October 1, The Feast of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus

Today is the Feast Day of my 2nd daughter's patron saint, Therese of the Little Flower. To celebrate the Feast Day, the children and I prayed the Rosary with our friends before Mass, assisted at Mass, and then attended a talk about St. Therese. What a lovely morning!

At the talk, I first learned how St. Therese and her sister prayed for a murderer to repent and love Jesus. As a fairly new convert, I am still learning about the saints. I loved hearing about her simple faith in God's mercy and grace.

Now tonight, I came across the same story on a blog I have discovered. The blog begins the tale . . .

The following took place in 1887, when Thérèse Martin was fourteen years old.
“One Sunday when I was looking at a picture of Our Lord on the Cross, I saw the Blood coming from one of His hands, and I felt terribly sad to think that It was falling to the earth and that no one was rushing forward to catch It. I determined to stay continually at the foot of the Cross and receive It. I knew that I should then have to spread It among other souls. The cry of Jesus on the Cross – ‘I am thirsty’ – rang continually in my heart and set me burning with a new, intense longing. I wanted to quench the thirst of my Well-Beloved and I myself was consumed with a thirst for souls. I was concerned not with the souls of priests but with those of great sinners which I wanted to snatch from the flames of hell.

“God showed me He was pleased with these longings of mine. I’d heard of a criminal who had just been condemned to death for some frightful murders. It seemed that he would die without repenting. I was determined at all costs to same him from hell. I used every means I could. I knew that by myself I could do nothing, so I offered God the infinite merits of Our Lord and the treasures of the Church. I was quite certain that my prayers would be answered, but to give me courage to go on praying for sinners I said to God: ‘I am sure You will forgive this wretched Pranzini. I shall believe You have done so even if he does not confess or give any other sign of repentance, for I have compete faith in the infinite mercy of Jesus. But I ask You for just one sign of his repentance to encourage me.’

You can read the ending here.