Many Blessed Advents!

"All nations shall stream toward it; many peoples shall come and say: Come, let us climb the Lord's mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may instruct us in His ways, and we may walk in His paths." - First Sunday of Advent, Isaiah 2:3

"If all weak and imperfect souls such as mine felt as I do, none would despair of reaching the summit of the mountain of Love, since Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude . . . How few are the hearts that surrender themselves without reserve to the infinite tenderness of His Love!" - St. Therese (Story of a Soul)

We here at Miss Marcel's Musings are thrilled to announce many advents this season.
According to my handy internet dictionary, 'advent' means: "the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event."  And my goodness, do we have a lot of arrivals of notable persons, things, and events going on around here!

1. St. Therese arrived! Her Brazilian jacaranda wood reliquary came to us at Thomas Aquinas College after having visited Royal Oak, Michigan's National Shrine of the Little Flower and some lovely Carmelite places in sunny SoCal, and before continuing on to more Carmelite places here in California and then all over the country. At last report, our Sister from Heaven visited Winchester, VA, where she had a wonderful time hosted by Fr. Bjorn, a big fan of hers, and all those he could bring to her (and bring her to)! So much to say, but for now, simply: Thank You, Jesus! Thank You for answering our prayer. The Church has requested for millenia, "Teach us, Lord, Your ways, and let us walk in Your path," and You, Love and Mercy Itself, have given us Your Little Way through St. Therese! Thank You for her visits, her miracles, her roses, and above all her doctrine, teaching us that You are not waiting for our great actions, but simply our surrender and gratitude . . . 

2. In my own home, we are awaiting the arrival of an already much beloved and prayed for bambino, whose coming is set for around the time of . . . 

3. The nativity of our Lord! We are beginning the liturgical season of Advent, and that means: Jesus is coming soon! Hooray for Jesus and HIs many advents, many arrivals, many revelations of His Love to us. Get ready for another because He wants this to be your best Christmas yet!

And so, how shall we prepare?

Therese has 9 more days of touring around the U.S.A., and this will lead to her last day in Florida on the feast of the Blessed Mother's Immaculate Conception. Nine days . . . now what does that sound like . . . . Yes! You guessed it! We have just time for a handy novena, and I am thrilled to be the first to announce it (as far as I know). Oh, sure, there are others (I sure hope there are!) announcing a novena to the Immaculate Conception. Did you know, actually, that this is what the Bishop of Mexico City was praying when, in answer to his prayers, Our Lady of Guadalupe showed up with roses?

Well, let's ask for roses too, from Our Lady through the hands of her littlest handmaid, St. Therese. Let's ask that all those who helped Therese come visit the US, all those who got to visit and will get to visit with her, and especially too all those who didn't and won't get to see her this trip are inundated with roses of heavenly graces, miracles, and joyful surprises!

I have three prayers, in honor of the Trinity and for your delectation. There is a full novena prayer, but there are also two mini-prayers, for those who might be in a rush (or just forgetful or trying to cram in this novena in the midst of a few other preparations this time of year). Say them all or just say one. Or you could say them all and repeat twice to have said nine prayers and knock this novena out of the park before tomorrow!

O Little Therese of the Child Jesus
Please pick for me a rose from the heavenly garden
and send it to me as a message of love.

O Little Flower of Jesus,
please ask God to grant the favors
I now place with confidence in your hands . . . 

St. Therese, help me to always believe as you did,
in God’s great love for me,
so that I may imitate your “Little Way” each day.
Amen.

*       *       *

Little Flower, in this hour, show your power!

*    *     *

Draw me, we will run!

And that's it! A novena of petition, of thanksgiving, of preparation for the Immaculate Conception and for Christmas . . . One stop shopping, we like to call it!

I wish I could write forever, but then you'd be stuck reading forever, and we can't have that . . . but what I would like to add is simply this:

You're going to hear a lot in the next few weeks from every direction. Some will say, "Shop more!" Others will say, "Don't shop!" Some will say, "Pray more!" Others will say (or imply), "No time for prayer! Hurry up and get the house/gifts/Christmas cards ready!"

Whoosh! I'm exhausted already and we haven't even started!
So . . . in the spirit of St. Therese, let's take a deep breath.
Then breathe out, and in the spirit of our brother Marcel, that's a sigh of love.

One thing only is necessary. That's what Jesus said. 
But don't you often wonder: What is it? What's the one thing?

It is Him. 
As St. John of the Cross so beautifully put it:

"The Father spoke one Word, which was his Son, and this Word He speaks always in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul."

Don't panic at the thought that you won't have much silence in Advent. You will have plenty because (promise me) you'll go to bed each night, and there, just at those hours when Scripture tells us The Word leapt down from His Eternal Throne, you will have some silence, I promise. That means that if you don't get any other silence in daytime hours (oh, but you will, because that's one of my own intentions in this novena I'm starting!), you'll at least have time in the middle of the night, some of which I'm confident you'll spend sleeping. And that's when the Holy Spirit does His best work! 

Meanwhile, here is Therese's reminder. Whether you shop a lot or don't shop much, whether you start your Christmas music early or put it off till The Day, whether you go to parties or await babies in your own circle or simply continue the usual workaday life until Christmas, here is what she tells us again:

Do not despair of reaching the summit of the mountain of Love because Jesus does not demand great actions of us, but simply surrender and gratitude!

Thank You, Jesus! Thank You for everything!
Do with us and this Advent season what You will, but don't forget to come to us on Christmas, and every day leading up to it!
We love You, little Jesus!

​Draw me; we will run!