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.
2 comments:
What a beautiful story. I just discovered that her autobiography "The Story of a Soul" is available free online http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16772
Thanks for the link, Mike! After learning more about St. Therese today, I am happy to know I can easily read her autobiography!
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