Novena To St. Therese de Lisieux,The Little Flower # 1 (September 22 – October 1)

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PRAYERS TO BE SAID EACH DAY.

Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of divine love.

V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray:

O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful
by the light of the Holy Spirit;
grant that by the gift of the same Spirit,
we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation,
through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love:

O my God! I believe in Thee: strengthen my faith.
All my hopes are in Thee: do Thou secure them.
I love Thee: teach me to love Thee daily more and more.

The Act of Contrition:

O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended You,
and I detest all my sins,
because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,
but most of all because they offend You, my God,
who are all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve,
with the help of Your grace,
to confess my sins,
to do penance,
and to amend my life.

Amen.

Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day:

O Lord, You have said:
Unless you become as little children
you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven;
grant us, we beg You, so to follow,
in humility and simplicity of heart,
the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse,
that we may attain to an everlasting reward.

Amen.

* * * * * * * * * *

First Day

St. Thérèse, privileged Little Flower of Jesus and Mary,
I approach you with childlike confidence and deep humility.
I lay before you my desires,
and beg that through your intercession they may be realized.
Did you not promise to spend your heaven doing good upon earth?
Grant me according to this promise the favors I am asking from you.

Intercede for us all the days of our life,
but specially during this Novena
and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask
through your intercession.

Amen.

Thought for the day:

Confidence in God.
We can never have too much confidence in the good God
who is so powerful and so merciful.
We obtain from Him as much as we hope for.

If you are nothing,
do you forget that Jesus is everything?
You have only to lose your nothingness in His Infinity
and think only of loving Him.

Say the concluding Prayer mentioned above.

Second Day

O dear little Saint,
now that you see the crucified Jesus in heaven,
still bearing the wounds caused by sin,
you know still more clearly than you did upon earth the value of souls,
and the priceless worth of that Precious Blood
which He shed to save them.
As I am one of those children for whom Christ died,
obtain for me all the graces I need
in order to profit by that Precious Blood.
Use your great power with our divine Lord and pray for me.

Intercede for us all the days of our life,
but especially during this Novena
and obtain for us from God
the graces and favors we ask through your intercession.

Amen.

Thought for the day:

Sin.

The only grace I ask, O Jesus, is never to offend Thee.

By love and not by fear,
does a soul avoid committing the least fault.

Yes, even if I have on my conscience every possible crime,
I should lose none of my confidence;
my heart breaking with sorrow,
I should go and throw myself into the arms of my Savior.

The remembrance of my faults humbles me
and makes me afraid to rely on my own strength,
which is nothing but weakness.

Say the concluding Prayer mentioned above.

Third Day

Dear Little Flower,
make all things lead me to heaven and God,
Whether I look at the sun, the moon, the stars
and the vast expanse in which they float,
or whether I look at the flowers of the field,
the trees of the forest,
the beauties of the earth so full of color and so glorious,
may they speak to me of the love and power of God;
may they all sing His praises in my ear.
Like you may I daily love Him more and more in return for His gifts.
Teach me often to deny myself in my dealings with others,
that I may offer to Jesus many little sacrifices.

Intercede for us all the days of our life,
but especially during this Novena
and obtain for us from God
the graces and favors we ask through your intercession.

Amen.

Thought for the day:

The Use of God’s Gifts.

How much benefit have I received from the beauties of nature,
bestowed in such abundance.
How they raise me to Him
who placed such wonders in this land of exile
which is only to last a day.

O sparkling nature,
if I did not see God in you,
you would be naught but a great tomb.

With your little hand which caresses Mary,
You sustain the universe and bestow life;
and You think of me,
O Jesus my little King.

I do not wish creatures to have one atom of my love.
I wish to give all to Jesus,
since He has shown me that He alone is perfect happiness.

Say the concluding Prayer mentioned above.

Fourth Day

Dear Little Flower of Carmel,
bearing so patiently the disappointments and delays allowed by God,
and preserving in the depths of your soul
an unchanging peace because you sought only God’s will,
ask for me complete conformity to that adorable Will
in all the trials and disappointments of life.
If the favors I am asking during this Novena are pleasing to God,
obtain them for me.
If not, it is true I shall feel the refusal keenly,
but I too wish only God’s Will,
and pray in the words you used,
that I “may ever be perfectly fulfilled in me.”

Intercede for us all the days of our life,
but especially during this Novena
and obtain for us from God
the graces and favors we ask through your intercession.

Amen.

Thought for the day:

Abandonment to God.

I fear only one thing, to keep my own will;
take it, my God, for I choose all that You choose.

The only happiness here below is to strive
to be always content with what Jesus gives us.

I can demand nothing with fervor,
except the perfect accomplishment of God’s will in my soul.

O my Beloved, I offer myself to You,
that You may perfectly accomplish in me Your holy designs,
and I will not allow anything created to be an obstacle in their path.

Say the concluding Prayer mentioned above.

Fifth Day

Little Flower of Jesus,
from the very first moment of your religious life
you thought only of denying yourself
in all things so as to follow Jesus more perfectly;
help me to bear patiently the trials of my daily life.
Teach me to make use of the trials,
the sufferings, the humiliations, that come my way,
to learn to know myself better and to love God more.

Intercede for us all the days of our life,
but especially during this Novena
and obtain for us from God
the graces and favors we ask through your intercession.

Amen.

Thought for the day:

Patience in Sufferings.

I do not fear trials sent by Jesus,
for even in the most bitter suffering
we can see that it is His loving hand which causes it.

When we are expecting nothing but suffering,
we are quite surprised at the least joy;
but then suffering itself becomes the greatest of joys
when we seek it as a precious treasure.

Far from resembling those beautiful saints
who practiced all sorts of austerities from childhood,
my penance consisted in breaking my self
will,
in keeping back a sharp reply,
in doing little kindnesses to those about me,
but considering these deeds as nothing.

Say the concluding Prayer mentioned above.

Sixth Day

St. Thérèse, Patroness of the Missions,
be a great missionary throughout the world to the end of time.
Remind our Master of His own words,
“The harvest is great, but the laborers are few.”
Your zeal for souls was so great,
obtain a like zeal for those now working for souls,
and beg God to multiply their numbers,
that the millions to whom Jesus is yet unknown may be brought to know,
love and follow Him.

Intercede for us all the days of our life,
but especially during this Novena
and obtain for us from God
the graces and favors we ask through your intercession.

Amen.

Thought for the day: Zeal for souls.
Let us work together for the salvation of souls.
We have only the day of this life to save souls
and to give them to the Lord as proofs of our love.

I tell Jesus that I am glad not to be able to see,
with the eyes of my soul,
this beautiful heaven which awaits me,
in order that He may vouchsafe to open it forever to poor unbelievers.

I cannot perform brilliant works;
I cannot preach the Gospel or shed my blood.
But what matter?
My brothers work in place of me,
and I a little child,
keep very close to the royal throne.
I love for those who are carrying on the warfare.

My deeds, my little sufferings,
can make God loved all over the world.

Say the concluding Prayer mentioned above.

Seventh Day

O little martyr of Love,
you know now even better than in the days of your pilgrimage
that Love embraces all vocations;
that it is Love alone which counts,
which unites us perfectly to God and conforms our will with His.
All you sought on earth was love;
to love Jesus as He had never yet been loved.
Use your power in heaven to make us love Him.
If only we love Him we shall desire to make Him loved by others;
we shall pray much for souls.
We shall no longer fear death,
for it will unite us to Him forever.
Obtain for us the grace to do all for the love of God,
to give Him pleasure,
to love Him so well that He may be pleased with us as He was with you.

Intercede for us all the days of our life,
but especially during this Novena
and obtain for us from God
the graces and favors we ask through your intercession.

Amen.

Thought for the day:

Love of God.

I will love God alone
and will not have the misfortune of attaching myself to creatures,
now that my heart perceive what He has in store for those who love Him.

What attracts me to the kingdom of Heaven is the call of our Lord,
the hope of loving Him as I have so desired
and the thought that I shall be able to make Him loved
by a great number of souls who will bless Him forever.

When Christ said, “Give Me a Drink,”
it was the love of His poor creatures that He,
the Creator of all things, desired.
He thirsted for love.

Remember that the dear Jesus
is there in the tabernacle expressly for you, for you alone.
Remember that He is consumed with a desire to come into your heart.

Say the concluding Prayer mentioned above.

Eighth Day

Dear St. Thérèse, like you I have to die one day.
I beseech you, obtain from God,
by reminding Him of your own precious death,
that I may have a holy death,
strengthened by the Sacraments of the Church,
entirely resigned to the most holy Will of God,
and burning with love for Him.
May my last words on earth be,
“My God. I love You.”

Intercede for us all the days of our life,
but especially during this Novena
and obtain for us from God
the graces and favors we ask through your intercession.

Amen.

Thought for the day:

Death.
It says in the catechism that death is nothing
but the separation of the soul and body.
Well, I have no fear of a separation
which will unite me forever with the good God.

I am happy to die because I shall be able to help souls
who are dear to me,
far more than I can here below.

Life is not sad; it is very joyous.
If you say, “This exile is sad,” I understand you.
We are wrong to give the name “life” to something which will end;
it is only to the things of Heaven that we should apply this beautiful name.

Say the concluding Prayer mentioned above.

Ninth Day

Dear Little St. Thérèse,
by love and suffering while you were on earth,
you won the power with God which you now enjoy in heaven.
Since your life there began,
you have showered down countless blessings on this poor world;
you have been an instrument made use of by your divine Spouse
to work countless miracles.
I beg of you to remember all my wants.
Sufferings must come to me also,
may I use them to love God more,
and follow my Jesus better.
You are especially the little missionary of love.
Make me love Jesus more,
and all others for His sake.
With all my heart I thank the most Holy Trinity
for the wonderful blessings conferred on you,
and upon the world through you.

Intercede for us all the days of our life,
but especially during this Novena
and obtain for us from God
the graces and favors we ask through your intercession.

Amen.

Thought for the day:

The Mission of the Little Flower.
I do not intend to remain inactive in Heaven.
I want to work for the Church and for souls.
I have asked this of God
and I am certain that He will grant my request.

I will spend my Heaven doing good upon earth.
This is not impossible,
since the angels though always enjoying the beatific vision, watch over us.
No, I cannot be at rest
until the end of the world.

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I beseech Thee, O Jesus,
to cast Thy divine glance on a great number of little souls.
I beg of Thee to choose in this world
a legion of little victims,
worthy of Thy Love.

Say the concluding Prayer mentioned above.

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