St. Therese, second from left, on wash day at Le Carmel. When another sister repeatedly splashed her in the laundry, Therese resolved to “welcome the shower of dirty water.” (Society of the Little Flower)
When I was a teenager, I was handed a prayer card as I left Mass one Sunday. This Little Flower Society card was my introduction to St. Therese.
Instantly, I was drawn to this woman who vowed to “spend (her) heaven by doing good on earth.” On the back of the card, I found the Novena Rose Prayer and began to pray it regularly – a practice I continue to this day.
“O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for
me a rose
from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love.
O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God to grant the favours
I now place with confidence in your hands … (mention in silence here)
St. Therese, help me
to always believe as you did in
God’s great love for me, so that I might imitate your ‘Little Way’ each day. Amen.”
For years, I felt a connection to this saint – a “girl” about my own age. Eventually, after I had well-surpassed St. Therese’s age of death, I began to grow more curious about the details of her life and her “Little Way.”
After reading Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, I was moved by Therese’s story of losing her mother at young age. I likewise felt her pain at then having to say goodbye to the sister who had become her second mother, when that sister entered the convent.
I was touched by the way Therese shared her emotions and openly showed her love for Jesus. In all circumstances, she possessed an overwhelming desire to follow the will of God, even when it was difficult: during times of grief and loss, in the throes of disappointment, and while enduring grave illness.
As a wife and mother, I especially admired Therese’s ability to embrace trials and tests of patience as opportunities to grow closer to Jesus. She has inspired me to focus on accepting the fact that frustrations and the ways in which I handle them are ways of developing patience, ways of sharing Christ’s love with others, and ways of growing as a person.
It’s easy to love those who love us back. It’s easy to have conversations with those who agree with us. It’s easy to complete tasks in the absence of resistance. It’s easy to concentrate when the habits or errors of others are not affecting us. With practice and great effort, St. Therese focused on loving and being patient with those who tested her.
In her autobiography, I love St. Therese’s accounts of living in the convent with a few people who aggravated her. One such story involved her resolve to smile at a sister with whom she had a difficult relationship. She made a concerted effort to see Jesus in that woman every time they saw one another. “Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.”
I also like the following story: “Another time I was working in the laundry, and the sister opposite, while washing handkerchiefs, repeatedly splashed me with dirty water. My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face, to show the offender I should be glad if she would behave more quietly; but the next minute I thought how foolish it was to refuse the treasures God offered me so generously, and I refrained from betraying my annoyance. On the contrary, I made such efforts to welcome the shower of dirty water.”
While I can try to smile more frequently, I doubt I could ever thank God for having dirty water splashed in my direction. Regardless, I am inspired by someone who refrained from drawing attention to their annoyance with another’s transgression.
When I was young, I was interested in St. Therese because she was young, like me. Now that I’m old enough to be her mother, I find myself inspired by the great wisdom in her beautiful and refreshingly childlike spirit. I ask her for guidance as I battle impatience and seek God’s will.
Life will always send me a little “dirty water;” it’s up to me to recognize that even roses need dirt to bloom.