My day was full of joy, and I pray yours was too....but keep in mind this is just the beginning of our sister's triduum, so I'll meet you here tomorrow, God willing, and we'll talk Therese, Marcel, and roses!!!

Wishing you a happy feast - the one that was so far today, and the one that we will celebrate tomorrow: Guardian Angel day! Just a little break before the old calendar (extraordinary form) brings Therese back on Thursday! 

Meanwhile, may you find roses everywhere you look! 

Oh Little Therese, we could never celebrate your great Love, Jesus, in just one day. Bring us safely to tomorrow when we may join you in loving Him again, and rejoice with you in the angels God has given each of us . . . and bless all those in our triple novena. Shower us with the roses you promised, and kiss little Jesus for us. And that Marcel, the second little Flower, the second Therese? Please give him our love too - and invite him to help you scatter your rose petals and roses all over the world. Watch over all missionaries tonight; bless our Holy Father and our Bishops; keep our priests close to Mary and Jesus; and our religious, bless them too! As for the many, many lay people who have turned to you today - or who have never heard of you! - roses, roses, roses!

Little Jesus,
draw me, we will run!!!

It's our darling father Padre Pio's feast day - the day he entered into the joy of our Father and saw Jesus face to Face at last! Hooray and Alleluia! But before we forget, let's say the closing prayer in our novena to him, which ends today, just before we say our opening prayer in Therese's novena, which starts today! If you think we're having too much fun, you're absolutely right, but it's hard to know what else to do with so many saints surrounding us with God's love! Here we go then:

O Blessed Padre Pio,
holy bearer of the wounds of Christ,
accept us this day as your spiritual sons and daughters
and keep us always on the Little Way by your intercession.
And do thou, O our Spiritual Father,
relieve our suffering and the suffering of those we love, and then
stay there at the Gates of Heaven, as you promised,
until all of your spiritual children have entered through,
even and including us and all those we love.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
And while we're in such a prayerful state, we can begin again:

St. Thérèse, you who promised to make fall a shower of roses, see what confidence I put in you and receive my intentions. Ask the Lord to grant my prayers and obtain for me the grace to always love Him and make Him to be loved. Amen.

And just because I can never get enough of this prayer (and our sweet Mother Mary), let's finish our pious offerings with:

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. Amen.

And now, don't you think, as I know Marcel does, that on such a happy feast, we need some pictures to enjoy along with the words?

Here is a photo just taken today, a photo of a gorgeous church in Rome (Italy! really!), a church called San Salvatore in Lauro (which means "Holy Savior at the Laurels"). Our Rome correspondent Lizzie took it for us, and in a moment you'll find out why. I can't wait to tell you! But first, the church:

And the reason for the season? Or rather the reason for this photo in this season?? Well . . . we can offer another photo to help you understand why we are, with dear Lizzie, in this church today . . . 

Can you guess what you are looking at?

These are Padre Pio's relics in this lovely church! And lovely Lizzie went there today, to represent all of us, to bring our hearts and our intentions to Padre Pio on the day when everyone in heaven, especially the Holy Trinity and Blessed Mother, just HAVE to give him whatever he asks for because it is his birthday there!!!

So then, here is the beautiful statue that will explain the life of Padre Pio - and explain the connection between part 1 of our Triple Novena - ending on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - and part 2 to our dear Padre:

Yes, there is our True Love, adorable Jesus, and Padre Pio is helping Him carry His cross to save us! Thank You Jesus! Thank you dear Padre!

But if you think we're not having too much fun, I will let you know why I, for one, am almost out of my mind with delight. I have found a little way to fool the internet today! Did you notice something? This post is Part 1 and .... below will be (is already for I'm writing backward today!) Part 2, and then below that again is Part 3! Yes, for once no one need read backwards to go in order (or upside down). So read on, going from top to bottom as any sane literati would, and find out what exactly Lizzie was doing (for us!) in this church of Our Holy Savior in Rome today . . . you will be as thrilled as I am because God's Limitless Love is pouring forth through the kindness of Padre Pio and his friends - to us!

Ah, dearest Jesus,
we won't forget to ask you three times today (and the first right now):
​Draw me, we will run!!!

So do you see that woman in purple in the center of the photo? She's to the right of the woman in white, and she's practically invisible because she is blending into the whole experience of Padre Pio carrying Jesus' cross . . . but what is she doing exactly?

She's praying for YOUR intentions!
In fact, what she just did today on this glorious feast of Jesus' friend and ours, St. Padre Pio, is she just put a slip of paper into Padre Pio's hand. Not just any piece of paper, but one on which were written your intentions! Really! Some were very specific, for the little boy who started us on this triple novena path, for the daughter who is ill but healing, we pray, for my father-in-law, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law, and for the amazingly beautiful family who just lost little Ida to heaven, and for the family I know who just welcomed a little boy into their midst, a boy who may have Down Syndrome as his special gift to their hearts and home . . . and "all the intentions of those prayed for in the triple novena," which means absolutely all of YOUR intentions and the intentions of those you love!

And what did my friend-in-purple say about putting all these intentions before Padre Pio today on his feast? She wrote to me: "Put the email you sent me with all the intentions right in his hand in this statue and there it stays....Lit a candle for everyone's intentions....St. Pio is so good!"

Well Miss Lizzie, so are you! And we are so grateful!!

So what I have to say to you, my dear, dear visitors and friends, is that you are so taken care of - if you knew how well, you'd laugh until you cried, or perhaps you'd cry until you laughed! There are some wonderful quotes from Padre Pio about his love for his spiritual children (of which you are now one, or two if you are reading this in pairs, or more if you are a group huddled around the computer or listening as someone among you reads aloud this divinely good news!) - and you can find them in this delightful piece written by moi at the request of the editor of Catholic Exchange. He (the editor) is, by the way, on his honeymoon in Prague right now because, as he said, "My bride and I have both wanted to go there since childhood!"

Well fancy that! God is such a romantic that not only does he bring two souls together in true love, but He adds little touches like their both wanting to go to the same surprising (and lovely) destination their whole lives, so that having found each other, they can go together! He is so sweet!

The article is HERE - I mean the one on Padre Pio and his spiritual children, and about our Triple Novena too! How much fun can we have in one day? A whole lot, I promise! And if you don't believe me, if you're still worried about a little something, well read on, and we will try our little best to allay your fears in Part 3!

Meanwhile, not forgetting Jesus our Love for one second, we say again:
Draw me, we will run!!!!

Yes, this is it! We have nothing to worry about, any more, ever! Not only did Jesus, Mary, and St. Therese tell that to Marcel several times, even devoting whole arguments and conversations to this purpose (that he and we should no longer worry), not only did St. John Paul II take up Jesus' frequent advice (Be not afraid!), not only is it true that with Mary as our Mother it makes no sense to worry . . . but this is the day Jesus gives us another spiritual father (besides our infinitely loving Heavenly Father) - St. Padre Pio who loves, loves, loves to take care of us and all those we love!

So let's give it our best shot, let's not worry any more ever. If we find ourselves failing, we have the Little Way to fall back on, and dear Blessed Mother's perfect suggestion: we can repeat the easy prayer: "Little Jesus, I offer You this worry as a sacrifice," and by this means save many souls. But the best part is, as she said, to let ourselves experience His peace after we offer Him our worries.

And now, just to make sure we've begun our third novena, a quick refresher: Little Flower, in this hour, show your power!

Oh, and one of her very favorite prayers, which we've adopted as our own:

Draw me, we will run!!!

First things first:
O Blessed Padre Pio,
holy bearer of the wounds of Christ,
accept us this day as your spiritual sons and daughters
and keep us always on the Little Way by your intercession.
And do thou, O our Spiritual Father,
relieve our suffering and the suffering of those we love, and then
stay there at the Gates of Heaven, as you promised,
until all of your spiritual children have entered through, 
even and including us and all those we love.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

And…

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. Amen.

If you’re just now joining us in the midst of our triple novena, Welcome!
The good news is that this novena is designed to allow anyone to pick up where we left off, namely, right where we are! The better news is that we’ve been praying for you all along. And the best of all news is that Jesus’ Love is so very limitless and so absolutely stunning in its effects, that you’ll feel and see the fruits of our prayers any moment now, if you haven’t already. So cast your cares upon Him who cares for us all, and feel free to read some of the posts below this one to get a sense of the awesome adventure you’re now part and parcel of!
 
Meanwhile, we’ve got some housecleaning to do here at Miss Marcel’s Musings. Somewhat like the time Marcel was complaining to Mother Mary that he didn’t have time to clean his room and she explained that (a) she would clean the room of his soul of the pesky cobwebs of worry, plentiful though these were; and (b) she’d help him get his room clean on an upcoming Thursday in just 15 minutes flat, so no need to worry over that either . . .  similarly we’ve been worrying over here (with the help of a little Rose we know) just how we’d fit in the August edition of Marcel’s Book Club on Chapter 8 of our sister Therese’s Story of a Soul . . .
 
Yes, you read that right. August edition. As in last month’s, like we’ve become some sort of online journal that (like many a small print journal) somehow fell behind and will soon be publishing the Spring 2012 issue! Well no, it’s not quite that bad, but we are a month behind because somehow or other August slipped away from us and we find ourselves here in mid-September with Chapter 9 looming and Chapter 8 still undiscussed. I don’t know about you, but I have 15 minutes free this very hour, so let’s have at it and clear the way for our upcoming (and as is our more typical fashion, 11th hour or 30th day) September book club.
 
Think of it as a bonus! This month we get two Marcel Book Club meetings, and by missing last month’s, no harm is done but rather we prove our Paradise Project (of reading Therese’s autobiography a chapter a month in 2019) to be a truly little way!
 
Onward and upward then, and into Chapter 8 . . .
 
Just as if God knew we’d be reading this chapter in the midst of a triple novena (think: prayer), He inspired Therese to begin these pages with a comment about her own experience of prayer. She writes:
 
“I should have spoken to you about the retreat preceding my Profession . . . it was far from bringing me any consolations since the most absolute aridity and almost total abandonment were my lot. Jesus was sleeping as usual in my little boat; ah! I see very well how rarely souls allow Him to sleep peacefully within them. Jesus is so fatigued with always having to take the initiative and to attend to others that He hastens to take advantage of the repose I offer to Him . . . but instead of being troubled about it, this only gives me extreme pleasure.”
 
So far, so good. Our little sister is teaching us that when we are seemingly getting nothing out of our prayers or prayer time, then it is that we’re giving Jesus a rest. Gotta love that silver lining! But Therese is aware of the humor in this. After all, here we are pathetic at prayer and blaming Jesus. I love it! She continues:
 
“Really, I am far from being a saint, and what I have just said is proof of this; instead of rejoicing, for example, at my aridity, I should attribute it to my little fervor and lack of fidelity; I should be desolate for having slept (for seven years) during my hours of prayer and my thanksgivings after Holy Communion; well, I am not desolate.”
 
What cheek! How can one do anything but love the Little Flower, tiny yet bold as she is! And will she share her secret with us? Always! Her secret is no secret; St. Paul revealed it to us when God revealed it to him – that His power reaches perfection in our weakness. But let’s hear Therese’s take:
 
“I remember that little children are as pleasing to their parents when they are asleep as well as when they are wide awake.”
 
For those of us who are parents, or even Aunts, Uncles, or babysitters, we can agree that often children are not only as pleasing, but even more pleasing when they are asleep!
 
“I remember too that when they perform operations, doctors put their patients to sleep. Finally I remember that The Lord knows our weakness, that He is mindful that we are but dust and ashes (Psalm 102).”
 
Finally Therese explains, “I have frequently noticed that Jesus doesn’t want me to lay up provisions; He nourishes me at each moment with a totally new food; I find it within me without my knowing how it is there. I believe it is Jesus Himself hidden in the depths of my poor little heart: He is giving me the grace of acting within me, making me think of all He desires me to do at the present moment.”
 
The first time I read Story of a Soul was, I think, in the summer of 1986. (I was going to tell you how many years ago, but I always lose a decade in there somewhere, so you can do the math if you like!) What struck me then is the same thing that strikes me now, or at least one of the many things that strike and move me: Therese is so very intimate with Jesus! And how that delights Him and delights me! I was just reading today in her little brother Marcel’s book of Conversations this beautiful passage that applies to Therese and Marcel and us all equally. It is the last day of December, 1945, and Marcel has just spoken to Jesus the following words:
 
“Little Jesus, I love You very much. Now I wish to ask You a question. How is it that I hear certain brothers say that they have a great fear of You? Little Jesus, how do You behave toward other souls that they are afraid of You? If You acted with them as You do with me, I ask myself who could be afraid of You, since You are so good, so sweet, only finding pleasure in love. That there can be souls who are afraid of You is something I find very strange. It has never happened that You scold me and yet there are souls who are afraid of You. Could it be because You treat each soul in a different manner? That being the case, what use will the words that I am writing here be for souls?”
 
My stars, how I love Marcel! He hits the nail on the head every time (except maybe for all the times he wildly misses, and then I love him, perhaps, even more!), and he has surely asked some important questions here. Take it as a kind of quiz for Jesus from us at our more than half-way-point of our sister’s book.
 
Therese certainly didn’t fear Jesus. Nor did Marcel. But we often do! What are we missing? Or is it that Jesus is dealing differently with some favored souls, more gently and meekly with them than He deals with us? Let’s see what He who is Truth has to say in His own defense. He replies:
 
“Yes, Marcel, it is very strange. I find it strange myself and I do not understand why a good number of souls have such a fear of me. They are so afraid that they dare not even open their mouths to say a word of friendship to me. However, I conduct myself towards these souls just as I do towards you . . . It is simply because they compare my love with that of earthly creatures that they fear in that way. If, on the contrary, they used the glance of love to probe the depths of my love, their fear would disappear . . . I do nothing that is of a nature to frighten anyone. And if my love ever wished to sow fear among men, it would no longer deserve the name ‘Love.’. . . My conduct towards all souls is the same as towards you, Marcel; I wish to give them my kisses and give them evidence of my love.” (225-226)
 
There we have it, then. God who is, as we read in Scripture, the same yesterday, today, and forever, is as all-loving to us as He has been to Therese and Marcel. This Jesus they know, the One who sleeps in the little boat of their souls, He is the same Jesus who sleeps in our boats! Don’t be afraid, then, that He is angry with you. No, He is just so tired! He does have the whole world to run, remember, and so He is pleased to be able to relax with us, as with His own dear friends, and fall asleep!
 
Incidentally, Marcel has a wonderful response to Jesus’ explanation as just recounted. Marcel says simply: “Little Jesus, I understand absolutely nothing.” Ah, our dear brother! How wonderfully imitable you are!
 
And Jesus? He has, as always, the most wonderful reply to Marcel’s reply. He says, “Marcel, who is obliging you to understand? . . . I have not said these words for you, but really for souls who are afraid of me.” Which would be us! So let’s do our little best to stop comparing Jesus with those who have failed us in the past, or those whom we fear will fail us in the present and future. That’s the great thing about Jesus – He never fails!
 
Therese began Chapter 8 by talking about the retreat before her profession. She goes on to tell how she then suffered a great temptation: she who had begged to be allowed to enter the convent at 15 was now afraid she didn’t have a vocation. And here is a lesson for us. No, not the one about not begging to join a convent at 15! The more universal lesson is the one I’m thinking of – when Therese was filled with confusion, she sought out her Novice Mistress (and really, many other people could fill in this role for those of us without Novice Mistresses) and told her the problem that was so overwhelming. Therese recounts:
 
“Fortunately, she saw things much clearer than I did, and she completely reassured me. The act of humility I had just performed put the devil to flight since he had perhaps thought that I would not dare admit my temptation. My doubts left me completely as soon as I finished speaking; nevertheless, to make my act of humility more perfect, I still wished to confide my strange temptation to our Mother Prioress.”
 
Ah! A double confession! And what did this higher superior say to ensure Therese’s peace? This is the response I love: Therese reports that Mother Prioress “simply laughed at me.”
 
Therese later used this same tactic, sweetly and wisely because sometimes laughter is the way out of our fears. When her own novice, Marie of the Trinity, confessed the same kind of fear, (“Oh no! I realize now it was all an illusion – I don’t have a vocation!”) Therese, like her own Novice Mistress had done, understood completely and calmed Marie’s fears. Later, though, she would tease Marie if the latter came to her with a vexed countenance or a worry to be solved. “Oh no, I bet you don’t have a vocation!” she’d say with a laugh. Poor Marie, but actually, she loved it!
 
Doesn’t it seem like only 10 days ago that September 8 came and went? Ah how the days and years fly! For it was on this day (a few years back) that Therese felt flooded with a river of peace  and pronounced her Holy Vows. And what truth she speaks when she says, in retrospect, “This beautiful day passed by just as do the saddest since the most radiant day has a tomorrow; it was without sadness, however, that I placed my crown at the Blessed Virgin’s feet. I felt that time could not take away my happiness.”
 
How lovely a thought to remember when we are feeling like a sad day will never end! It too will end, like (unfortunately!) the happy days do . . . with the difference that our sadness will cease, while our happiness is the true feeling, the one that will be eternal!
 
Some pages later, after speaking of the holy foundress of their particular Carmel in Lisieux, Therese tells us of the relic she got after their Mother Genevieve departed for heaven.
 
“During her last agony, I had noticed a single tear glistening like a diamond on her eyelash, and this tear, the last she was to shed on earth, never fell; I saw it still glistening there when she was laid out in the choir. So when evening came, unseen by anyone, I made bold to approach her and with a little piece of linen I took the saint’s tear as a relic. Since then I have carried it in the little container which holds my vows.”
 
In fact, Therese later gave this tear-relic to her beloved sister Celine. I, too, have a hard time holding on to relics, but I love to gather them when I have the chance! When I was in Lisieux this past May, I had a blast imitating Therese and when no one was looking (not even my husband), I gathered up some pebbles from around the site where Therese was first buried (a place of miracles) and from around the graves of Marie of the Trinity and the other holy nuns. If you love relics too and would like one of these little rocks, use the Contact Me button in the sidebar (over on the top right) and send me your postal address. I’d love to send you some of my treasure!
 
Therese goes on to tell about the influenza that hit her Carmel and took many of the nuns away to Jesus forever. God sustained her in the midst of this epidemic; not only was Therese on her feet and free of sickness, but she ministered to the dying like an angel. To top it off, she was allowed to receive Holy Communion every day during this time, thus making the Bitter Valley a place of springs, the autumn rain covering it with blessings. And how did Therese make the most of these communions with her Beloved?
 
She tells us, “I picture my soul as a piece of land and I beg the Blessed Virgin to remove from it any rubbish that would prevent it from being free; then I ask her to set up a huge tent worthy of heaven, adorning it with her own jewelry; finally I invite all the angels and saints to come and conduct a magnificent concert there. It seems to me that when Jesus descends into my heart He is content to find Himself so well received, and I, too, am content.”
 
Lest we think Therese had a series of ecstatic communions bearing little resemblance to our own poor ones, she adds:
 
“All this, however, does not prevent both distractions and sleepiness from visiting me, but at the end of the thanksgiving when I see that I’ve made it so badly I make a resolution to be thankful all through the rest of the day.”
 
And here is the take away. Ready?
 
“You see that I am far from being on the way of fear; I always find a way to be happy and to profit from my miseries; no doubt this does not displease Jesus since He seems to encourage me on this road.”
 
Yes! Let us too shake the dust of the way of fear from our souls! Let’s find ways to be happy, to profit from our little miseries. This will not displease Jesus – He’s the One who inspired every Pope since Therese’s time to hold her up for us as an example! He’s the One who glorified her and proved the truth of her words by fulfilling her wish to spend her heaven doing good on earth. He’s the One who has strewn her Little Way with roses and papal endorsements that we, too, might become (as He long ago requested) little fearless children climbing into His arms to kiss His Holy and sweet Face!
 
Later in Chapter 8, Therese tells about the one retreat that was an exception to her usual rule of dryness and distraction. The priest, a Franciscan, was known for his ministry to great sinners. Therese’s love for Magdalene must have qualified her, because Fr. Prou did great good for her too. As she explains, though she didn’t say much in the confessional, this priest was enlightened to understand her in a marvelous way, reading her soul like an open book and (as she writes), “He launched me full sail upon the waves of confidence and love which so strongly attracted me, but upon which I dared not advance.”
 
Isn’t it wonderful to think that even St. Therese was at one time afraid to advance in confidence and love? Until, that is, Jesus gave her the green light, and then through her, gave that green light to the rest of us! Jesus told Therese through this priest “that God was very much pleased” with her. These are the very words Jesus is forever telling us through Marcel! No wonder this little brother is the second Therese – his message is the same, and his intimacy with Jesus the same. And as Jesus told Marcel, He treats us the same way, though we often know it not. The great thing is, as we can see from this chapter, Therese was confident, but not because she felt Jesus’ presence constantly. Far from it! She was confident because she heard and clung to the words of His ministers and His gospel, the words of love He speaks in the beauty of creation, the tear of a loved one, the gentle laughter of a superior. She explains:
 
“Oh! How happy I was to hear those consoling words! Never had I heard that our faults could not cause God any pain, and this assurance filled me with joy, helping me to bear patiently this life’s exile. I felt at the bottom of my heart that this was really so, for God is more tender than a mother, and were you not, dear Mother, always ready to pardon the little offenses I committed against you involuntarily? How often I experienced this! No word of reproach touched me as much as did one of your caresses. My nature was such that fear made me recoil; with love not only did I advance, I actually flew.”
 
I can never believe how full this book is of everything I love!
 
If we skip a few pages ahead, we find Therese confiding that “God showed me the same mercy He showed to King Solomon. He has not willed that I have one single desire which is not fulfilled, not only my desires for perfection but those too whose vanity I have understood without having experienced it.” She then gets specific, and records how she had wanted to be like her dear older sister and second mother (now her Mother in the Carmel), Pauline (Mother Agnes). She wanted to paint and write poetry like Pauline did, and to everyone’s surprise, when she was given these tasks in the Carmel, she fulfilled them beautifully!
 
Even then, “instead of doing me any harm, of making me vain, the gifts which God showered upon me (without my having asked for them) drew me to Him; and I saw that He alone was unchangeable, that He alone could fulfill my immense desires.”
 
This makes so much sense to me. I have often thought about how a great artist cannot simply create one great piece of art and be done. We have the Mona Lisa, or the Pieta, yet Leonardo and Michaelangelo (the artists, not the Ninja Turtles!) did not create only those works of beauty, or rest in them. In lesser art forms, I think of one of my favorite movies, “You’ve Got Mail,” and how Nora Ephron didn’t write only that movie and retire, nor did Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan act in it and hang up their hats. Similarly, Gerard Manley Hopkins could have rested forever (in my books) if he’d only given us “Pied Beauty,” or “God’s Grandeur,” or one of his Marian poems – but thank the good Lord he didn’t; he kept writing!
 
I think that’s why Therese realized that “He alone was unchangeable, He alone could fulfill my immense desires.” The artist has a desire to share the beauty he sees and feels, the beauty God has given him to express, and yet it is always so much less than real Beauty, God Himself!
 
And here is where Therese and her Jesus (Who is, of course, our Jesus too!) slay me. She goes on to tell about how God granted not only even her unspoken noble desires, but her childish desires as well.
 
She loved flowers. She thought she was giving them up when she went into Carmel. Well sure, there might be a few arrangements to be put in the church near the altar, but gone were the fields of flowers she’d run through and bring home in baskets to her heart’s content.
 
Except . . . except, God can do anything! And if she could not go to the fields of His glory, He could bring them to her. She recalls, “It is the custom for fiancés to often give their fiancées bouquets and Jesus didn’t forget it. He sent me in great abundance sheaves of cornflowers, huge daisies, poppies, etc., all the flowers that delighted me the most. There was even a little flower called corncockle that I had never found since our stay at Lisieux; I wanted very much to see it again, that flower of my childhood which I had picked in the fields of Alencon. And at Carmel it came to smile at me again and show me that in the smallest things as well as the greatest, God gives the hundredfold in this life to those souls who leave everything for love of Him.”
 
Can I tell you something? If you are reading this blog and have read this far, there is no doubt you have left everything for Jesus. No, there wasn’t some hidden commitment, some unseen poverty clause you inadvertently signed when you got half way through this post! But you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t love Jesus (or weren’t thinking you might fall in love with Him any moment if only you keep reading), and that is precisely what leads to (or results from) giving up everything for Him! His love makes everything else pale in comparison, so don’t worry that it will be hard to leave the rest for Him. Most of us will “leave” by staying in the midst of our surroundings, our loved ones, our jobs and duties and little round. But the leaving is in the where, as in where our treasure and heart are, and how could they not be in His, the Heart of Love? And so having left all in His Heart, you will, as Therese says, find your hundredfold and all that you were willing to leave behind – you will find again things you thought you had lost forever, and people most of all – right there in the Heart of Love!
 
Just today I had the most amazing experience of Jesus giving back to someone a gift she had long given up for Him. I had two friends visit me at my dear alma mater, Thomas Aquinas College. We went to Mass there and had lunch, roamed the lovely campus a bit, and in the midst of it all one of my friends told me she had never expected to find herself in this beautiful place again. She used to come here with her husband, it turned out. When he died some 10 or more years ago, in the deepest, quietest place of her heart, she had grieved this loss (so little in comparison to her loss of him, but a loss nonetheless). So what did Jesus do? He brought her back to the place her heart had sorely missed! A little hundredfold in gratitude for her sacrifice and love.
 
As for Therese, what she found that she had lost was her sister Celine. She speaks of this next, and though I won’t re-tell the whole story here, suffice it to say that the one whom Therese had most deeply felt the loss of, this sister who was the sweet echo of her soul and a friend the likes of which we all long for, her dear Celine was given back to her in Carmel, even despite great odds. There were rules to prevent too many relatives form being in the same monastery, and these rules had already been far exceeded in the case of Therese’s family!
 
Then there was a missionary, the priest dearest to the Martins (Therese’s family) and their spiritual director. He was off in Canada and inviting Celine to come be a missionary there too. How could she resist?
 
Then there were the suitors and parties and dances. There was Celine’s prodigious artistic talent and her father’s offer to have her paint under the direction of a great master in Paris. In short, there was almost no end to the options ahead of Celine, all of them more glamorous than entering the tiny Carmel in the tiny town in which she lived. And yet, watch out when Therese wants something! She is confident her Spouse will give it to her, and He always does!
 
“And now,” Therese writes, “I have no other desire except to love Jesus unto folly. My childish desires have all flown away. I still love to adorn the Infant Jesus’ altar with flowers, but ever since He has given me the Flower I desired, my dear Celine, I desire no other; she is the one I offer Him as my most delightful bouquet.”
 
We think of Heaven as the place where God fulfills our desires, and well we should. Yet in the case of Therese, I must add this caveat: she who was a daughter of her mother in Carmel, Teresa of Avila, whom the poet Crashaw called “the daughter of desires,” she too – Therese – is a worthy daughter of desires. And she sure looks, in Heaven, like one who continues to desire! She told us she would want to work in Heaven until the end of time, until the last trumpet sounds. And that means that now, right now this very minute you are reading this, she is desiring you as she desired Celine. Desiring you to share in a union with Jesus even surpassing her own!
 
This is marvelous, but not too surprising if you read Story of a Soul. Okay, very surprising, but it makes so much sense! For there Therese writes:
 
“How sweet is the way of love! True, one can fall or commit infidelities, but, knowing how to draw profit from everything, love quickly consumes everything that can be displeasing to Jesus; it leaves nothing but a humble and profound peace in the depths of the heart.”
 
Therese and Marcel and I – and Jesus most of all! – wish for you that peace. We are praying for it for you and in you and in all those you love – praying in our triple novena, and thanking God as we do so.
 
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the joy of our sister and brother, that sweet joy which you share with us. Thank You, dear Jesus, for treating us the way You treated them – may we recognize Your love in all that befalls us! And dear Holy Spirit of Love, fill and animate us completely, act in us, pray in us, love in us until the day we are united altogether with You, in Your unity in the Heart of the Blessed Trinity!
 
I have heard a sad thing today. The beautiful 4-year-old girl we have been praying for is now in the arms of Jesus in Heaven. Well, if I put it that true way, it doesn’t seem sad at all, but surely her parents and sisters and friends will miss her greatly until the day they too are in His arms. Please remember them, then, in your own little glances and sighs and smiles for Jesus. And let’s pray together one final little prayer of love and confidence:
 
Draw me, Jesus, we shall run!!!
 

O Blessed Padre Pio,
holy bearer of the wounds of Christ,
accept us this day as your spiritual sons and daughters
and keep us always on the Little Way by your intercession.
And do thou, O our Spiritual Father,
relieve our suffering and the suffering of those we love, and then
stay there at the Gates of Heaven, as you promised,
until all of your spiritual children have entered through, 
even and including us and all those we love.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

And . . . (just to keep Our Lady in the loop) -

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. Amen.

*                *                 *

And just for good measure:
Little Flower, in this hour, show your power!

I've recently been apprised of three very urgent prayer requests . . . one is for a little boy who will have an important medical appointment tomorrow. Please join me (you already have!) in praying that the angels accompany him and enlighten his caregivers and care-team to help him get well and heal from the added trauma of longtime illness and suffering and all the endless appointments and disappointments that go with this cross. Ah, Jesus, we love You, but how about some roses???

Meanwhile, my father-in-law is getting his first chemo treatment today. May the angels support him too, and strengthen him to come through in good form, allowing for more cancer-quelling chemo in the weeks to come. Ah, and may these dear angels, our guardians and guides, bring him and my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law the peace of Christ in the days and weeks to come . . . .

Finally, the last of the three intentions at the top of today's list::
please, please, please storm heaven for a little girl named Ida.
She is in critical condition, she is only four, and her parents (and older sisters) need the help of yet more angels, so that they may come through this scary moment with confidence and peace. Ah, St. Raphael, ah St. Padre Pio! Come to the aid of dear Ida and her family. Bring Ida back to full health and her family back to their regular round of joyful loving and cheerful service. We pray too, for all those involved in Ida's care and all those who are close to her family - may their suffering be alleviated, may their faith be strengthened, and may they see God's mercy triumph, His Love healing dear Ida as it healed so many when He walked on earth.

It is such a privilege to share these intentions with you. Please know that your intentions, even those hidden in the depths of your heart, are included here too! How good God is to encourage us to pray always, and to give us intercessors to help keep the conversation with Him going. 

Little Marcel, hidden apostle of love, we trust you to badger Little Jesus until He grants all our petitions! And in the interims of reminding Him of our needs, please help our sister Therese shower us all with heavenly and earthly roses, so that we remember how near God is, and how quickly He will come to our aid!

Darling Little Jesus - draw me, we will run!!!

How can the cross be sweet?
                                                              It is because You were on it, my Lord!

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. Amen.

Much to my amazement, we've done it! We've completed phase one of our triple novena, which expression (completing phase one) makes it sound like a building project, but in a way, so it is. 

I can't tell you how delighted I am to be hearing from people every day that they have one way or another stumbled upon or seen our triple novena and are thrilled to participate. I think I know why - why they're thrilled, at least - and it's because we all so desperately need prayer. We need to have the opportunity to pray, and we need to know others are praying for us. And then there are these great feasts, and how could it not be God's intention that we link them together in this way. He's the one who placed them roughly 9 days apart! So we are building something - we're building a house of love. Okay, in a way it already has existed for centuries, call it the Church, call it the Mystical Body, but I love the way St. Peter and St. Paul both make us feel the immediacy of our participation.

St. Peter says in the second chapter of his first letter:

"Come to Him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:
'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and he who believes in Him will not be put to shame.'
To you therefore who believe, He is precious . . . "

And St. Paul says, equally wonderfully, in the second chapter of his glorious letter to the Ephesians:

"So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in Whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."

+         +         +

In order to keep us on track, then (and if you're just joining us or jumped in somewhere after the first post, this will be a nice refresher - or even if you started at the beginning but are wondering, as a friend asked me today, "Now which two of the three novenas cross over?") let's review the terms of our deal.

We said a novena that began on September 6 and ends today, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We've been praying to Our Lady in the words of the beautiful "Old French Prayer for Friends" posted above.

Tomorrow, we begin our second novena (of three back to back), which will go from September 15, feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (hidden behind the Sunday) to the 23rd of September, feast of our dear friend and father, Padre Pio.

Here is the prayer we have planned (but feel free to substitute your own, and the shorter, sometimes the better! So "Jesus, help!" will work, or "St. Padre Pio, pray for us!") for the next nine days, starting tomorrow (but practicing now won't hurt, if you're just giving it a trial run) -

O Blessed Padre Pio,
holy bearer of the wounds of Christ,
accept us this day as your spiritual sons and daughters
and keep us always on the Little Way by your intercession.
And do thou, O our Spiritual Father,
relieve our suffering and the suffering of those we love, and then
stay there at the Gates of Heaven, as you promised,
until all of your spiritual children have entered through, 
even and including us and all those we love.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

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Finally, not to confuse you needlessly but just to give you a head's up, on Padre Pio's day when we finish his novena, we'll dive straight into our 3rd novena, which leads into (....drum roll please......) THE FEAST OF ST. THERESE of Lisieux, the Little Flower, on October 1st. Hooray! Roses for everybody!!!

But before we get carried away, let's start tomorrow on phase two of our project to save the whole world. And yes, that means it's going to be a really, really big spiritual edifice we're building, because after all, it needs to be roomy enough to include all those we love, and our enemies too! 

If I don't manage to get up a new post tomorrow to start the middle of our triple novena with a splash, let this count for your reminder, and above all - have fun! I don't think all novenas should be serious and solemn and so long that they exclude little souls like ours with attention spans the size of a gnat's (though come to think of it, those pesky gnats sometimes do have an awfully impressive one track mind as expressed by their persistence in simply hanging around your face no matter how many times you wave them away)! 

Remember our mottoes: It's a perfect little novena if you miss a day! Failure is the new success! Our weakness is the perfect stage for His power! And . . . Oh darling Jesus who loved us so much that You suffered for us and changed the cross into our hope:

Draw us, we will run!!!

p.s. What if you've missed the whole first novena? What if you said some of it and then forgot? What if you're reading this now but don't think you can remember to say a single one of these prayers ever again in your whole life??????? Well hey, that's the beauty of our Little Way Triple Novena - if you are reading this, you are IN and we have you covered! After all, Our Lady is Mother to us all, Jesus died to save us all, Padre Pio is hankering to be the spiritual father or every one of us, and St. Therese - well don't even get me started on the Heavenly Mission of St. Therese and her little brother Marcel. We'll talk about that later, and meanwhile, relax because their confidence is enough to make up for our lack thereof, and you can be sure MIRACLES ARE IN THE WORKS for all those people in your life (including you) who need them. Ah, that is a happy thought!!!

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. Amen.

There! You're in! You just said today's prayer for our triple novena, and how happy Our Lady is to answer that prayer!

The super exciting thing is that it turns out that the first part of our tri-partate novena passes through this day of September 12th (on our way to September 14, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross). And that means, since 2002, the re-instated Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary! Thank you, beloved Holy Father St. John Paul II!!!

Turns out this was the day in 1683 when the Polish king, John Sobieski, pushed back the Ottoman/Turks and kept them from overtaking Vienna. I've been to Vienna, so I can see why it was a place everyone wanted, but thanks to good King John's putting everything into Mary's hands that morning at Mass (offered by a priest who is now a Blessed!), the Christians carried the day and didn't lose the West to the bad guys. Whew! That was a close one, and yet . . . and yet how could Mary not, as always, respond when her children called?

So now what shall we say on September 12, 2019 about the Most Holy Name of Mary? I came across a book called Virgin Wholly Marvelous, and in it the editor, one kind Peter Brookby, has pulled together quotes on Mary, including a section on her Holy Name. How about that!! Sort of a "give us this day our daily bread" moment when I spied the book on a shelf in my home this morning, and so, for your joy on this feast, here are some of my favorite quotes:

The name of Mary is the key of the gates of Heaven. - St. Ephrem the Syrian, Doctor of the Church 

Your name, O Mary, is a precious ointment, which breathes forth the odor of Divine grace. Let this ointment of salvation enter the inmost recesses of our souls. - St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church

O name of Mary! Joy in the heart, honey in the mouth, melody to the ear of her devout clients! - St. Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church

Mary means star of the sea, for as mariners are guided to port by the ocean star, so Christians attain to glory through Mary's maternal intercession. - St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church

O Mary, what must you yourself be, since your very name is so loving and gracious? - Blessed Henry Suso

After the most  holy and adorable Name of Jesus, there is no name more glorious or more powerful than the name of Mary. At the mention of this name, the angels rejoice and the devils tremble; through this invocation of this name, sinners obtain grace and pardon. - St. Peter Canisius, Doctor of the Church

When I pronounce the name of Mary, I feel myself inflamed with such love and joy, that between the tears and happiness with which I pronounce this beautiful name, I feel as though my heart might leave my breast! For this sweet name is like a honeycomb dissolving in the innermost recesses of my soul. - Blessed Henry Suso

Ah, good Blessed Henry! You weren't the only one to feel this way! Little Jacinta of Fatima used to ask her cousin Lucia, "Don't you feel your heart on fire when you say the sweet name of Mary?"

I don't know what Lucia answered, but I think it may have been just like we might answer. "No, Jacinta, we are not as blessed as you . . . and yet we are more blessed, for just as Jesus said to Thomas on that first Divine Mercy Sunday, 'Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe,' so we can take Him to mean also, 'Blessed are those who have not felt, and yet believe!'"

What a privilege that we can - even without our hearts set on fire - utter, shout, sing, pray, say, and mentally pronounce the Holy Name of Mary!!! Thank You, Jesus, for giving Your Mother to be ours too! And thank you, Mary, for always hearing us when we call you. Please heed our prayers and attend to all our intentions in this novena. You are our Mother, and as we trust in Jesus' infinitely solicitous love, so too we trust in your tenderly maternal compassion!

Ah, little Jesus on the lap of Mary, You who daily heard good St. Joseph call Mary by her Most Holy Name:
Draw me, we will run!!!

p.s. If you want more info or a reminder on how our triple novena will proceed, feel free to mosey on down to the post below this one! And remember, little one, your prayers and intentions, your heart's desires and the needs of all those you love are totally covered even if you miss a day or 26! God is really that good, and if you don't believe me, get out a copy of Marcel Van's Conversations (the reason for every season over here at Miss Marcel's Musings) and let Jesus, Mary, and St. Therese fill you in on all the good stuff!
​

I talked to a friend with a child who is suffering, another friend with a friend whose family is suffering, and then in my family circle, my father-in-law is suffering. If you have been here before, you know how I am one with Marcel (at least the Marcel of Conversations) in wishing for just about anything in life but suffering! And so, it occurred to me yesterday that I'd like to start a triple novena. Are you game?

Fortunately, we have ten fingers (yes, yes, eight fingers and two thumbs, but for the purpose of counting, they all work like fingers), which means I can figure this out by leaving one pinky finger out. Let's see. . . If we start tomorrow, on September 6, and count up to the 14th, that's nine fingers - or days - and we'll end on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. That's good because then God can't say, "Hey, get used to suffering, and stop being such a ninny." He can't say it because instead He'll have to say, "Thank you, little ones, for acknowledging our Trinitarian Limitless Love as poured out on the Holy Cross!" Which will spur Him on to answer our prayers, don't you think?

And then, if we start again the next day, September 15, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, then (one moment while I count on my fingers, please), nine more fingers of days lands us on September 23rd, the feast of St. Padre Pio! Oh my heavens, there is no one ever (besides Jesus and Mary) who wanted more to alleviate suffering than our dear Padre! He even started a not-really-but-practically-a-hospital called The Home for the Relief of Suffering, funded (in its building which was a decades long process I think) by small donations - and perhaps large too - from around the world, given by his spiritual children. We are happy to call ourselves his spiritual children too, and we could sure use his help to relieve our suffering!

Finally, the great thing about Padre Pio's feast on September 23rd is that if we start novena #3 that day - just moments, perhaps, after we finish novena #2 - guess where it ends? Haha - the Feast of Feasts for little ones! No, not Christmas silly. Count with me.

September 23 (I'm starting on the thumb of my left hand), 24 (index finger), 25 (middle finger) 26 (ring finger), 27 (pinky), 28 (thumb of right hand) 29 (index finger), September 30 (middle finger and last day of September because "30 days hath September"), and then - this is where we end on the ring finger when there's only one pinky left, signifying we've counted nine fingers for nine days: OCTOBER 1st!!!!!!!

You know, the feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, aka, the first St. Therese (Marcel being the second), the Little Flower!

And if you don't know yet, you'll find out soon that this means ROSES and answered prayers. You'll find out even if you don't join in the triple novena (though how can you resist?) because we'll include your intentions!

Watch this (I love doing prayer intentions!) -

Dear Jesus,
We are very little, but we want to pray very big. We ask our guardian angels, Marcel, and the Holy Innocents (and all of heaven) to join us in begging you to bring relief and healing to my friend's son, my other friend's friend and family, and my father-in-law Paul. Oh, and to all those who are reading this, whether or not they pray this triple novena with us, and to all those whom they love who need relief and hope. Thank You Little Jesus!

Now, the big question before a novena is always (for me at least) how little can we make our prayer so that it will actually be said? And what should it be?

Here is my suggestion for the first novena. I probably won't remember to say this prayer each day. I hope I remember to say, "Help, Jesus! Remember our novena!" and that could be my contribution, but I love this prayer so much that I'll suggest it as an option for our first novena, which starts tomorrow and ends on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross:

​An Old French Prayer for Friends

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. Amen.

*            *             *
Isn't that perfect?
And for prayer #2, ending on Padre Pio's feast day, again don't be shy about joining me in praying some heartfelt (or tired-before-you-drop-into-bed) prayer like, "Jesus, help! We all need You so much!" but also feel free to say this lovely prayer to Padre Pio (because then you get an added bonus from the novena - you'll see what as you read on) -

Prayer to Saint Padre Pio

O Blessed Padre Pio,
holy bearer of the wounds of Christ,
accept us this day as your spiritual sons and daughters
and keep us always on the little way by your intercession.
And do thou, O our Spiritual Father,
relieve our suffering and the suffering of those we love, and then
stay there at the Gates of Heaven, as you promised,
until all of your spiritual children have entered through, 
even and including us and all those we love.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

*    *     *
Even if you only read it once (you just did!) isn't that a spectacular prayer?! But now we must quickly move into the third novena prayer, the one for those days from Padre Pio's feast to St. Therese's special day. And here I give you my favorite prayer to her, or (come to think of it) two favorite prayers. The reason they're my faves is because I know them by heart, which makes them much easier for me to remember to say . . . 

First, the short version, which is so fun and goofy that I thought it originated in the 1960's, but which I found (after having learned it from a dear friend who had used it since the 70's, I imagine) in a letter from Bishop Benziger of India way back in the 1920's or 30's, not long after little Sister Therese became St. Therese! Here it is:

Little Flower, in this hour, show your power!!!

(The three exclamation points are part of the prayer, in my estimation!)

Or for the longer St. Therese novena prayer (but not too long):

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.

*      *      *

Even as I write this, I'm thinking of more friends I want to include in our triple novena: the cancer-suffering mom of some students we know, the grandsons of friends in our Carmelite community, a dear godson, and ever so many more! But I will know these intentions can be added and added until they reach all the way to heaven - especially when stacked on top of your special intentions too! That's the great thing about even a single novena (let alone a triple one) - lots of days to remember more intentions and commend them to God, even if one's prayers are little, just like us.

The smile and the glance - ah, the smile and the glance, on Mother Teresa's feast day, are great prayers to remember. A dear Padre sent me this quote in her honor today:

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile."

And then (now that we are in blue, you can tell we're getting to the very beautiful part of this post!) remember too not to be discouraged if you miss the opportunity of the smile and the glance at those around you - sometimes we are tired, or hungry, or sleepy (did I encompass that in tired? I don't think so!) - or all of the above! - and what was supposed to be a smile is a scowl, what we would like to have been a glance is a glare! Oops! That's the little way - we get to start over, and why not smile or glance at an image of Jesus or Mary, or Therese or Marcel. They understand, and if you open up Conversations, you will find that Marcel really really understands! Or rather that Jesus really really understands and keeps telling Marcel and us too not to worry about our weakness. It is only all the more reason for our confidence in Him! Since we're too little to be all we'd like to be, let's trust Him to carry us in His arms and bless those we love (as well as blessing us).

Now what was that other prayer.
The smile.
The glance.
Ah, the kiss!

Let's begin our novena now, on the vigil of the day we'll really start (tomorrow), by asking Jesus for His kiss to help us be His delight and the delight of those He has put in our hearts and lives. 

Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth!
Draw me, we will run!!!!!

"Was it not in prayer that St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. John of the Cross, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis, St. Dominic, and so many other famous Friends of God have drawn out this divine science which delights the greatest geniuses? A scholar has said: Give me a lever and a fulcrum and I will lift the world. What Archimedes was not able to obtain, for his request was not directed by God and was only made from a material viewpoint, the saints have obtained in all its fullness. The Almighty has given them as fulcrum: HIMSELF ALONE; as lever: PRAYER which burns with a fire of love. And it is in this way that they have lifted the world; it is in this way that the saints still militant lift it, and that, until the end of time, the saints to come will lift it."  -St. Therese, final page of Story of a Soul

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I can't remember how many times I've heard friends going through great trials say, "I feel the prayers. They are carrying us through."

I know usually I can't remember because I'm Miss Marcel, and Marcels don't remember anything! But this time I remember well the reality, but merely can't remember the number of times it's happened, because it has happened so many, many times. And now, I rejoice to say, it is happening to me.

If you are reading very carefully (between the lines), you might immediately see what I saw just now while writing this (between the lines). If I'm rejoicing that this is happening to me (and God is so good that I must rejoice, not merely to say it but to live this experience of being buoyed up and carried along by prayer), that means I, too, must be going through a great trial. And rejoicing? 

Before we get carried away, let me say that someone dear to me is going through a great trial, and so don't worry that I'm suddenly a big fan of suffering! But the amazing thing is that what I have seen and felt in the last 24 hours is an outpouring of grace that rivals the crossing of the Red Sea.

Okay, the image seems wrong - the parting of the Red Sea was not an outpouring but a holding back of waters . . . Those were salty tearful waters of a bitter, harsh sea, and these are floodwaters of grace, like rain during a drought or, better still, like the water Therese and Marcel are pouring on the little flower pots in the photo above. But in both cases, the result is the same: the irresistible urge to sing a new song in praise of God's mercy.

My father-in-law Paul is in great need of prayer. He had surgery a few months ago, and has been in a kind of decline of health and energy since then. In fact, to put his name in a sentence that includes the word "energy" is so unfitting that I'll say instead that my wonderful and good father-in-law has been utterly exhausted and weak, and thus in increasing stages of being cared for.

To speak for myself, I just love being cared for! I discovered this when I was pregnant with our first son. It was so natural for me to ask others to do for me what I could have done for myself. Just give me an easy chair and a good book, and I'm ready to stay there indefinitely, if you would just please bring me a glass of cold water, yes with ice please, but not too much. Oh, and a butterscotch sucker from See's. We don't have one in the house? Would you mind going to get me one? They'll even give you one as your free sample if you ask . . .

As another MIss Marcel told me recently, some of us are born princesses (think the Princess and the Pea). 

And then there are the Pauls of this world. You know, those with gumption who don't want to be waited on hand and foot. Go figure!

But truth be told, it cannot be fun to have all your power and self-control, all your surroundings and even when you can get out of bed or back into it, and most of all when you can go home (ah, even in exile, a home is so dear and basic to happiness) dictated by others. And for me to say "it cannot be fun" is even to add too much humor to the situation. Humor is not added by the recognition of this great suffering, but only - odd as it sounds - by prayer.

Yes, we're back to prayer! Yesterday morning (or perhaps it was the night before) I sent out a prayer request for Paul. I sent it to friends near and far, and God bless the Internet! In a short time (which was all the time I had free because we are now near Paul for a week, and every moment is full), I had sent out my pleading request to four groups of friends. Can you guess what happened next?

My friends prayed.

Some of them are dear friends I've known for decades, friends I grew up with, you might say. Others are friends I'm still trying to grow up with, but God seems to prefer me little, and they kindly put up with me as I am these days. Some I haven't seen in far too long, others I've never met face to face . . . and yet the replies to my request poured in as my friends' kindness poured out. Just like the water Therese and Marcel are pouring out above - and how cute! I just took a closer look at the photo topping this post and Therese has a watering can, but what in the world is Marcel using? He always makes me laugh!

Meanwhile, the prayers. How mysterious. They've poured out grace on Paul and his situation and those of us who so love him and are trying to figure out what comes next, even as these same prayers have flown to heaven, carried by the angels - really, I know it's true because I recently read this in a quote from one of the saints, and not just any saint, but Marcel's (and therefore our) dear spiritual father, St. Alphonsus de Ligouri (and wow, he knew a thing or two about prayer)!

St. Alphonsus says: “Our prayers are so dear to God, that He has appointed the angels to present them to Him as soon as they come forth from our mouths.” 

Let me tell you from my experience of the last 24 hours - not only is what St. Alphonsus says true, but also what St. Thomas says: the angels can act immediately (being pure spirits and not slowed down, like Paul has been so much lately, by these silly bodies of ours). That means our prayers don't take any time at all to waft to God! Even besides the good news that He's holding us in His arms close to Himself so that our prayers go quickly from our mouths to His ears and our hearts to His, those angels make sure there's not a second's delay.

I know this because the effect of my friends' prayers (oh my goodness, I am so very, very grateful!) has been as visible as the smiles on the faces of the many kind people who have been helping Paul (and us) where he's currently staying.

To get down to particulars, in the last 24 hours these prayers have brought for Paul a resurgence of health. These prayers have brought for us the gift of counsel and a clarity regarding what comes next. And what comes next is (by God's goodness, the power of prayer, and the kindness of friends) what Paul was been asking for repeatedly - for a very tired man, quite tirelessly, I might add! - namely that he COME HOME!

If I might trouble you who are now reading this - or rather if I might entice you - to join this dear crowd of friends and cloud of witnesses who are praying for Paul and us: will you please say a prayer too that we now find the right home health aide to assist us when, hopefully quite soon, we bring Paul home? It is a bewildering array of possibilities that await our novice attempt to choose among them!

Marcel's favorite prayers were of the simplest nature. After our sister Therese and our mother Mary taught him, and Jesus taught him too, Marcel loved the prayer of the sigh, the prayer of the glance, the prayer of the smile. You might try any of these! The sigh which sometimes starts out as a regular old sigh can become a sigh of love! The glance, which happens to fall on a picture of Mary or Jesus, or someone else you love, becomes a glance of love! And the smile? Ah, the smile is spectacular, and while we're on the subject, I have to tell you about a smile of exquisite beauty, and another little prayer request.

On our visits to Paul in his beautiful (but not home!) room at the rehab place, we keep passing another room with an open door. Just inside the door is a bed, and in the bed is a kind looking blonde woman with a smile that lights up the place. Every time we walk by, there she is, confined to bed, but smiling at us when she sees us. I'm not talking a kind of fake, sad smile, but a real, genuine, friendly and contagious smile!

Each time our eyes met, I wanted to stop in and say hello, but I know myself, and I knew if I stopped in to talk with the smiling lady, I might never leave. You can see, then, the power of a smile! I'd forget to rejoin the others in Paul's room, which was, after all, why we were here . . .

But just like my mother-in-law accidentally turned into Dunkin Donuts the other day (that was a rewarding accident!), so I accidentally turned into Jean's room (for yes, her name is Jean!) two days ago, not looking where I was going and thinking it was the place where they have the coffee maker and such.

I had turned and just about stepped over the threshold of her room, when I looked up and laughed. There I was, Miss Marcel, right where Marcel himself wanted me to be! And Jean didn't miss a beat, but said, "You're from California, aren't you?"

What a great opening line!

I told her yes, though we all wondered later how she knew.
I think it must just be obvious, for although it's a big state, many people when they think of California immediately think of Hollywood, and then Valley Girls are just a step away: ditzy, air-headed, and oh so happy - Yep, I'm from California! How did you guess???

I told her, with a smile matching her own, that I had to go but would love to stop in soon.

And so last night I finally had the chance. I got to stop in and visit, and I got to ask Jean why she was in rehab (my brilliant opening line), and she told me.

Jean is in rehab while she waits for a new hip. Her old one is gone. I mean really gone: she only has one hip. And yesterday they told her that after her 6-8 weeks of antibiotics are up, the insurance won't pay for her to stay the 2 more weeks before she gets a new hip. So, as it turns out, she's supposed to go home in another few weeks alone, with no medical help, and without a hip.

I'm not very medically savvy, but I picked up that the hip is the thing you need two of so you can do things like stand and walk! But do you know what? Jean was still able to smile, though she had a worry crease over her brow and admitted she had asked God earlier that day what in the world He was thinking!

I figure sometimes God likes to pretend He needs us to help Him think.

There He is, running the universe, and perfectly I might add, but somehow it doesn't look that way from our perspective. So we have the opportunity to tell Him how He can do better, and that's what we call prayer. Like this:

"Dear God, I know You love Jean. How could You not? She's so lovely and so full of love, smiling like that from her bed, even when all this time she has only one hip! You would love her tons even if You weren't God! But You are. So how about shortening that two week gap between the end of rehab facility and her hip surgery? Jean would be so grateful, and if You could let her know soon that everything will be okay, that would be really kind. Though if You want her to trust in You while this scary thing looms, then please give her the confidence and joy and peace to know You're on it. Though just for the record, and because You're so good and indulgent, I'll say frankly that I think You ought to fix this soon. I love You!"

See? He just needed me to tell Him what to do!

And getting back to Paul in his bed in rehab, since that's why I'm here, I'll tell you what happened next.

It looked like he was stuck in that bed. The best we could do was move him to another bed in another room that wasn't home, in another place that wasn't home . . . 

And I asked for prayers. And friends prayed. Their generosity in itself was enough to pour balm into our hearts - we received so many emails with so many reports of loving prayers for Paul and us from all over the country and the world!

How could God resist? He doesn't even want to resist, and then when we turn to Him - wow! Therese is so right! The saints of these days are doing infinitely more than you might suspect! And the bar is so low - just a sigh, a glance, a smile! But then there were chaplets and rosaries and Masses and Communions and hours of adoration! If you have only a sigh or a glance at your disposal, don't feel it doesn't count beside those rosaries and Communions - every smallest movement toward Him delights His Heart beyond measure!

So by last night, the whole scene had changed.
We went to visit Paul, and we all told jokes and laughed! 
Because thanks to an afternoon visit with his case worker, the wonderful Cecilia, it looks like he will be coming home!
He's still in need of loving care, and that's where our next prayer comes in, that we might find the right home-health-aides to help care for him at home. But to go from complete confusion and looming depression to a clear vision of what is next, with joy and hope - that is the power of prayer!

Our deepest, widest, highest prayers have yet to be answered. Isn't that always the way? Always another need, another hope, another important request to the Man Upstairs. But I'm okay with letting God take His sweet time, since His timing is always perfect. When Therese and Marcel had their first conversation (as recorded in his Autobiography), she assured him that God has it down pat: not a moment too soon, not a moment too late, that's how His timing works.

Since I don't have that passage (and that book) at hand, I will offer another passage from another book - my very favorite book, Marcel's Conversations - because I can't close without giving back a gift in thanks for all the graces that are coming our way, thanks to the prayers of the saints, on earth and in heaven.

I love this passage because it sums up my life, and contains such good advice too! These are words of St. Therese to Marcel and us, and though I can't remember what his question was, if we substitute any of our own recent questions, the answer fits like a glove! Our sister St. Therese says:

"My dear little brother, your question does not really make any sense. You must admit, first of all, that you demonstrate a profound ignorance. If you are incapable of making a judgment on something so minuscule, then what are you capable of? However, little brother, the greater your ignorance and the more you give that impression in the eyes of your brothers and sisters (the saints in heaven), the more it will be given to you to understand clearly and with certitude. Supposing even that you know something or other, pretend to know nothing so as to understand more clearly." (218)

When it comes to most things, I don't have to pretend to know nothing! So I thank you most sincerely for joining your prayers to mine, and know that I'll be joining mine to yours so your intentions and needs are covered too. We're so lucky to be able to pour God's limitless love over one another, and I'm so grateful for the floods of it that have been poured out around us these last 24 hours!

Almighty Father, Little Jesus, Holy Spirit of Love:
​Draw me, we will run!!!