I must be the luckiest girl in the world. Yesterday I received four communications (three delightful emails and one real, live letter in the mailbox) telling me about Marcel’s gifts to three of his little sisters, each a real, live Miss Marcel in her own right, and one little brother.
I love being lucky, but it’s no fun being lucky alone, so I had to share this joy with you, dear reader. I knew you’d understand my joy since you too are lucky, being one of the few, the very little-souled, the delighted (so delighted) able to count yourself in the ranks of the first wave of those who know our brother Marcel. When it’s a question of Marcel, we must ask ourselves how we happen to be so blessed as to know him. He hasn’t yet reached the celebrity status of, say, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Mickey Mouse, or Donald Trump (okay, sorry, I couldn’t resist! I mean President Donald Trump, and yes I’m laughing, as we all should at the marvels of democracy!). Or a better comparison might be the obvious one: our little brother hasn’t yet achieved the celebrity status of his sister Therese of Lisieux, the original Little Flower. The most typical response I get to my tireless introduction of Marcel to everyone I meet (oldest and dearest friend, newest and most random stranger: no one escapes!) is a variation on the theme of complete ignorance – that is, the hearer has never heard of him before. Although I must interject that the most hilarious response I ever got was from my belovedest priest friend who wrote back to my email query: “Have you ever heard of little Marcel Van?” with the simple statement: “I thought everyone who had Therese as a sister already had Marcel as a little brother!” Actually yes, truer words were never spoken and all that, but so few of us know this hidden little brother that it is a constant source of wonder and (again) delight to me to muse on our extreme blessedness in being among these few-in-the-know. Thank You, Jesus! Thank You for giving us Marcel to guide us, to be our companion, to make us laugh and shake our heads in astonishment (even more than politics and our own foibles do). What a wonderful world and what a wonderful time we live in—we may complain, perhaps rightly, about the errors and horrors of the modern world, but Heavens above! This is the first time EVER in all of history that MARCEL VAN and his inimitable CONVERSATIONS are available in English (thank you, Jack Keogan, for being God’s translating pencil!), and we are among those relative few who have the joy and spectacular grace to know of him (Marcel) and them (his Conversations with Jesus, Mary, and Therese), and thus to know them (Jesus, Mary, and Therese) with an intimacy hitherto undreamed of. Wowie zowie!!! Which brings me to today’s topic of littleness. Why, we might ask, are we so lucky? Or why, to look at it from the other side of the widow’s mite or the householder’s lost (and found) coin: why is Marcel so very little known? The answer is right there in the question, actually. Marcel is so very little known because he is so very little. The world loves BIG. And we are among the few (so far) lucky ones who know our sweet and comical brother precisely because we, like him, are very little too. Tiny. Miniscule. Infinitesmal even, thanks be to God! If this doesn’t sound right to you, I don’t like to correct you or argue, so I’ll just say gently (no scolding here, ever): you haven’t been reading Conversations lately, have you? Or before I accuse you of such a serious lapse (haha, just kidding! no serious lapses here in Marcel-land either, only little pecadillos that don’t hurt Jesus at all, to our vast relief), let me compliment you for being such a Miss (or Mister) Marcel yourself. Forgotten again, have you? Welcome to Marcel’s club! But happily, we only have to open the book to re-discover the beauty and attraction of littleness. Let’s see how this works if I open randomly now. Good gracious! Talk about littleness! Here is what we find instantly at (202) where I have just flipped open to Jesus words: “Marcel, it is necessary for you to realize that you haven’t yet the least virtue. If, in these circumstances, I had not spoken to you, I do not know when you would have stopped having red eyes.” How lovely Jesus is! How compassionate and merciful! You might think He’s being a tad rough on Marcel, informing him so directly that he hasn’t the tiniest speck of virtue, but I think Marcel already knew as much. It’s what comes after that anti-climactic revelation that’s so marvelous. Jesus knows that poor as Marcel is, he’d have spent his life crying if Jesus didn’t come to save him, and not merely save him, but actually speak to him. It reminds me of Marcel telling us in his Autobiography of his little friend Hien saying, after Marcel had begun instructing him in Therese’s Little Way (Marcel himself having just met and been instructed by Therese herself): “Van, if I hadn’t discovered someone in my life to understand me like you do, I would have died of sadness.” {And I must interject: I just translated that, by love, empathy, intuition, the slightest memory of French instruction, and those miraculous cognates, from my dear little French book "Van, petit frere spirituel de Therese" by Fr. Pierre Descouvemont. For all I know - which is not much! - my translation may be slightly off, but here is the glory I discovered in my little French dictionary Therese gave me to go with my little Van book: the word I've translated "understand," which in the infinitive is the verb "comprendre" also means "to include and contain." Yes, Marcel! What would we have done without you to include and contain us in yourself on Jesus' lap!} Dear Hien! Dear Marcel! Dearest of all, Jesus who has compassion on our littleness and reaches us in time to prevent us from dying of sadness! I submit that He’s given Marcel to us like He gave him to Hien, well before the dawn of our little brother’s world-wide fame, in order to keep us also from dying of sadness in this too-often too sad world. “Here I am,” He says to us. “You don’t need Me to speak to you audibly. I’ve said every word you need to hear, every word that will prevent your crying – let alone dying of sadness. I have spoken every single word you need from My infinitely loving, limitlessly loving Sacred Heart to your brother Marcel who has written it down at My request. I have conscripted Fr. Boucher to translate it into French so that Jack Keogan could translate it into English for you. A whole line-up of little secretaries so that you, dear little ones, could find comfort in Me each time you are tempted to feel lonely or alone. I am with you! I have not left you orphans, nor have I scolded you. Let me change your tears to laughter. I am right here in Conversations speaking to you!” Leapin’ lizards! Holy guacamole! What a wealth of words! What a wealth of limitless Love is waiting for us in Conversations, new each morning, noon, night, and middle-of-the-night, whenever we need it, 24/7. But lest we are frightened off by something so very new, there’s a way in which, like every good thing, every perfect gift – all of which come from God from all eternity – there’s nothing new here, though it’s new to us constantly. With Marcel in particular, there’s a way in which everything he says, Therese said first (and she got it all from the Gospel). Even when Jesus is speaking to him, there is occasionally the charming reminder from Our Lord Himself: “Marcel, didn’t your sister little Therese teach you this already?” (Along with the smiling, “Ah, but you’ve forgotten!”) Jesus quoting St. Therese – how marvelous! When it comes to littleness, this is something new that Marcel got from Therese after Therese got it from the gospels and St. Paul. Long have I appreciated her admission to her novices that she often, even at the end of her life, said something foolish that she regretted. But far from letting it worry her, she would laugh and say to herself gently, “Ah, I’m no further than I was before!” in realization that her littleness was secure. This comforted her, for being little meant she could find refuge, like the child she was and rejoiced to remain, in her true Father’s arms. And what does Jesus say about Therese and her littleness? He who is Truth can neither deceive nor be deceived, so whatever our impressions of Therese may be, we must believe Him. Here are His words from the passage quoted above, from the page of Conversations to which I randomly opened in order to learn more about littleness. Jesus continues there: “Little Marcel, you have not the slightest virtue. And, to speak frankly, in your case there is nothing; one finds there nothing of beauty. But do not be sad because of it. Do you understand? Look at the flower which is your sister Therese; she recognized that she possessed nothing but in reality she possessed everything because, in possessing nothing, she obtained everything . . .” There it is. Truth itself speaks truly, or there’s nothing true, as Gerard Manley Hopkins translated St. Thomas’ song of the Blessed Sacrament. “She recognized that she possessed nothing.” Right as rain! And my goodness, you’d think Jesus was quoting St. John of the Cross for the sequel: “But she possessed everything because in possessing nothing she obtained everything.” (Which is proof, as if we needed it, that just about everything in Marcel was in Therese first, and while we’re on the subject of “what’s old is new again” or vice versa, it turns out that everything in Therese was in St. John of the Cross first!) I don’t know about you, but I like things. You know, stuff. The thought of possessing nothing (not to mention trying to understand that last sentence Jesus said about Therese) doesn’t cheer me tremendously. But wait! How about obtaining everything? That sounds like fun! Especially if most of it is (I’m guessing) immaterial, so it won’t take up too much space. I’m no minimalist, but darned if I know where to put all my books, let alone everything else! Really, though, the point is simple: Little ones need big ones to help them. If we are totally little, we need God (totally big) to help us. In everything! And if God is with us in everything, we lack nothing. We’re safe! What does a child need that its mother and father would not gladly give, provided they are good and have it in their power to give? Well surely God is good! And certainly He has the power to give! We, then, for our part, have nothing to do but receive! Is there a condition? Why yes, I’m glad you asked! The condition is that we recognize our need and ask our Father, or Jesus our Spouse and Brother and Best Friend, or the Holy Spirit who is Love, for everything. And as Therese told us in her own writings, and as she and Jesus and Mary tell Marcel again and again in their Conversations with him, never fear: a sigh, a glance, a cry is plenty of prayer, plenty of asking, plenty of our need showing itself to the Holy Trinity (or Our Mama Mary). Yes, but will He answer? Are we sure? Yes, He will, we're sure, and if you are impatient for His answer, read Conversations. It’s all there, especially our littleness and His infinite, that is, absolutely limitless Love for us in our littleness. Although He just told Marcel that “in your case there is nothing; one finds there nothing of beauty,” you must know (that is, He wants you to know so I’ll tell you if you’ve forgotten or haven’t yet come across this) that elsewhere Jesus admits that everything about Marcel attracts Him and He finds everything about him beautiful! Oh, Love! Love which in gazing upon us makes us beautiful! (This is St. John of the Cross to the very letter for us!) And this limitless Love says even more to us in today’s reading (202), Though He must restrain His kisses so as not to make us swoon or even whoosh to Heaven right this second to live forever in His loving arms, He says nonetheless: “Do not be discouraged, Marcel, all you will ask for, all you will wish for, I will grant to you. Do you now wish that I give you some kisses? How many do you want? But it is first necessary that you tell Me: ‘Dear Jesus, I love you.’ Without that who would wish to kiss you? When you have said: ‘Jesus, I love You,’ I will give you as many as you wish for.” Let’s ask for so many kisses! Jesus’ kisses are like no others. As He tells Marcel elsewhere, one real kiss from Him, His first real kiss to us, and we’ll be goners, straight to Heaven we’ll go. Ah, for that kiss! But not yet; all in His good time. Meanwhile, the lesser kisses we must settle for are still enough to console our hearts, dry our red eyes, and remind us that even this life is well worth living, since we get to be loved by Jesus here and now. First, though, He requires us to do our part. Nothing too big, simply say the magic words: “Jesus, I love You!” Let’s go then. We know the little way, let’s run in it, and we’ll have the whole world join us (for we can ask Him for anything we want, He just said so, and we’ve got the prayer that asks for everyone to join us): Draw me, we will run! Jesus, I love You! We love You! Give us Your kisses! Oh, and one last note. For those who are aware of Mother Teresa’s explanation of suffering and Jesus’ kisses, beautiful as that understanding is, kindly disregard it in Marcel-land. My policy is to studiously avoid suffering (and talking about it here) because although Jesus has much to say about it to Marcel (and thus to the rest of us), He well knows that the very word sends me back to bed to pull the covers over my head . . . But what’s not to love about Marcel and his Conversations with Jesus? Just when we wondered, fearfully, if kissing was a code name for suffering, Jesus starts laughing and leaves us in no suspense. For us little Marcels and little Miss Marcels, kissing is kissing. Little Jesus has an adorable mouth that loves to make smacking noises when He plants His sweet lips on our faces. So tell Him you love Him a lot, and then enjoy His darling face snuggling up to yours. No worries! He’s got you covered – with kisses, and everything else you may happen to need. The first time he said it to us, he was so young, so full of vitality, our Pope-from-a-far-away-land. And when I thought of posting a photo for today's Happy Feast Day greetings, I pictured him that way. Then I saw this photo, and it was just right . . . the years had passed, and our Papa was not the young, athletic man he had been. He was physically broken by illness and age, but morally, spiritually, psychologically he was stronger than ever. And in his arms? One of his flock who looks so happy to be there!
Then I came across a message from Jesus to Marcel, and it fit the photo so beautifully. Marcel had asked Jesus: "Why am I so weak? . . . tell me if these negligences hurt You?" After our Holy Father had done so much for us - from his worldwide travels to the new Code of Canon Law, from his encyclicals to World Youth Days, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church to his role in the downfall of communism - now he was so weak, lacking the power to do what he desired, even at the end unable to raise his arm in blessing. But here is what Jesus said to Marcel, and I'm sure these words were meant for our beloved JPII as well: "Poor child of my love. If you really wish I will ask you a question and then I will reply to you . . . when you are guilty of these lapses, do you intend to hurt me? My dear child, listen to me. Why should you blush because of your weaknesses? Since you act simply for love of me, be assured that you never have the desire to hurt me, your Beloved. Besides, I have already told you: your weaknesses are only grains of dust which, passing through the fire of my love, disappear without a trace . . . Little friend of my love, firmly believe that I have never found in you anything of the slightest nature to sadden me. My dear child, offer these weaknesses to me so that I may make use of them to fuel the fire of my love in your heart . . . My child, far from extinguishing in your heart the fire of my love, these weaknesses, on the contrary, only fan it more as your sister Saint Therese has already told you. Moreover, if I leave you these weaknesses, it is because I wish that you might be in no way superior to your brethren . . ." (Conversations, 119) Our Holy Father St. John Paul II cherished his suffering as a means to show us an example, to be a true father to us, to unite himself with Christ and with all who suffer (that is everyone!), and so I think he knew this message of Jesus, though I don't think he ever read it. But here we are, 13 years after JPII went Home to the Father's House, and 59 years after Marcel went there before him - here we are reading these precious words of Our Lord, and so I am sure they are meant for us! Which is just one more reason to "Be not afraid," that is, because Jesus wants us to firmly believe we don't sadden Him in the least! Talk about a feast! We get to be loved and cared for by JPII from his place in Heaven (for I'm certain that once a Holy and Loving Father, always a Holy and Loving Father), and we get to have Marcel as our brother, sharing with us every word Jesus made him write down for us! I used to have a friend who was a very loving father, and he would say when one of his children kissed him good-bye before leaving the house, "I love you too much!" as he gave a hug. That's about how it works . . . God loves us too much, but what a wonderful too much it is! I had the good fortune to make it to Mass today, and I thought the reading from Ephesians was specifically chosen for this feast. It was from the second chapter and contained the words: "But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and made us sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (How lucky we are to know "the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" as spoken to Marcel and recorded in Conversations!) God, who is rich in mercy . . . Dives in Misericordia, St. John Paul II's second encyclical (his first was Redemptor Hominis) given to us at the end of November, 1980, began with these words: "It is 'God who is rich in mercy' whom Jesus Christ has revealed to us as Father . . ." Wouldn't you know that this reading from Ephesians just happened (as planned from all eternity!) to be today's reading, following in the sequence of readings from Ephesians that we started a few days ago and will continue tomorrow?! Talk about rich in mercy! What a fitting gift on this feast of the Pope who showed so much mercy, who gave us the Mercy of God in the Feast of Divine Mercy, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Saint (Faustina) of Divine Mercy! And speaking of the chaplet, how joyful we are, here at Miss Marcel's Musings, to reach this day that crowns our 54 day Divine Mercy Chaplet novena! We really must stop worrying now, for every possible intention has been included, and God won't refuse us anything! While I said these chaplets these last 54 days, I would often remember specific intentions, sometimes saying them with each bead, and other times I would just remind Jesus that we need absolutely everything from Him. Since He told Faustina twice that the Chaplet obtains everything, I'm sure we're all set - and I didn't forget your intentions either! No way Jose! (that's Ho-zay, by the way :). I just heard an announcement that the library where I'm typing this is about to close, and soon our feast will close too, but I refuse to be sad. Tomorrow is the too-little-known feast of Blessed Boethius (author of the Consolation of Philosophy and a special patron for my husband and me), and the next day is the magnificent St. Anthony Mary Claret, not to mention that we're still in the month of the Rosary. There's so much, always, to celebrate, let's not mind when one feast ends. It's the only way another can begin! Though I admit Heaven will be spectacular - like every feast all at once forever!!! Meanwhile, I'm asking JPII to gain us his love for the Rosary and Our Lady. I prayed this prayer for myself a few years ago, and wonderful things happened, so now that it's occurred to me to pray it for you too, be ready for more joy and love in your life! And like an Amen to cap those 54 dear Divine Mercy chaplets, let's pray our own simple signature prayer together, and then call it a night: Draw me, we will run! May John Paul II be a Holy Father to you until he brings you safely into the Home of our True Heavenly Father, and all our loved ones too! Everyone, in fact, for it would be surly of us to leave anyone out of our prayers for eternal bliss. What can I say? Marcel and I have Therese's desire (like her mama, Teresa of Avila's) to save souls! Jesus, I trust in You! I've been trying to write this post for 3 days or, to tell the truth, more like a week - well, perhaps not this post exactly, but one post after another has danced through my scatter-brain, and wouldn't you know Jesus and I enjoyed those imaginary posts, but this here is the exact message He had in mind from all eternity for me to deliver to you at last. Are you ready? It's wonderful news on this 21st anniversary of Therese's Doctorate, and on the 2nd anniversary of her sending me Marcel's Conversations as a special rose in my mailbox in answer to the prayer I'd typed out earlier that day. Except that's not quite right. I shouldn't say she sent "me" that rose of Conversations, but rather, this is the 2nd anniversary of the day she sent us that rose, because like a ridiculously enormous care package sent to a college student from Home, there's way too much in this book for one person alone, and more than enough bursting out of this best-ever care package of Conversations for everyone to enjoy. Today, for instance, marveling again over this golden rose, I came across something brand new to me, something I hadn't noticed before, but which perfectly sums up Marcel's and Therese's message. I found a passage explaining the singleness of their mission, but first, what we might call the Doctoral thesis of Therese, and this thesis came to me via Jesus' words to Marcel (and to us, through him). It helps that I read it wrong before I read it right, because wouldn't you know, once again our dynamic duo has flipped our spiritual life over like a child doing a tumble? (I was going to say like a child doing a cartwheel, then I thought no, a somersault, then finally I realized really a tumble suits the very little child that represents our spiritual life, so very little that he or she is likely not big enough for those fancy gymnastic moves.) Here's what I thought I saw at (101) in Conversations: "My child, stay on your knees . . ." That would be a message for penance and prayer, nothing surprising in the history of the Church. Ah, but that's just our point at Miss Marcel's Musings: Therese and Marcel are nothing if not surprising, so if something is not surprising in Conversations, we're probably reading it wrong! And sure enough, I was, because when I looked again, here are the real words Jesus gave us through Marcel at (101) - words that the holy and compassionate Fr. Antonio Boucher, CSsR worked hard to translate perfectly into French so that the kind and merciful Jack Keogan could later translate them into ideal English for us . . . Thank Heaven for second glances and second chances! Kind of like the second chance at martyrdom that the Church gave the great and merciful St. Jean de Brebeuf, whose feast we celebrate today with St. Isaac Jogues and the other North American Martyrs, courageous Jesuits who came from France to my country to convert us. Thank You, Jesus, for letting your eldest daughter France give to us from her fruits! May she return to You and cling to You, and may all her priests love You with their whole hearts! But now, speaking of hearts, here are the words of Jesus' Heart to ours, the right words this time, the words He actually said to us through Marcel: "For you, my child, stay on my knees and I will grant to you immediately all you wish to ask for . . . " You will be happy to know that the ellipses (those three little dots at the end) are from Marcel's own text. I'm not leaving anything out, but rather, I believe there was a pause in Jesus' words, a silent moment for Marcel to ask Jesus for anything so that Jesus could give it to him immediately! Shall we take advantage of this pause to ask for what we need too, and ask for those we love as well? First let's climb onto Jesus' lap. Ah, that's better! How cozy it is here! . . . Just as He wants us to kiss His holy Face, not His holy feet, so Jesus wants us not on our knees, but on His! As our darling and very clever Doctor Therese said: How can I fear a God who is nothing but mercy and love? He is so good! Let's ask Him straight off to take away our fear and fill us with confidence! Our dear sister said many marvelous things to earn her the title Doctor of the Church, but if we had to choose only one of her sayings (and if we didn't choose the one I just put in bold), I think this would be a good one: How I wish I could make you understand all that I feel. It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love! Yes, let's ask Jesus for our sister's confidence. It often occurs to me that she herself has no more need of confidence - she is seeing Truth face to Face! She knows now all that she once believed, and much more. So here on Jesus' lap, let's ask for her confidence - it's like our care package again, so big and containing so much that we can easily share it with plenty left over for those who join us later. But here we are on Jesus' knees and I'm not giving you a chance to ask Him for your own heart's desires. (And I hope you don't mind my little computer here with us - it's quite small, I promise, and my clickety clacking isn't very loud, truly.) Shall we rest for a moment and pour out our hearts to Him? . . . * * * There, I prayed for you even if you've been naughty and just jumped the flowers to get to this next paragraph! Don't worry, I'm not scolding. It's my own fault for having so much to say, but on this happy day I can't contain myself, not to mention the overflowing mirth caused by my recent dearth of blog-writing and the last week of near suppression by circumstances and Jesus - though what a suppression! I got to go to another gorgeous Catholic wedding and visit with the extended family of the bride (whom I love so much! The bride and her family!), as well as meeting the good family of the groom. Marcel introduced himself to some new friends and visited with old ones, and all in all, these were grace filled, love filled days, so I'm not complaining, but forgive me if I can't stay quiet for long. I was thinking about how Jesus surprised us with His invitation to sit on His knees rather than kneeling on our own. It reminds me of the old expression, "Stand on your own two feet" - the very reason Therese was so attached to her insight that we should remain little - she had no desire to stand on her own two feet when she could stand on her Heavenly Father's. Have you ever seen a child (or maybe been a child) standing on her father's feet to dance with him? But I'm wandering (or dancing) away from the passage I most want to share with you. It comes from Conversations (108) which Marcel wrote on November 13, 1945. How I wish I had time to quote you the whole book! I'll be content, however, if Jesus lets me give you the heart of what struck me this morning, from His words to Marcel, words which explain the mission of Marcel and Therese, a mission which brings roses, consolation, and best of all confidence to our hearts. Jesus says to Marcel: "My dear child, continue to follow your sister the little flower with docility in all the directions that she takes. I will make use of the union of these two little flowers as a witness that will unite these two countries [France and Vietnam] in my love. "My dear child! In my love I am giving you the name of the second little Therese. The function I will give to you in heaven, little Therese, will be to help your older sister to spread confidence in my love throughout the world. Little Therese of my love, you wanted to enter Carmel and you asked me to admit you there; but I have not yet given you my reply. I am giving it to you now. Listen, my child . . . To be another Therese does not at all consist in being transformed into a woman . . . Continue, therefore, to pluck roses in very great numbers so as to fill my heart with them and later, in heaven, you will, like Therese, have only one occupation: to make roses rain down on your country and on the entire world . . . My child, I am kissing you . . . My child, offer yourself as a victim to my love. . . " So there you have it! Therese, the youngest Doctor of the Church, has a protege named Marcel, a second self as well as little brother, one who helps her (now that he is in heaven too) shower us with roses, and who has been commissioned to assist her in filling our hearts with confidence. Which explains why Therese sent me Marcel as a rose two years ago today, and why once I'd had a month or two to immerse myself in their Conversations, I couldn't resist starting a blog to share these Conversations with you! There's something else I want to share with you, a secret I call "Something New with St. Therese," a book I've written (the book I finished two years ago today, and which today today - as opposed to 21 or 2 years ago today - I sent out yet again to see if it could capture a heart that may want to help it move forward into being a real live book for the whole world to read). You know that expression, "Only God knows"? Well, absolutely! Only the good God knows when and where and how He will publish this book. I keep doing my part, happily, peacefully, gratefully, and He keeps having me wait and then send it out again. Might I ask you to say a prayer that He will have even more mercy than usual and fill the new recipient of this book with an overpowering spiritual joy and delight in Therese's latest surprise? And then we'll see what happens. Meanwhile, we're in the last few days of our 54 day Divine Mercy Chaplet novena, set to end on St. John Paul II's feast this coming Monday, October 22nd. That happens to be the same day I'm hoping my manuscript will descend like a rose into the hands of its latest recipient, so I'm feeling more fervent than ever in throwing every intention and petition we have (even petitions that are relative new-comers and eleventh hour desires) into the mix of this awesome and powerful Divine Mercy prayer. St. Faustina told us (after Jesus told her) that the chaplet could obtain anything and everything. And who else than JPII (with the help of the Marians) brought her into the public eye and elevated her Diary, Jesus' Feast of Divine Mercy, the Chaplet, and the whole kit and caboodle of Divine Mercy up to the heights of Catholic devotion? We can't lose, so let's be done with fear, and please God we will be filled with oceans of Therese's confidence leading us to Love! Would I say more if I could? You betcha! But is my time up? Indeed it is. And so with great gratitude that I have the opportunity to celebrate Therese and Marcel with you on this happy anniversary, I'll give you in closing our signature prayer - oh, and then feel free to remain on Jesus' knees and chat for as long as you have the chance! Remember, He said He'd grant us immediately all we wish to ask for. No worries, then, but simply: Draw me, we will run! "I am yours and for you and delighted to be what I am so as to be yours and give myself to you." This morning my husband was delighted (like the person in the quote) because he heard me tapping away on my new typewriter, the one he'd recently bought at a local thrift store and which I claimed as my own. It is the cutest typewriter I've ever seen, and as he's pretty well stocked up in the way of typewriters, he was happy to offer it to me as soon as I began typing and found it perfect for my needs. No, silly, I'm not using a typewriter to clack out this post. I guess you're not too silly because in all fairness I could type it out there and then type it again into my new computer (the typewriter is only new to me but not NEW-new, so it doesn't have any internet capabilities) and then post it online. But no, I was using the typewriter to clack out the quote you see above, along with a couple other quotes I'd found while playing hide and seek (it was hiding, I was seeking, and it won) for yet another quote. But wait! . . . have you been reading carefully? A new typewriter AND a new computer? Before you decide I'm somehow raking in the big bucks and buying all kinds of gadgets, let me explain that the computer, also, is only new to me, not new in itself. It was my husband's, identical to the one I had and have used all along to type at lightening speed the posts here at Miss Marcel's Musings. Until a few days ago, that is. My faithful netbook had gotten old before its time, through overuse, perhaps, and it wouldn't do its job anymore. Lucky me, to have a husband who has decided typewriters are, if not the wave of the future, much better instruments for his work, currently on Dialectic, or "Dialectique" as we say since he's been translating for himself Yvan Pelletier's French book on Aristotole's Topics. He's cheating, not waiting for infused French like I am, but applying himself word by word (and he knows lots more French than I do). He's not in a huge hurry, plus he prefers to think before, during, and after his writing - something I can never trouble myself to do. Besides my being lazy, not thinking is my way of staying out of trouble. I'm quoting little Jesus, Marcel, Therese, and sometimes Mary too. Can you imagine how I'd muck up the works if I started thinking? But speaking of quoting important people, today I wanted to tell you about my adventures and misadventures (and Miss adventures!) with the St. John of the Cross quote I so blithely offered to Marcel's reading public the other day. Do you remember it? We aren't sticklers for memory here (God remembers everything, sure, but Marcel and Nora Ephron and I remember nothing, so we'd feel hypocritical if we asked you to remember much of anything either), so I'll just repeat it: “The soul does not go to prayer to tire itself, but to relax.” --St. John of the Cross There, that's just how it appeared under the very pretty picture of Mary and little Jesus in our "Little Ways of Prayer" post, and it appeared, if I do say so myself, to universal acclaim. Only there was one dear friend (a careful reader) who asked in an email if I mightn't just give her the reference, because it was such a wonderful quote and St. John of the Cross such a wonderful Saint that it made sense to be exact about where exactly he said this. I've already forgotten what happened when I answered her email. I can't remember if I forgot to respond at all about where the quote came from (I think that's what happened), but then wrote a follow-up email explaining that I'd look for it (I don't think I got that far - I mean as far as the follow-up email), but I will get back to her, don't worry. Although maybe you should worry (no! Just kidding! Don't worry about anything anymore ever!) because that was indeed the quote with which I played hide and seek starting at 4:30 this morning. And I need to write my friend back and tell her in answer to her question that I most likely mightn't because it wouldn't. Materialize, that is, in anything St. John of the Cross I looked in: it wasn't (that I could see) in a book about St. John of the Cross; it wasn't in my Collected (Complete) John of the Cross (I used the index rather than reading the whole opera omnia), and finally,it wasn't in a short book on the prayers of St. John of the Cross. No, no, and no again. Well no to the quote I was looking for, but that last book did offer another quote that I loved, nothing less than the quote I started this post with, and which, happily, I have the reference for even before you ask! First the quote again: "I am yours and for you and delighted to be what I am so as to be yours and give myself to you." I bet you wouldn't have thought that was from St. John of the Cross, would you? I was sure surprised, though I realized little Jesus gave it to me at the very moment He did so I wouldn't panic. I like my St. John of the Cross best through the mediation of Therese and Marcel, and reading him straight was making me nervous. Jesus swooped into our game of hide and seek and showed me my holy father behind this quote instead of the worrying ones I was trying not to read. It's from The Living Flame of Love (my second favorite longer work of his, right after Spiritual Canticle), 3:6. The context of the quote is the soul recalling all it has received through God's love, a love full of gifts and magnificence, befitting He who is the omnipotent and owner of everything. (Doesn't that sound smart? No, I'm not thinking! I'm quoting from Fr. Alphonse Ruiz, O.C.D. who really knows his St. John of the Cross!) St. John himself says: "When one loves and does good to another, he loves and does good to him in the measure of his own nature and properties. Thus your Bridegroom, dwelling within you, grants you favors according to His nature. Since He is omnipotent, He omnipotently loves and does good to you; since He is wise, you feel that He loves and does good to you with wisdom; since He is infinitely good, you feel that He loves you with goodness . . . since He is merciful, mild and clement, you feel His mercy, mildness, and clemency . . . since He is supreme humility, He loves you with supreme humility and esteem and makes you His equal, gladly revealing Himself to you in these ways of knowledge, in this His countenance filled with graces, and telling you in this His union, with great rejoicing: 'I am yours and for you and delighted to be what I am so as to be yours and give myself to you.'" Well knock me over with a feather! That's just what I want to say to Him too, exactly the same thing only adding caps to a few pronouns: "I am Yours and for You and delighted to be what I am so as to be Yours and give myself to You too!" The photo I have above the quote - well wait, you don't have to scroll up, we have magical posting powers here, so let me post it again: Doesn't that just fulfill the ethos of our new quote? I can imagine dear John Paul was so very glad to be exactly who he was (and where he was) at the moment when he held this little child, and I'm sure the child was feeling glad to be just who he was. It's much more common for a small child to take it for granted (like a flower does) that he is who and what God made him to be, and to delight in that, and to praise and delight God just by being himself. Not so often the case for grown-ups, which is another reason Jesus invites us to turn and become like children to enter His Kingdom of Love. But since Jesus finds us desirable and beautiful right now, this very minute, why not delight, as He does, in who we are?
"I am yours and for you and delighted to be what I am so as to be yours and give myself to you," little Jesus tells us, the Heavenly Father tells us, the Holy Spirit whispers. Let's reply with Marcel and Therese and St. John of the Cross: "I am Yours and for You and delighted to be what I am so as to be Yours and give myself to You too!" And what exactly are we? In ourselves, nothing. Which is great, because He is All so there's a perfect complementarity! We are total poverty, He is all rich; we are empty, He can fill us. I forget, He remembers. I can't find my quote, He gives me a better one! In defense of that earlier quote (from an earlier day), let me give you the whole sentence in which I received it. The trustworthy French priest who gave me the quote had written, "A word of St John of the Cross has always impressed me: 'The soul does not go to prayer to tire itself, but to relax.' And he was not one who encouraged seeking sensible consolations at prayer!" Too bad our source didn't give his source (in book, chapter, and verse), but you can see he's not one of these people bandying about things as if they'd just made them up but then attributing them to someone else for credibility's sake ("All you need is love!" --Aristotle. Now there I'd say be suspicious; I think that was the Beatles, even if there is truth in it.) Nonetheless, I can't find the place in our good St. J of C where he said it, and I'm only happy to have come out alive from my wanderings through the Dark Night and the Ascent. For little souls, Marcel does a great job of channeling Therese's Juanistinian teachings. There's probably a better way to put that, but you see what I mean and I'm glad to return to my source. Conversations. Everything good is somewhere in there! Speaking of Marcel, he's been awfully quiet. Does he have an opinion on our musings? Having spent some time with him in Conversations lately, I assure you he remains extremely opinionated! But right now he has a quote to share that's much more than his opinion - it's from Jesus for us. Originally, Jesus said these words to Marcel n Vietnamese. For us, thanks to our good and dear Jack Keogan, Jesus speaks them in English. But wait! While my husband is busy dialectiquing, I've been enjoying my little French rose, my "Van, petit frere spirituel de Therese" book by Fr. Pierre Descouvemont, another French priest but one who, you'll be glad to hear, does give references for his quotations. I'm extremely grateful for those references myself, because when I'm having trouble with my infusion of French, and in too much of a hurry to look up every single word, I can turn to my English copies of Marcel's works to make sure the English I'm attaching to the French is at least in the ballpark. So here's Marcel's quote for the day, and it happens to be one I typed below St. John's new quote when I played at the typewriter this morning: "Une seule de tes joies suffit pour me consoler beaucoup." (col 33, i.e. Convos 33) or in Jack's sweet rendering: "A single one of your joys suffices to console me very much." There's actually more, and I can't keep it from you, it's so perfectly fit for our little souls, as is always the case with these conversations. (Okay, except maybe for the parts about suffering. I, like Marcel, don't like a single word about suffering. A single word about it suffices to frighten me very much, but then, I am Miss Marcel!) But leaving aside what is none of our business, here is the whole little bit that Marcel and Jesus have for us today: Marcel: Jesus, are You sad sometimes because of me? Jesus: My child, if that ever happens it is only when I see you sad. When you are happy, how could I be sad? So be happy always. A single one of your joys suffices to console me very much. Bravo, Marcel! Bravo, Jesus! (I would shout "Encore!" but it's hardly necessary. There's always more where this came from; we only have to open our books.) How did we get so lucky? We were chasing quotes and once again we found Jesus. I think opening Marcel's book has a lot to do with it, but even in St. John of the Cross, our Beloved waits for us. He is everywhere! He's even in the photo I've placed twice in this post. If you need a good image to help you pray today, just picture yourself as the little one our Holy Papa is holding. You're playing with the necklace Papa is wearing, and He's looking down upon you with infinite love and compassion - an all-powerful tenderness that won't let any harm befall you, so no more worrying, about anything, anymore, ever! While I'm trying to help you relax, perhaps there's something you're having a hard time letting go of. Is there some particular worry, regret, frustration, or anxiety that keeps you suffering and sad or mad? Whisper it to Papa, even as you look at the necklace if you're a little shy to look in His eyes when you tell Him. Then sneak a glance and intercept His merciful gaze. Tell Him you love Him, a lot, and don't worry about whatever it is any more. He's got this, as well as everything else! An earthly father doesn't give his child a snake when he asks for bread, nor does a mother forget her child. But even if they were to, our true and Heavenly Father would not do any such things! He remembers everything, especially every little thing that matters to you, and He won't forget to take care of it in a way far more satisfying than any you might imagine. As to our part, it's simple. We say our little prayers, and then take a nap. Draw me, we will run! Ahn-train mwa, noo koo-roe(n) ah tah sweet! Jesus, we love You a lot! Now cover us with kisses! Before I go, I almost forgot: We're at the end of our octave for Therese's feast, but your intentions are still wafting up to heaven because we're now in the novena for the big Teresa's feast, which comes in less than a week on Monday the 15th. I must admit my novena superpowers have been on the fritz just like my old computer, but then just as my husband took care of my little computer needs, I'm sure God will hear our little prayers. Let's make it a tiny mini novena this time, so for those of us carrying on with our Divine Mercy Chaplet novena (till St. JPII day another week after La Madre's feast), we won't get overwhelmed. Novenas are lovely, but they're not supposed to make you hyperventilate! Let's see then . . . How about: St. Teresa of Jesus, Holy mother of Carmel, Who turned to Jesus' Mother (and ours) and good St. Joseph her most chaste spouse for all your needs, please ask them (and little Jesus) to give us and the whole Church and the whole world all we need too! There! It was a novena of lines (9 of them!) so we're all set! And now, snuggle up to Papa and relax. Whether or not St. John of the Cross really said prayer shouldn't tire you, it's true! It's as easy as a sigh, a glance, a conversation with our dear Jesus who we know (thanks to Marcel) loves us so very much. So relax, and glance at Love, sigh to Him, smile at Him, and feel free to fall asleep leaning on His Heart which, after all, belongs to you. Time is up, our prayers are said, and you have nothing to worry about - anymore - ever! p.s. I almost forgot! My husband has not only been thinking and typing about Dialectic lately, he's been talking about it as well! And he's famous! Here's a link to click and then you'll find a picture of him dialectiquing, a copy of what he's saying (all true, as far as I could tell, though I admit he lost me at the half way point), as well as a play button way down at the bottom of the page where you can click again and hear about dialectic out loud (if you unmute your computer speaker)! Almost more fun than should be legal, but then, what did you expect from the man behind Miss Marcel? He's got to balance out my silliness with loads of truth and logic, and he does a fine job right HERE. (That was it! The HERE is the clickable part, in or out of parentheses! Bon Voyage and bon dialectique!) Wouldn’t you know that after writing the post on Little Ways of Prayer the other day, I found myself attacked by the temptation to worry that I was terrible at praying and assailed by the fear that I was a huge disappointment to God.
As to the first – that I’m terrible at praying – well I should hope so! I’m an all or nothing kind of girl, and the alternative to being a terrible pray-er is to be a perfect pray-er (my anxiety level rose at thinking I wasn’t praying perfectly; the seeming solution: to figure it out quickly and become the perfect pray-er). But if I were a perfect pray-er, I’d be God! God is already perfect triple loveliness, and though He invites us to be one with Him, divinized through our union with Christ, little _____-Jesus (fill in the blank with your name, like if you were Marcel, Marcel-Jesus), still He has a triple loveliness of perfection about Him that is not lacking any goodness or beauty even when we, though we love Him, pray terribly and are in many other ways imperfect. I conclude, then, that He does not need us to be perfect pray-ers. That would just clutter up the situation. He is All, we are nothing. The Saints are quite clear on this, and it’s quite a relief. It doesn’t tire Him to be All, though in that role we’d be exhausted in a nano-second. Instead, while He delights to give us everything (think: Jesus, not to mention our existence, air and sunlight, food and water, roses and chocolate, Mary and Marcel and Therese, etc.), we have something special to give Him in return, in thanksgiving. What can we have that is really ours to give? Why our emptiness for Him to keep filling! So if you find yourself, like I find myself, pathetic at praying, simply thank Him through your tears, your smiles, and/or your laughter (depending on whether it’s a sad, happy, or hysterical realization), and definitely don’t worry about anything anymore ever, least of all that you are what He loves: namely, littleness and emptiness that He can fill with His Love. Not surprisingly, however, my temptation and fear reached its peak when I woke up waaaaaay too early for the new day, that is, the day after posting on little ways of prayer, also the day after I’d read 100 soul-nourishing things in my new book on Therese, but also one or two or three worrisome things. I realized in the full light of the next-day (this day-after upon which I awoke waaaaay too early) that those worrisome things I’d read, that made me think I wasn’t “measuring up” to the little way (which, incidentally, is the most wonderfully ridiculous fear I’ve had in a long time, seeing as it is a contradiction in terms) were worrisome things that God had made that dear author insert in his book so I wouldn’t recommend it to you. We might say God has a one-track mind (St. Thomas will back me up on this one, it’s right there at the beginning of the Summa), and especially when it comes to me, He simply repeats: Marcel, Marcel, Marcel! Which means that when I get the message, which comes through best sometimes at 3 a.m., or 4, or 5:30 a.m. when there are few other distractions and competing voices (except the worrying one, but under and over and around it I hear “Marcel, Marcel, Marcel”), I turn on my nightlight (thank heavens my husband is a sound sleeper) and open Conversations. Here’s what I found when I did that the other early morning, opening to a passage Marcel had written for me on December 29, 1945 (sweet thing!). I should add for context that my love for the French language continues to grow, Therese having just given me another French dictionary (finally a little one befitting the little way) for her second feast the day before my panic and finding this passage: Jesus: Oh! Marcel, do you want to speak to Me, do you want to call Me in French? Let me teach you a very easy phrase that your sister Therese normally repeats to Me all day long. Write this down: ‘Dear little Jesus, come to Me.’ Another time: ‘. . . to France’. Another time: ‘to the priests of France.’* *These three invocations are in French in Van’s text: [and forgive me for copying the French without accent marks] “O petit Jesus, viens avec moi” . . . “avec la France” . . . “avec les pretres de France.” [which I think we can also translate and extend to: “O little Jesus, come with me,” and “come to the whole world” and “come to the priests of the whole world,” which last would be, I think: “O petit Jesus, viens avec les pretres de toute le monde!”] Jesus: Do you understand that Marcel? I will explain it to you: [now Jesus speaks the phrases in Vietnamese, though kind Jack Keogan has translated them here into English for us English speakers, seeing as Vietnamese dictionaries are harder to come by, not to mention harder to read!] ‘Dear little Jesus, come to me . . . come to France . . . come to the priests of France.’ You will recite these invocations with your sister Therese. She is already quite used to doing so. And I, on hearing this call, I shall rush to come to you without delay, assured of meeting there at the same time your sister Therese. {And here’s where things get even better, if things can possibly get any better than Jesus teaching us how to pray in French!} Marcel: Little Jesus, is my sister Therese with me at present? I notice that, since yesterday, she has not said a single word. {And now please remember what we can never repeat often enough: every word Jesus speaks to Marcel, from the first to the last, is meant for each of us too. Jesus said so at the beginning of these Conversations, and thus the following words are meant for us as well as for Marcel.} Jesus: But, yes, she is always at your side; if she does not speak to you it is because she gives way to Me. When you sleep at prayer, she speaks in your place so as not to leave Me alone with nothing to do, or of falling asleep Myself; since if it were necessary that I sleep, even a million Marcels would not succeed in waking Me. I am very inclined to sleep and if I have no one to chat with Me, I fall asleep immediately and, once asleep, I awake when I really wish to. No one is capable of dragging Me from sleep. You yourself could cry loudly and it would be in vain. This is to say that Therese loves you greatly, you, Marcel [you, dear reader, to whom these words are equally truly addressed], her dear little brother [or sister], since she looks after everything in your place. She doesn’t want to see you lose your smile . . . *** And you’d think that now I could stop. That seems like a good stopping point, doesn’t it? But if you, like me, had Conversations opened (to 205) and your eyes, like mine, couldn’t help seeing the next bit – oh, you wouldn’t judge me for my weakness! Who can resist Jesus? Especially in His infinite tenderness, as He expresses it to us through His words to Marcel: Jesus: You say that you are sad for the smallest thing; when you give way thus to sadness, that saddens even more your sister Therese since her only wish is to see you happy. Therefore, never be sad, Marcel. If by some misfortune your sister became angry and left you there all alone, what would happen? [Don’t worry; Therese assures Marcel somewhere in here that she is never angry with him. Jesus is just using a sort of divine hypothetical in His attempt to importune Marcel to be happy.] Even if you cried a lot and pulled a face you would no longer find anybody to wipe your tears. It would be a great pity. So be happy always and then you will receive affection and kisses; in a word you will obtain everything. What more can you wish for?” (A slight digression - unless you see Therese’s Act of Oblation at the center of everything, in which case we’ve reached The Point! When Jesus says, “In a word, you will obtain everything,” I’m reminded of the end of the first paragraph of the Act, where we say with Therese: “I desire, in a word, to be a Saint, but I feel my powerlessness and I beg You, O my God, to be my Sanctity!” And Jesus, here to us through Marcel, is saying that if we are happy always – a fun goal, even if we need Him to make it happen – “in a word” we will obtain everything – I think that’s His little wink at our offering, telling us that He gladly accepts it and accepts our request that He Himself be our Sanctity!) As my eyes fall back onto the pages of Conversations, I quote: Marcel: Little Jesus, I understand absolutely nothing. Jesus: Marcel, who is obliging you to understand? Ignorant as you are, how would you be able to understand? . . . Besides, I have not said these words for you, but really for souls who are afraid of Me. Ah, that would be the rest of us! Not having Jesus constantly 3-D before us in excellent audio/video, surround sound, magnavision, H-D, cinemascope, and whatever is the latest in apparition/locution technology, we do tend to forget that He said He is meek and gentle . . . Thank Heaven that Marcel wrote everything down and Jack Keogan put it into English for us! Let’s make a new resolution to be happy always. Jesus has told us so many wonderful things through Marcel, and though Marcel rarely understands, he obeys and writes down these words: for us! Now when it comes to a resolution (new, old, renewed, taken up again as a light yoke), I’ll be the first to admit that Jesus doesn’t make it easy, mixing in those bitters with the sweets, but let’s smile even through our tears and thank Him. Because in another way He does make it easy. He has given us Marcel! Adorable little Jesus, thank You! I mentioned at the outset that God is perfect triple loveliness. And since He loves to share (that’s the children’s version of the truth “Good is always diffusive of itself” ), He loves to make us triple loveliness too. Just as He had given Marcel a gorgeous sister, Therese, to pray in his place while he slept at his prayers, so He gives us Therese and Marcel too. Imagine, then, how we are finally able to fulfill St. Paul’s injunction to “Pray Always.” Triple loveliness – our sleeping selves, and darling Therese and charming Marcel – before the Face of God. He must be smiling! I think we ought to begin celebrating triply each day. A little way to have our blessings and count them too, you might say. In honor of God’s triple loveliness and the triple loveliness He’s shared with us (letting us be triplets with Therese and Marcel), which are both triple gifts that keep on giving! Here’s how I celebrated triply yesterday, when I intended to post this little musing, but God had other plans (His plans are so much more awesome and satisfying than ours! Can we resolve, too, to thank Him for re-adjusting ours so frequently?): First, I had my Friday holy hour where I get to pray for every lover of Marcel, and in particular for you who are reading this now (you see my confidence in my prayer has increased, now that Jesus has told me Therese will be pinch hitting when I fall asleep, and I know that Marcel, as the second Therese, is praying in my place too). Second, because a dear friend’s daughter is getting married today (blessings upon all newlyweds, about-to-be-marrieds, and just-marrieds, which latter category includes all of us who are married, since time does fly!), my house happens to be filled with FLOWERS until they (the flowers) go to rejoice the hearts and souls of all those at the wedding feast (an earthly image of our divine heavenly union with Jesus). Every time I’ve come into my house or out of my room yesterday and today, I smell the spicy mix of a dozen kinds of flowers, including six dozen cream colored roses (which, of those gracing my house today, are my favorites, and I’m counting them all as roses from Therese for all of us here and our continuing prayer requests in her octave). And what was the third part of my celebration yesterday? It was meant to be posting this for you, but instead it was not posting this for you, going for one wifi hot spot to another, failing to post! What greater joy is there than feasting together on Conversations? I can’t think of any, unless it might be eating a bitter chocolate rather than a sweet one. How else can we explain the popularity of 70% cacao, of the propensity of Triple Loveliness (the Original, the Divine), He who wants us to be happy and united with Him, to keep thwarting our little plans? I praise and thank Him, even as I hope to make the successful posting of this musing part of today’s triple celebration of His love! The other celebrations? I realize straight off I’ve been stingy, claiming only three a day. We can do better than that! Already just looking ahead into this First Saturday I can see I’m hoping for confession, the Wedding Mass, Holy Communion (!!!!!), the reception, the joy of seeing all “my” flowers praying and making the Body of Christ beautiful and happy (there, just like Therese and Marcel praying for us. You can bet I’ll take credit for those prayers as well as my own feeble attempts – I think that’s what these flowers represent!). And the feasting just goes on and on! And I haven’t even mentioned Conversations, which is part of any happy day, just like air and water are part of a balanced diet! (And however disappointing a day might turn out, because sometimes “degout” just clings to our hearts, let’s always rejoice somewhere in the midst of our disgust that we are never, any more ever, alone. Our brother stays beside us from now until eternity, just as our sister stayed beside him. He wanted to resemble Therese in everything; let’s trust he is busy now resembling her in this faithfulness to our very little souls.) Which reminds me. I never told you about the other thing that brightened my spirits when I was worrying about my prayer too early and flipped open the Book of Solutions. After reading Jesus’ reassurance that Therese is happy to pray in my place when I fade out, I looked to what came before that sweet explanation. There I found Jesus saying to Marcel (and to us) the words I will transcribe to close our post of triple loveliness, just before we finish with our little prayers: “Do not be discouraged. All you will ask for, all you will wish for, I will grant to you. Do you now wish that I give you some kisses? How many do you want? But it is first necessary that you tell me: ‘Dear Jesus, I love you.’ Without that who would wish to kiss you? When you have said: ‘Jesus, I love you,’ I will give you as many as you wish for.” Ah, kisses! Yes, let us obey to the letter Jesus’ law of love, so that we may get as many kisses from Him as we wish for. Let’s start with wishing for two thousand! That should keep little Jesus out of mischief! But first our part: Jesus, we love you! A lot! Draw me, we will run! Ahn-train mwa, noo koo-roe(n) ah tah sweet! O petit Jesus, viens avec moi! O petit Jesus, viens avec la France! Viens avec les pretres de France! O petit Jesus, viens avec tout les pretres! Viens tout le monde! And now? Get ready for Jesus’ kisses! He always keeps His promises, and after so many prayers, several even in French, I wouldn’t be surprised if He brings all the angels and saints with Him to kiss us as well! Happy triple loveliness, and no more worrying about anything, any more, ever! “The soul does not go to prayer to tire itself, but to relax.” --St. John of the Cross Are you, like me, shocked to see this sweet and gentle sentiment coming from St. John of the Cross? I was! I who call him “my holy father in Carmel,” I must admit that I was surprised! Happily, I'm not quite dumbfounded, this statement having brought many wonderments to mind. It's the feast of St. Therese again (this time on the old calendar, and how lucky we are to get to celebrate twice!), and she's been keeping me busy wondering at the goodness of God, the goodness He shares with us through His messengers, both angels and Saints. I think the Saints too often get a bad rap. Sure we honor them, but they’ve been so successful - they're in Heaven after all, which is the ultimate success - that we assume they must be unapproachable and would be impatient with the likes of us. Nothing could be further from the truth. Have I quoted for you lately one of my favorite passages from little Therese? (Ha – I’m sure I have quoted one of my favorites, lately, but I think not this one!) She wrote to her seminarian spiritual brother Maurice Belliere: I have to tell you that we don’t understand Heaven in the same way. You think that once I share in the justice and holiness of God, I won’t be able to excuse your faults as I did when I was on earth. Are you then forgetting that I shall also share in the infinite mercy of the Lord? I believe that the Blessed in Heaven have great compassion for our miseries. They remember that when they were weak and mortal like us, they committed the same faults themselves and went through the same struggles, and their fraternal tenderness becomes still greater than it ever was on earth. It’s on account of this that they never stop watching over us and praying for us. Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, you might say – just when the Saints see everything clearly, they like us even better! What a wondrous share in God’s merciful love they have! And what a participation in His infinite tenderness! St. Alphonsus told us back on his feastday on August 1st that one holy saying, meditated on frequently, could make a Saint of even our little selves. How marvelous! I think today’s choice will be: “The soul does not go to prayer to tire itself, but to relax.” A saying which I find so very Marcellian! But then, I’ve never been one to limit myself, and one good quote deserves another. I hope you won’t mind if I add, then, two more which I think you’ll love too. The first is an antiphon from the Divine Office (from Monday, Week I, Evening Prayer): “The Lord looks tenderly on those who are poor.” And the second is from our little sister: “I assure you that the good God is much kinder than you think. He is satisfied with a look, a sigh of love.” This last quote from Therese is one I’ve been wanting to tell you about for a long time, ever since I came across a passage in Conversations where Jesus explains to Marcel what it means to look at Him and to sigh with love. Marcel wrote in his Autobiography, (and this passage in itself has me agog) “I still put into practice today the lessons given to me then [at their first meeting] by our saintly sister. Therese spoke to me a lot during my first novitiate [the time during which he wrote down their Conversations], but everything she told me resembled the first lessons that she gave me at the foot of the hill at Quaing-Uyen” (612). I must say I've been remiss about recommending Marcel's Autobiography. Forgive me! Count it recommended, most highly, but remember I always suggest starting mid-way through so as to get to the heart of the matter at the outset: namely Therese and Marcel's meeting. Perhaps, though, I dwell on Conversations so much because it is here that everything contained in that first message of Therese to Marcel is explained at more leisure, and with more words. Jesus is not above repeating Therese’s lessons to Marcel, all of them meant for us, and with His Divine Authority and clarity (and infinite patience and gentleness), I feel we have more of a chance of eventually learning the lessons by heart. It was without too much surprise, then, but with heartfelt joy that I found Jesus in Conversations explicating Therese’s quote about His kindness. But before we get to Jesus’ commentary, let's take another moment over the quote itself. “I assure you the good God is much kinder than you think. He is satisfied with a look, a sigh of love.” This is assurance indeed, and it meant a lot to the one for whom it was written. For Therese originally expressed this truth in a letter to her sister Leonie, the Martin sister who had the most difficulty following her vocation. As a child Leonie had been tormented by the family maid, and that along with a seeming lack of natural gifts (compared to her very talented and beautiful sisters) contributed to her failures, her lack of confidence, her feeling "less than," which disturbed her peace and made her the perfect candidate for Therese's Little Way. Don't worry, Leonie's story ends very happily - after Therese went to Heaven she helped Leonie even more than she had helped her when on earth, and Leonie's fourth attempt at religious life succeeded to the end of her days (which were many). She ended up as a Visitation sister in Caen, where she lived the Little Way for decades and was beloved by all who knew her. What, then, was my awe and delight when I heard (about two years ago now) that one of Therese's sister had a cause for canonization going! The friend who told me had fun making me guess which sister . . . The dear Celine, the sweet echo of Therese's soul? Nope. Pauline, her Mother Superior and Heaven sent second mother, confidante, first formator, and editor? Nope. Marie, her godmother, who drew from Therese’s pen some of the most encouraging words ever written? Wrong again, mustard seed. The new Servant of God was none other than Leonie, the former ugly duckling who, with her little sister's help, grew out of her awkwardness into a swan of great beauty! Leonie must have been very grateful, both while she struggled and when she later achieved peace, to know that God is much kinder than we think, even when we try our hardest to imagine Him as very kind. And oh, the sweet relief of knowing that He is satisfied, content, pleased with us even if we are only offering Him simple glances and sighs of love. I know I've found great consolation in this truth! Here we come back to that beautiful antiphon from the Divine Office: “The Lord looks tenderly on those who are poor.” We can take great consolation from this truth too! Our Lord instructs us in the Gospel to become like little children. It’s clear there that little children are His very ideal, and it becomes clearer still in Conversations when he tells Marcel (I love this so much!) that everything children do pleases Him. How much does absolutely everything children do please Him? So much that He insists Marcel write down both sides of their conversations to show us how children pray. Jesus explains, in words that can be taken as a commentary on Therese's quote above: “Since there are many who only listen to what I say without daring to converse quite frankly with Me as children, under the pretext that it is not proper . . . tell them that I gladly listen to ordinary conversations, even the simplest ones, and I take pleasure in hearing them. There, that is all I expect from souls who love Me . . . "(Conversations, 6). This gives us a glimpse into how kind He is! Children don’t know a lot of big words yet, and they don’t stand on ceremony. But also, they’re poor. They have nothing much to offer Jesus – they can’t hope to impress Him with stories of their accomplishments, because they don’t have any yet. If we have great accomplishments and want to talk to Jesus about them, I’m sure He’ll gladly listen. He’s happy to hear whatever it is we want to tell Him, but if we're honest, if we see the truth that for us to become like little children is simply to recognize we already are like little children, we’ll be that much more free to tell Him our little nothings (which usually aren’t great accomplishments in the eyes of the world, but may be quite impressive for us. I had the strangest and seemingly most incongruous thought recently. It occurred to me that I’m grateful for the times I’ve experienced depression. We’re all a little down sometimes, but occasionally some of us have the blessing – which feels, by definition, like the worst curse in the world, and likely is one of the worst – of what the professional emotional-temperature-takers call clinical depression. I don’t want to even bring that dark cloud here to our bright and sunny corner of the Internet, but I want to tell you about the silver lining that I’ve noticed. When I’ve experienced depression, I’ve felt and more than felt – I’ve known – my utter and complete poverty. I’ve been blessed, as we all have, with countless gifts of grace and nature. Whether we’re talking butterflies, hummingbirds, blue skies or clouds, sunsets, mountains, fool’s gold or the real thing, parents, children, friends, books, bread, water, angels and Saints – you name it, God has given it in abundance – perhaps not the whole list at once, but many and varied are His gifts, and they surround us in a quantities as absurd as the avocados on my tree when it’s in fruit. Huge quantities! Almost beyond counting! And in the case of the full range of God’s gifts (not just avocados), definitely beyond counting. The result of so many gifts is the tendency in us to take them for granted. Which tendency can even become, without our realizing it, a sense of entitlement or ownership that blinds us to our original state. No, not California or Virginia or Michigan or Minnesota! Our original state as children before God our true Father! Because that is what we are and what we’ll always be, thank Heaven, children of our Heavenly Father, and children are poor. If you take the very smallest child (born, not unborn, though a consideration of the beauty and dignity and utter poverty of the unborn child would surely yield even more fruit), you can see that he (or darling she) enters the world with nothing. Like Job said, “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb,” and if we turn to the other end of the spectrum, he adds, “and naked I shall go back again.” I have felt that soul-nakedness when I’ve experienced depression. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not recommending it! In fact, let’s just say a quick prayer here and now while we’re on the subject: Dear Jesus, thank You for all You’ve given us and all You’ve allowed us to experience. Please send Your angels and Your infinite Love to keep us from suffering depression (again or ever). We ask this of the Father, in Your name. Thank You! So you see, I’m definitely not recommending this route to self-knowledge, but I do marvel at God bringing good out of everything, and now that this suffering is past (never to come again, God willing), I can at least appreciate His showing me my poverty. We here at Miss Marcel’s Musings are, however, the people who brought you the spiritual elevator of Jesus’ arms to lift us to Heaven (little Therese being one of our company), and wouldn’t you know our sister also has a hint about how to (less painfully, more pleasantly, and just like the children we are) achieve self-knowledge. (And let me just interject that I’m quite proud of that massively split infinitive! Love it!) We want self-knowledge, by which I mean knowledge of who we are, because in the simplest terms, what we are is God’s children, and as Therese told Marcel at their first meeting, “To be God’s children is for us an incomparable happiness. We are right to be proud of it and never give way to fear” (Autobiography, 599). That’s more like it! Incomparable happiness, proper pride, no fear! These are the rays of sunshine we love to bask in at MMM. But as usual, there’s more. I’ve been mulling over something else about self-knowledge that Therese told Marcel that first day, and like all that Jesus says to Marcel in Conversations, from the first word to the last, these words from our brother’s Autobiography are meant for us too. Our sister tells us: “To comfort the good God, follow this piece of advice: never be miserly in the things I am going to speak to you about. Be always ready to offer Him your heart, your thoughts, and all your actions. In welcoming them it will be for Him like welcoming a new paradise where all the Trinity finds its delights. Remember that although He is God, our heavenly Father never scorns little things. He takes as much pleasure in things which are apparently insignificant, as in the most wonderful spectacle because it is the marvelous work of His love” (Autobiography, 603). Yowza! Talk about the Lord looking tenderly on those who are poor! It might seem at first a lot to give Him everything Therese advises us to give: our hearts, our thoughts, all our actions. But what a wonderful list! We could add: all our feelings, our memories, our imaginations, but lest you worry I’m cooking the books, I must say I think these too are pretty much already included. So what then does this mean she’s asking us to give? Nothing less than all we have, everything we have. (Suddenly I feel like a boy with a frog in the pocket of his jeans. “Here, Jesus!”) But actually, what is not on Therese’s list? Our money (if we have any), our accomplishments (if we have any), our possessions (if we have any) . . . because whether we are children, literally and physically, and have very little (if any) of these, or Bill Gates who presumably has quite a lot of all of them—none of these are really ours to give! They are God’s already! As my husband taught me long ago, God has all the money in the world. And this goes for all the accomplishments and all the possessions. But our hearts? Our thoughts? Our every little action? These belong to us, they are all we have really, and listen again to what Doctor Therese tells us will happen if we give them to God. “In welcoming them it will be for Him like welcoming a new paradise where all the Trinity finds its delights.” I’ll say it again. Yowza! But much to my chagrin, I haven’t even told you what I came to this passage to find. Here is the part about self-knowledge; it comes just after “Remember that although He is God, our heavenly Father never scorns little things. He takes as much pleasure in things which are apparently insignificant as in the most wonderful spectacle because all of it is the marvelous work of His love.” Here it is, our sister’s insight into self-knowledge: “Besides, in order to maintain that there is love, it is necessary that there is unity. Now unity between two loves demands from one side and the other personal knowledge and mutual understanding. On His part, God our beloved Father knows Himself personally, and understands us thoroughly. As for us, we need Him to get to know ourselves and to understand Him. Consequently, if you did not wish to collaborate with Him in the work which leads to unity, telling Him all your intentions, your words, your actions, and all your efforts, you would never attain unity. Little brother, try to think about it in order to see clearly. There is no exaggeration in my words . . . my only wish is to see you accomplish the works that the divine love desires so ardently for you” (604). Holy guacamole! There it is again. How to pray? Just relax! Sit with God over a cup of coffee or tea (or a glass of wine or water), and spill it. No, not the beverage (though that would be quite childlike!) but your heart. Your hopes and fears, your dreams and anxieties, your days and nights, your friends and frenemies, your every thought, word, and deed. You can even venture into other people’s thoughts, words, and deeds, but if you're going that direction I’d stick to those of the Saints because otherwise Jesus is likely to tell you like He often told Marcel (though He said He wasn’t scolding; He’s too gentle for that!), “None of your business, little one.” Which brings me finally to this conclusion: I’ve been thinking for so long that one of the greatest gifts Marcel has for us is the gift of prayer. And he gives us this gift in so many little ways: 1. By praying for us. Even when on earth, he was instructed to pray for Mary’s little apostles of future days. That was us he was praying for! Now in Heaven, according to Therese’s description of the Blessed (which is so right and just and true), he prays for us even more. Not to mention the promises that Jesus and Mary made him about getting to REALLY be an Apostle of the little ones once he made it to the place from which all blessings flow. 2. By giving us Jesus’, Mary’s, and Therese’s instructions on how to pray, which instructions fill many pages of Marcel’s writings, he gives us the gift of many little ways to pray (the smile, the kiss, the glance, the sigh, turning the cross into roses, and these are just a beginning). 3. By giving us the most imitable and adorable example of truly sharing his every thought, feeling, and complaint as well as joy and sorrow (and disgust!) with Jesus and Mary, Marcel teaches us most effectively how we, possibly littler and weaker than he, can pray too. How can we hesitate to relax when we are laughing and smiling with Jesus at Marcel’s outbursts? Oh little brother, thank you for being so very real! Finally, in these past two years, I’ve found Almighty God, with every power in Heaven and on earth at His disposal, has given me the gift of a prayer more delightful, satisfying, and relaxed than anything I’ve experienced in the fifty-some years prior to my discovering Marcel, through the very great miracle of Marcel’s Conversations. You know how everyone says “literally” even when it doesn’t quite fit the case? Like, “It blew my mind! Literally!” Well I think it’s safe to say here that Marcel’s Conversations literally give me prayer. Not just his, but my own, finally in joy and peace. I pick it up, flip this dear book open, and read. And in Jesus’ words (and Mary’s and Therese’s) I hear of His Love, and the Father’s, and feel the unction of the Holy Spirit who is that Love. And in Marcel’s words, I find myself. Little, tiny, complaining, afraid of suffering, overjoyed with delights, much more attracted to the sweet sweets than the bitter sweets, and madly in love with Jesus who has shown Himself to me (through showing Himself to Marcel). I hope I get to write this blog until the day I die! I hope that day is far off, because even though I want to go to Heaven (I don’t fool myself – I’d love to escape the suffering that is part of earth’s territory! and won’t it be fun to meet Marcel and little Jesus on Mary’s lap?), I don’t want to go until my jobs on earth are done. Loving my family and caring for them, and loving all who wander over to our place here, and caring for them (for you!) by sharing this ridiculously little message: “I assure you that the good God is much kinder than you think. He is satisfied with a look, a sigh of love.” And to share, too, the little ways of prayer I'm learning from our brother and sister. Prayer that is relaxed, not exhausting, made in the simplest possible way. In words provided by God Himself, for instance, in the Song of Songs, but meant for us (as Therese has taught) so that we might ask for everything without making it complicated: Draw me, we will run! or in French, which I've been pretending to know lately: Ahn-train mwa, noo koo-roe(n) ah tah sweet! or finally, in the words of our little brother Marcel: Jesus, I love You a lot! He loves you a lot too (Jesus-Marcel & Marcel-Jesus both)! so no more worrying, about anything, from now on ever! And if you just can't help yourself and you worry anyway, try the prayer our sweet Mother Mary gave us: Little Jesus, I offer You this worry as a sacrifice. And then . . . peace! God has too much respect for men and women to make them live in this state of high tension, which cannot be supported without damaging natural life. So He proceeds with delicate and strong touches to let us feel the violence of His love." -- Jean LaFrance, My Vocation is Love
"Come, come, little brother, the goodness of your true Father is without measure, as I have told you many times already. Even if, in His Love, He indulged you in everything, filling all your desires, He would never find it enough for His Love; He would only be afraid that you might not have the strength to receive all His treats. Whatever I do to spoil you, I consider it all as being nothing." Jesus to Marcel (Conversations, 492) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I hope you like the flowers I've brought you for St. Therese's birthday-into-heaven, her feast, the day we're expecting lots of roses. You'll find some in the picture at the top - they're being blessed by little Jesus before Therese showers them down upon us today and in these next days of her octave. Then there are the pretty little daisy-type-flowers that kind of look like asterisks, right above this paragraph. Finally, as far as visible roses go, if you're hungry you'll be glad to see that I'm sending you edible roses at the bottom of the post. We can have our roses and eat them too - those beautiful roses are actually decorations atop a cake! No, I didn't bake and carefully (very artistically!) decorate it - actually, the likelihood of my tasting such roses today is as small as yours (we must recognize our limits here), but we can be like little children having a tea party and pretend to eat them together! As to the roses Therese has showered down upon me so far today (besides being able to write to you, which is a huge bouquet of roses in itself, for me for sure, and I'm praying for you too - that is, I'm praying for you, and I'm praying that this post will be a huge bouquet for you!), well, the quote at the very top of the page is from a book I've been reading about St. Therese's Little Way, and it, or rather they (the quote, the book, the Little Way, and Therese herself) are quite a gorgeous shower of roses awakening in me wonder, awe, and gratitude, and it's only breakfast time as I write! Naturally, since a feast is about enjoying the meal together, I'll share the line that has delighted me and been a special rose this morning, a bit of new information that surprised me at the same time that it fulfilled my latest, most heartfelt conviction. Don't worry if you read this quotation and it means nothing (or not much) to you, at least at first. We can play like we're Jesus and Marcel in Conversations. (You don't mind if I'm Jesus for a minute, do you? Marcel is pretty adorable too, and you get to be him.) I'll say something (this quote), and you can say, "I don't understand!" and I'll say, "So much the better! I will understand for you!" But since we don't have a mutual bearded Jesus around to clear up any confusion, I'll ask the Holy Spirit to let me (not Jesus anymore, but back to my regular self, Miss Marcel) help you understand. We'll see how that goes! The quote I want to share is from Jean LaFrance in My Vocation is Love (and by the way, I'm sure his vocation is love too, but I think the title is as if said by St. Therese!). Oh, and the "he" that Jean refers to in the quote is Monsignor Andre Combes (accent over the "e" in Andre), a French theologian who fell in love with Therese and had a lot to do with getting her letters published (and much more) in a resurgence of interest (or had it ever waned?) in her teaching in the mid-20th century (1950's and 1960's). Jean is here talking about a study by Monsignor Combes called "My Vocation is Love" (hey! sounds like an inspiration for Jean's own book) which was a talk Andre gave on May 30, 1965 (just a month and a half after I was born! Like a birthday present!). The French title is "Ma vocation, c'est l'amour" and Fr. LaFrance (for yes, he is a priest too) highly recommends it. He says he can't summarize the whole talk here, but the important point Jean gives us, like a beautiful rose, is this: "He goes on to develop a thesis that he never ceased defending, which places the Act of Offering to Merciful Love at the center of Theresian spirituality." Have I told you that I'm just crazy in love with Therese's Act of Offering? It's actually one of the main reasons I started Miss Marcel's Musings, in a roundabout way, anyhow. (Not that I started MMM in a roundabout way, but that the Act started it, sort of, that is, in a roundabout way was responsible for it. Heavens to Murgatroyd, I'm not going to worry about whether that made sense. You see I am not quite little Jesus - He says things that make sense, and Marcel and his proteges are often at a loss to understand them. I say things that don't make sense, which explains why you shouldn't worry about not understanding them!) But to explain what does make sense and what I hope I can explain, let's go back to this time of year in 2016. I wrote a book then - well it's still a manuscript since it hasn't been published yet - and it's about a particular part of Therese's Act of Oblation to Merciful Love. My thesis is that she's quite eager to have us all make this Act, although I must admit that she's taking her time about getting the message out there (that is, published). Which is good, because besides being God's will (always so good!), the delay has allowed me to improve the manuscript, write a new beginning, fill in some answers to objections, and such like. But what thrills me is to hear that Abbe Combes (for such is the name, with an accent on the "e" in Abbe, that I've always called him in my mind, as that's how older books refer to him) was just as excited as I am about Therese's Act. I owe him an apology too, because I've not been quick to accept his friendship, despite all he's done for me by making Therese's writings more readily available. I repent, dear Andre! I love you! Well to explain a little more . . . just before the sentence I've quoted, Fr. LaFrance tells us, "The author [Abbe Combes] asks us to make 'a vigorous mental effort to examine closely this veritable mystery' [that is, the Act of Oblation to Merciful Love]." My stars, I did try to think as I wrote that book examining closely this veritable mystery. Nothing short of a vigorous mental effort went into it. Or is that quite right? When I think of how much fun I had writing my Therese book and with what determination she kept pushing me to keep writing, quickly, before I forgot what I was trying to say (what she wanted me to say), it's hard to remember vigorous mental effort being a big part of the experience. Still, I think I must have been thinking, because it came out just fine. Or was Therese thinking really hard? Anyhow, someone was! Well, if we go back even further than 2016 in the annals of history, all the way to the days when St. Therese's sisters, Marie, Pauline, and Celine remained living and praying and working in the Carmel of Lisieux, we find that it was common for authors of books on Therese to submit their manuscripts to her sisters to make sure the fruit of the authors' labors reflected the authentic thought of the Little Flower. (If fruit can reflect the thought of a flower!) Often have I read with joy and peace an endorsement from these holy sisters, so close to their Very Holy sister, and then proceeded to enjoy some book or other about little Therese. Since Celine (the last to leave exile) didn't zip to heaven until 1959, this means there were decades in which authors could get that reassuring "imprimatur" from the Lisieux Carmel, and more particularly, from those who knew Therese's doctrines first hand. When I finished my manuscript, I thought about those endorsements, and I asked Therese and her sisters to send me one to let me know I'd written well and truly about the Act and Therese's hopes for it and for us. Sure enough, here is what I have written on the inside of my copy of Marcel's Conversations: October 19, 2016 19th anniversary of Therese's doctorate: This book came in answer to my "Will you send it today to thank me for our book and show me it is true?" And then, there it is in black ink (okay, granted I wrote what follows, but that seemed more practical than waiting for an angel or Therese's sisters to materialize in my living room): "Yes, you have written well!" --Carmel of Lisieux In other words, I took Marcel's arrival in my mailbox as a rose from Therese approving of the book I'd just finished (I'd sent Something New with St. Therese off to its first reader, a Carmelite friar, that very day). One thing about finishing a book is that you miss it. Or I do, that is! I miss the obsession and the passion that goes into writing, I miss what I've been writing about, I missed (in this case) Therese's daily encouragement, her presence at my side as I wrote. The best solution I have found to this "book is done" malaise is to plunge yourself (in this case, myself) into another project. That's how I wrote The Paradise Project after A Little Way of Homeschooling had been published. And that's how I ended up immersing myself in Conversations after I finished Something New. I had found Marcel's Autobiography on the library shelf when researching for Something New. I began reading mid-way through the book where our little brother met Therese for the first time. I know myself and I wasn't about to waste my short attention span on his earliest memories and then set the book aside before our heroine entered its pages! One thing led to another, in this case the Autobiography to Conversations. I just had to get my hands on more conversations between Therese and Marcel! Here was my novice mistress instructing another dopey protege in her Little Way - I needed those instructions! Thanks to Jack Keogan, translator extraordinaire, and barnesandnoble.com (who had Conversations at a slightly lower price than their competitor), I was able to order the book I HAD TO HAVE and all that was left was to wait forever while it was shipped by slow boat through China (or so I assume for it did seem to take forever to arrive). Fortunately I was putting last touches on my manuscript, so I could distract myself from the wait. But then the day arrived. If you don't ever finish a manuscript, you can't ask Jesus to get it published. As I've since learned, if you do finish a manuscript, you can ask Jesus to get it published and you might still have to wait a while, but that's no matter. My part being done, I sent off my book and I was free - free to play with Marcel, if only he'd ever show up in my mailbox. Hence my prayer on October 19, 2016. And there he was, the answer, right there in the mailbox: the rose I'd requested! Little did I know, but often have I since reflected, that in Marcel's Conversations, the book Therese sent to seal my work with a heavenly kiss, Jesus is constantly instructing our little brother on the meaning of the Offering to Merciful Love. Wow! A year and two months after Marcel showed up, in December of 2017 I started Miss Marcel's Musings at the suggestion of a friend. I owed that friend an act of obedience, because she had bought Conversations at my suggestion some months before. I don't know which of our acts of compliance stunned heaven more, or perhaps the question is: Which act - my friend buying Conversations, or my starting this blog on Marcel - had Heaven laughing harder? They were both life changing acts! It is absolutely my privilege to bring Marcel to a wider audience than he knew before I started rambling here. I have no illusions (well, that's not strictly true, but I try to have no illusions!) about how much wider that audience is - this is the Little Way, and that means we aren't going viral anytime soon. Thank heavens! For all the time since we've known what viruses are, and long before we named them, we've rightly feared them: they wreak havoc and sometimes death! So let's stay small and safe in the arms of Jesus and Mary, and rejoice that on this feast of little Therese, we can thank God for not only her life and roses, but the life and roses of "the second Therese," her spiritual brother Marcel Van. You are here today reading about Marcel and Therese, and that is a wide enough audience to make all my efforts (and Jesus', and Jack Keogan's, and Marcel's Fr. Boucher's, etc.) well worth while! As to asking for the rose of Conversations to show up in your mailbox (if you haven't yet petitioned heaven and an online bookseller to send it), I must tell you of the miracle in publishing that's happened in 2018. Thanks to Les Amis de Van, the French group of holy souls who LOVE Marcel and work for his cause of beatification (and do much more besides, such as supporting Vietnamese seminarians), these days you can order Conversations from amazon.com for only $25 (it used to cost $40!) and receive it in almost no time flat, which in plainer language means in just a few days, and the shipping is free for everyone! Now how about that. I was fretting and stressing about what roses I could offer you today, and here I am doing a commercial for Marcel's Conversations! Well, I must say I'm an American, and what else do you expect? I've often thought I'd happily go on T.V. to endorse Bounty paper towels (they've just made that much of a difference in my life!), but this seems much more worthy. Yet what's a commercial without a sample of the product? I've opened Marcel's book and found - just like that - a real rose (not just an ad for one!) to offer you for our sister's feast. These are words of Jesus to Marcel (472): "Little brother, you will be submerged eternally in the ocean of Love, where you will carry in your wake a great number of souls. What a joy for you, Marcel! Little Therese calls you her little brother with good reason and I recognize that it is right to call you so." Isn't that lovely? And have no doubt - you are one of those little souls in the great number being carried in Marcel's wake! But now we need a word from Therese herself, one more rose in the bouquet, something I found this morning in her Last Conversations which just goes to show that Marcel is not only her brother because they both carry us to Heaven in their wake, nor because they both have books with "Conversations" in the title! No, what about this possibility? Therese and Marcel are siblings because just like Therese and her sisters, they have so much fun together! Talk about a couple of sillies! Here is what Therese, dying slowly, said to her sister Pauline (Mother Agnes) who watched at her bedside in the infirmary: "When the saints have closed the gates of heaven on me, they will sing: At last, we have you, Little gray mouse, At last, we have you And we won't let you go!" Pauline comments, "This was a little childhood song that had come back into her mind: Enfin nous te tenons, Petite souris grise, Enfin nous te tenons Et nous te garderons!" I have my handy French translating dictionary out, and "garderons" seems to me the key word here - for how could the Saints possibly "not let go" the one who said she'd come down to those left on earth!? You'll be glad to learn that while the first meaning of the verb "garder" is "to keep, to take care of, to preserve" - which I imagine is what his delighted captors did to the little gray mouse - the next meanings are "to attend, to attend to, to look after, to heed, to watch." Now that's more like it! I imagine the other saints are learning a lot from watching Therese with her buckets and baskets and whole heavenly mansions full of roses and her work scattering them down and then even coming down to deliver them personally. Mark my words - no doubt on the last day, when Jesus is handing out awards, He'll have one for Therese that acknowledges her good citizenship example! Talk about innovative new programs! This rose business (though she got it from St. Aloysius, she's made it her own through and through) is the real thing, and I for one am happy to believe she's an inspiration to the other Saints who not only cannot hold her in heaven, but want to follow her example of following up on our every petition. Leaving aside our other brothers and sisters, however, I need to tell you about one more rose from Therese. I came upon it as I was looking for the mouse poem to transcribe it here - and that's the thing about Therese's roses - once you've begun to notice them, they seem to multiply and bloom in profusion. This is a rose fit to end our post (just before our closing prayer of gratitude and ongoing petition) because it's straight from the heart of Therese, and also provides a more essential connection between Therese and Marcel than their silliness (if that's possible). What could be more essential than silliness? Why love, silly! Our brother and sister are both immersed in God's love, and they want to share that love with us - in fact, they insist! And this rose proves it: We read in Last Conversations that Therese said to Pauline just a month before she went to Heaven (and I'm absolutely sure she says it to us again today): "Ah, if you love me, how I love you also!" I pray that you may love her like Marcel does! And may she be your sister too! May her love surround you today and always! As she assures Marcel, even when she's quiet, she hasn't forgotten us and is just as near as when she's chattering away. May she and Marcel absolutely cover you and your dear ones with roses beyond counting! For our final spiritual roses then, here are some we can offer to Jesus. Then don't forget our tea party eating pretend sugar roses at the end! Ahn-train mwa, noo koo-roe(n) ah tah sweet! or for those of us more comfortable with English: Draw me, little Jesus, and we will run (all of us, to You!)! And for those who would like to take a dive into the deep end, or even dip in one toe and then another until, aah, fully submerged, here is St. Therese's Act of Oblation to Merciful Love. She told her sister Marie of the Sacred Heart that to say this prayer was NOT to ask for suffering, but for love. And she told her novice Marie of the Trinity that the only thing necessary to prepare one to make this Act was to know oneself unworthy to do so. I can't see any other big obstacles - we want love and Love wants us. We know we are too little to climb up to Love ourselves, so let's invite Love to come down, in overflowing torrents of infinite tenderness! Take my hand and Therese's, and let's run! Act of Oblation to the Merciful Love of the Good God O My God! Most Blessed Trinity, I desire to Love You and make you Loved, to work for the glory of Holy Church by saving souls on earth and liberating those suffering in purgatory. I desire to accomplish Your will perfectly and to reach the degree of glory You have prepared for me in Your Kingdom. I desire, in a word, to be saint, but I feel my helplessness and I beg You, O my God! to be Yourself my Sanctity! Since You loved me so much as to give me Your only Son as my Savior and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of His merits are mine. I offer them to You with gladness, begging You to look upon me only in the Face of Jesus and in His heart burning with Love. I offer You, too, all the merits of the saints (in heaven and on earth), their acts of Love, and those of the holy angels. Finally, I offer You, O Blessed Trinity! the Love and merits of the Blessed Virgin, my Dear Mother. It is to her I abandon my offering, begging her to present it to You. Her Divine Son, my Beloved Spouse, told us in the says of His mortal life: "Whatsoever you ask the Father in my name he will give it to you!" I am certain, then, that You will grant my desires; I know, O my God! that the more You want to give, the more You make us desire. I feel in my heart immense desires and it is with confidence I ask You to come and take possession of my soul. Ah! I cannot receive Holy Communion as often as I desire, but, Lord, are You not all-powerful? Remain in me as in a tabernacle and never separate Yourself from Your little victim. I want to console You for the ingratitude of the wicked, and I beg of you to take away my freedom to displease You. If through weakness I sometimes fall, may Your Divine Glance cleanse my soul immediately, consuming all my imperfections like the fire that transforms everything into itself. I thank You, O my God! for all the graces You have granted me, especially the grace of making me pass through the crucible of suffering. It is with joy I shall contemplate You on the Last Day carrying the scepter of Your Cross. Since You deigned to give me a share in this very precious Cross, I hope in heaven to resemble You and to see shining in my glorified body the sacred stigmata of Your Passion. After earth's Exile, I hope to go and enjoy You in the Fatherland, but I do not want to lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for Your Love Alone with the one purpose of pleasing You, consoling Your Sacred Heart, and saving souls who will love You eternally. In the evening of this life, I shall appear before You with empty hands, for I do not ask You, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is stained in Your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in Your own Justice and to receive from Your Love the eternal possession of Yourself. I want no other Throne, no other Crown but You, my Beloved! Time is nothing in Your eyes, and a single day is like a thousand years. You can, then, in one instant prepare me to appear before You. In order to live in one single act of perfect Love, I OFFER MYSELF AS A VICTIM OF HOLOCAUST TO YOUR MERCIFUL LOVE, asking You to consume me incessantly, allowing the waves of infinite tenderness shut up within You to overflow into my soul, and that thus I may become a martyr of Your Love, O my God! May this martyrdom, after having prepared me to appear before You, finally cause me to die and may my soul take its flight without any delay into the eternal embrace of Your Merciful Love. I want, O my Beloved, at each beat of my heart to renew this offering to You an infinite number of times, until the shadows having disappeared I may be able to tell You of my Love in an Eternal Face to Face! |
Miss MarcelI've written books and articles and even a novel. Now it's time to try a blog! For more about me personally, go to the home page and you'll get the whole scoop! If you want to send me an email, feel free to click "Contact Me" below. To receive new posts, enter your email and click "Subscribe" below. More MarcelArchives
September 2024
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