#spiritualmotherhood — Public Fediverse posts

READING

My joy is to struggle unceasingly
To bring forth spiritual children.
It’s with a heart burning with tenderness
That I keep saying to Jesus:
“For you, my Divine Little Brother,
I’m happy to suffer.
My only joy on earth
Is to be able to please you.

PN 45, Stanza 6

REFLECTION

Have you considered your role in bringing others closer to Jesus? St. Thérèse, though she lived in a cloister, saw her mission as spiritual motherhood—unceasingly offering her struggles to bring spiritual children to Christ. This calling is not limited to the cloister. Each of us can offer our prayers, sacrifices, and acts of love to bring souls to Jesus, wherever we are. Today, reflect on how you can embrace your own call to spiritual motherhood or fatherhood. Ask St. Thérèse to help you find joy in offering everything to Jesus for the salvation of souls.

NOVENA PRAYER

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus,
remember your promise to do good on earth;
send your shower of roses in abundance
on those who call upon you,
and obtain for us from God the graces
we are waiting to receive from His infinite goodness.

mention your intentions here

God our Father,
you have promised your kingdom
to those who are willing to become like little children.
Help us to follow the way of Saint Thérèse with confidence
so that by her prayers
we may come to know your eternal glory.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever. Amen.

We always refer to the website of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux for the vast majority of our quotes concerning Saint Thérèse, Saint Zélie, and Saint Louis Martin. If you would like to purchase English translations for the collected works of St. Thérèse, please visit the website of our Discalced Carmelite friars at ICS Publications. 

Thérèse of Lisieux, S 1995, The Poetry of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, translated from the French by Kinney, D, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/09/27/tejnovena24-7/

#divine #happy #heart #InfantJesus #joy #novena #spiritualMotherhood #StThereseOfLisieux #suffer #tenderness #TheLittleFlower

Novena Introduction

On 15 October 2023, the Teresian Jubilee Year draws to a close, celebrating the Fourth Centenary of the canonization of St. Teresa of Avila. We are privileged to share excerpts from a novena of Masses in the Discalced Carmelite Church of La Santa in Avila, at which Bishop Silvio José Báez, o.c.d. preached and presided in October 2019.

In our 2023 St. Teresa of Avila Novena, Bishop Báez’s daily meditations are not only a commentary on sacred scripture and the writings of Teresa; they form a veritable spiritual retreat. By way of introduction to our novena, Bishop Báez has graciously written an intimate, personal reflection for our readers.

Novena Reflection

St. Teresa of Avila, for me as a Carmelite bishop, is much more than a historical figure. She is my closest confidant, most luminous evangelical inspiration, and spiritual teacher in the depths of my being. Her authentic, intense humanity, her passion for human values, and her unfathomable experience of the love of Christ captivated me from my first years of formation as a Carmelite friar.

She has taught me to embrace the Gospel with renewed passion and to live it with a very particular style, placing at the center of my life the experience of prayer as the “strong pillar” [The Book of Her Life, 8:1] around which my whole existence as a believer and my episcopal ministry revolves.

Prayer, which Teresa describes as “intimate sharing between friends” [The Book of Her Life, 8:5]—and our friend is the Lord—has become a source of strength, light, and consolation in my life and ministry. Familiarity with the Lord, experienced and nourished in the silent warmth of prayer, defines and orients my whole existence.

St. Teresa taught me to experience prayer as a “watchtower” that we can climb to see the truth [The Book of Her Life, 21:5], that is, as a fundamental experience for the discernment of God’s will. From her, I have learned to experience prayer as a profound encounter with the Lord’s love and a lucid experience of listening to his Word. Prayer leads me to distance myself from reality, to purify my choices and feelings, and to see reality with the eyes of God.

St. Teresa also has instilled in me a deep appreciation for the dignity of every human being. Her vision of the human person as a precious castle, “made entirely out of a diamond or of very clear crystal” where God dwells [The Interior Castle, I, 1:1], has enabled me to relate to others with respect and love, shaping my ministry in the service of other people’s lives and dignity. And, from her, I also have learned to see the challenges of history and the great dramas and pains of the world as my own. I never forget her motto: “The world is all in flames […] this is not the time to be discussing with God matters that have little importance” [The Way of Perfection, 1:5].

St. Teresa of Avila constantly invites me to fix my eyes on the Crucified [cf. The Interior Castle, VII, 4:8]. The image of the poor Christ on the cross nourishes my poor humanity with the infinite love of God manifested in him, becoming the fundamental criterion of discernment of my thoughts and actions and the greatest strength that sustains me in the dark nights of life and ministry.

Communion with the Crucified Christ, which I learned from St. Teresa, has made me sensitive to the injustices of the least in the world. It has taught me to listen to the cry of Christ in the helpless and to place myself firmly at their side, never accepting that which is unacceptable to God.

St. Teresa is more than a historical figure for me. She is my spiritual mother and a warm, familiar, constant presence who enlightens my journey of faith as I follow Jesus. Thanks to her, I live the Gospel with passion, I follow Jesus faithfully “on the path of prayer” [Meditations on the Song of Songs, Prologue], I love the Church with fidelity, and I try to live my episcopal ministry in the light of the Teresian ideal—to become one of “the slaves of God. Marked with His brand, which is that of the cross, spiritual persons, because now they have given Him their liberty, can be sold by Him as slaves of everyone, as He was” [The Interior Castle, VII, 4:8]. 

Bishop Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.

Auxiliary Bishop of Managua

Novena Meditations

• Day 1
  Who is my neighbor?
• Day 2
  Martha and Mary
• Day 3
  The solitary prayer of Christ
• Day 4
  Jesus, our true friend
• Day 5
  Healed by the love of Jesus
  
• Day 6
  The Virgin Mary, our Mother
• Day 7
  Praising God for his mercies
• Day 8
  Jesus’ gift of living water
• Day 9
  The wisdom of St. Teresa

Novena Prayer

O Holy Mother Saint Teresa, look down from heaven and see: visit this vine and protect what thy right hand hath planted.

(Mention your intentions)

Merciful God, who by thy Spirit didst raise up thy servant Saint Teresa of Jesus to reveal to thy Church the way of perfection: grant that her teaching may awaken in us a longing for holiness until assisted by her intercession, we attain to the perfect union of love in Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Our Father…

Hail Mary…

Glory be…

Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us!

All Teresian citations for this novena come from the 1985 edition of The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, published by ICS Publications, Washington DC. All translations of the writings of Bishop Silvio José Báez, o.c.d. are the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This anonymous 17th-century Spanish oil on canvas painting depicts the canonization of St. Teresa of Avila, presided by Pope Gregory XV with his nephew and godson Ludovico Ludovisi, the Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna. It is located in the Stairway of the Duke at the Carmelite Museum in the Monastery of Alba de Tormes, which is the site of the death of St. Teresa of Avila on 15 October 1582. A similar canvas depicting the canonization of Jesuit Saints Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier is found in the Church of the Gesù in Rome. Image credit: Carmel of Alba de Tormes

Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Edith Stein.

Let us unite in prayer

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/10/06/stjnovena23-intro/

#BishopSilvioJoséBáez #Carmelite #friendship #guide #intercession #novena #prayer #reflection #spiritualMotherhood #StTeresaOfAvila