her mother got very sick and she died. Therese’s oldest sister Pauline became like a mother to Therese. Since Therese was the youngest and people felt bad for her because she lost her mother, she was spoiled; everyone did everything for her. When Pauline decided to leave home to join the convent, Therese was heart broken, because it felt like she was loosing her mother all over again. Therese became very sick and people were very worried about her. During this time she would pray a lot, and one day while she was looking at a statue of Mary that was near her bed, she saw Mary smile at her and right away Therese was cured from her illness. Soon after two more of Therese’s sisters soon joined the convent and Therese was left at home with her sister Celine and her father. Therese was only 11 years old, but she wanted to join the Carmelite convent too, but she had become a very sensitive little girl and her feelings were hurt very easily. She knew that to join the convent she had to get stronger and she would have to learn to do things for herself. When she was 14 years old on Christmas Eve God gave her the gift of being stronger and not so sensitive and Therese knew that she was ready to join the convent. This new gift of strength from God gave Therese the courage to ask to join the convent even though everyone thought she was too young. When the leader of the convent said no, Therese went to the Bishop, when the Bishop said no Therese went all the way to Rome to ask the Pope! The Pope was so amazed by this young girl’s courage and strength that he allowed her to join the convent that her sisters were living in, a Carmelite cloistered convent. Cloistered meant that Therese lived the rest of her life in the convent without leaving and without seeing her father again. In the convent Therese discovered living the “Little Way”, doing every little thing that she could with great love for Jesus. Although she never did anything big and wonderful in the eyes of the world, she did every little thing for love of God and this made her Saint.
St. Therese of Lisieux, you learned to give your life to Jesus in all the little things you did every day. Pray for us, that we would offer up all our little moments ever day to Jesus, so that we can grow closer to Him every day.
Yesterday I visited the Shrine of Saint Therese in Darien, IL for a coiossenfn with Father Bernard, a German Carmelite Monk who has lived in the States for many years. He is now assigned to the Shrine, and it is next door to the Carmelite Provincial House.After the Sacrament of Confession, Father gave me a tour of the cell in which Saint Terese lived and died. It’s not a replica, but the real cell. It includes her bed and all the furniture therein. Actual window that overlooked a courtyard. It was the very same window that she looked out and saw a huge Cricifix. Her writing desk, and her writings were there as well. Then there is actual door and door frame, and tiles that were all from her room including the door knob.Finally, her favourite painting of Jesus standing outside the door of our hearts and knocking. There is no knob to open the door from the outside. It is up to us to open the door from the inside, and let Jesus enter into our lives.Invite Our Lord to enter into your lives, and let Him be Lord over your life.
Oh how I wish in the deepest parts of my heart and soul I wish I could atnetd this ceremony. Unfortunately I live too far away. I wish this could be live for those of us who LOVE St. Therese and want to be there. I will be there in spirit. I hope to visit one day. Until then I will continue to keep St. Therese in my heart, thoughts, prayers and actions everyday.