Straight to Heaven

Hello friends!  I hope you are getting a chance to enjoy this beautiful fall day and are able to find some time to pray for all deceased souls on this Feast of All Souls Day.  As we think about all the souls that have gone before us and pray for God's mercy to lift them up to heaven, we may spend some time to contemplate the state of our own soul!  

If you ask most Catholics where they think they will end up when they pass away, the majority will say "Purgatory."  This one answer can really show some insight into the mindset of the people in our church.  God created purgatory in His great mercy, to be a place to make clean our souls that have been tarnished over a lifetime of sin and neglecting the will of God.  It would grieve us tremendously to be face-to-face with God and still have the stain of sin on our souls.  The thing is about purgatory though- is that this is not a place that we all must go in order to get to heaven but rather a place we could go if we don't live out our lives as perfectly in line with God's will as we should.  In saying this, we should all strive to go straight to heaven at our deaths, not just assume we will go to purgatory first!  Going straight to heaven is God's will for us all- not just the very pious saints that have levitated and were consecrated religious.  

Saint Therese believed this to be true as well!  Saint Therese said this to her fellow sister, Sr. Maria Philomena:

“You do not have enough trust. You have too much fear before the good God. I can assure you that He is grieved over this. You should not fear Purgatory because of the suffering there, but should instead ask that you not deserve to go there in order to please God, Who so reluctantly imposes this punishment. As soon as you try to please Him in everything and have an unshakable trust, He purifies you every moment in His love and He lets no sin remain. And then you can be sure that you will not have to go to Purgatory.”

So, Saint Therese is telling us to keep trusting in God's mercy and keep trying to do His will!!  On a daily basis, we do not need to worry about our whole life- that would be too overwhelming, we just need to take one day at a time, and one moment at a time.  If in each moment we strive to trust and have good intentions- we will not have to suffer the flames of purgatory.

Quoting from "33 Days to Merciful Love" by Fr. Michael Gaitley, he tells the story:  One novice asked the Saint, ' "If I fail even in the small things, may I still hope to get straight to heaven?"  Now Therese knew the young nun's weakness very well, and yet she still responded with beautiful words for little souls:  "Yes! God is so good.  He will know how He can come and get you.  But despite this, try to be faithful, so that He does not have to wait in vain for your love."  Yes God is so good to little souls who recognize their weakness.  So, let's try to be faithful, and let's trust in God's promise of mercy.'

If you want to read more about this topic and/or to consecrate yourself to God's Merciful Love just like St. Therese did- rather than to the justice of God, I highly recommend the 33 Days to Merciful Love book by Fr. Michael Gaitley.  Much like the consecration to Jesus through Mary, you will use the prayer that St. Therese composed to consecrate yourself to the Merciful Love of Jesus.  

In closing, SMILE and let God love you.  Let us be grateful for the beautiful opportunity of each new day to once again renew our trust and faith in God and His perfect will for us.  Let us strive to go straight to Heaven and know that we too were created to be counted among the saints in Heaven and can bypass purgatory just like many of them!  

Angelic Intercession

I'm so sorry for the delay in sending out this next post.  A couple of days turned in to a few weeks of procrastination in finding just the right topic for this post!  With so much time to think about the "perfect" topic, I came to realize that sometimes the daunting task of perfection can be one of the evil one's tactics to interfere with the simple task of just doing something.  I had many little inspirations of topics but the one that may be most needed at this point as we approach this election time in our country is some Angelic Intercession!  More specifically, the Guardian Angel of the United States!

It is not a new notion that our beloved country might have its own Guardian Angel, many saints and bishops have taken up the practice of calling upon the angel of their homeland or of their diocese.  The secretary of Pope Pius XI told the story:  "When [Pius XI] was named Archbishop of Milan by Pope Benedict XV, he knelt down and prayed to the Guardian Angel of Milan to whom the Lord had entrusted him."

What better time than the present is there to pray to the Guardian Angel of the United States of America.  As we are bombarded with arguments and issues from all sides and forms of media, we can take a moment to stop and step back and see the big picture.  Our beloved country was founded with Christian beliefs.  We have always taken great pride in being honorable, charitable and above all, giving all people (no matter how small their voice may be) freedom to live, religion, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Contrary to what some people may believe, our God does want us to be happy.  He wants our homeland to be safe, for its people to thrive and for our country to be a glorious country  the way God designed it to be.  For our own happiness, God wants us to promote life, religious freedom and charity.  He knows, just as any good father would, that we are self destructing our nation as we pull away from Him and try do things our own fallen way.

Let us fall on our knees and beg for the powerful intercession of the holy angels!  Our Guardian Angel of this great nation is powerful, but is waiting to be asked to help!  Let us not wait one moment longer and ask for the guidance and heavenly aid of these great angelic beings.  Let us pray for the Will of our Heavenly Father to be done in this upcoming presidential election and for the conversion of heart for all of our public leaders and those in charge of making decisions for our country.  We need to be the voice for those who have none, we can make a powerful difference through our prayers to the angels.  Please join me in praying this prayer below for our homeland.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel of the United States

O Glorious Guardian Angel of the United States, to whom God has entrusted the care of our beloved country, we honor you and thank you for the care and protection you have given to this great nation from the first moment of its conception.  O powerful Angel Guardian, whose watchful glance encompasses this vast land from shore to shore, we know that our sins have grieved you and marred the beauty of our heritage.

Pray for us, O Holy Angel, before the Throne of God.  Obtain for us, from the Queen of Heaven, the graces we need to overcome the forces of evil so rampant in our beloved land.  Help us, our God-given protector and friend, to offer the prayer and sacrifice necessary to bring peace and goodness to our nation.  We want to make you known and loved throughout our land, so that with your help we may become once more "one nation under God."  Amen.

Kiss of Jesus

With Saint Mother Teresa's recent canonization still fresh in our minds, we can take a moment to reflect on her own inspiration she drew from her patron saint!  Saint Mother Teresa asked to take the name of the Saint of the "Little Way" when she made her religious vows as a Sister of Loreto in 1931.    How beautifully she took up this "Little Way" as she worked with great humility, charity and love as first a teacher and then founding the Sisters of Charity and working with the destitute and dying in the slums of Calcutta.

 Do we hear the influence of the Little Way when Saint Mother Teresa would say: "Not all of us can do great things.  But we can do small things with great love."  We can all do something little.  St. Mother Teresa knew that if we aspired to do really great things, we would easily become discouraged in our weaknesses and then just throw in the towel all together.  How wise it was of her to see the greatness in the littlest of tasks.  If we can show Jesus our commitment to Him in the very small tasks that are sent our way, then we can prove our love for him many times over rather than with just one big task.


In remembrance of Saint Mother Teresa, I would like to share with you my favorite quote from her:

"Suffering has to come because if you look at the cross, he has got his head bending down- he wants to kiss you- and he has both hands open wide- he wants to embrace you. He has his heart opened wide to receive you. Then when you feel miserable inside, look at the cross and you will know what is happening. Suffering, pain, sorrow, humiliation, feelings of loneliness, are nothing but the kiss of Jesus, a sign that you have come so close that he can kiss you. Do you understand, brothers, sisters, or whoever you may be? Suffering, pain, humiliation- this is the kiss of Jesus. At times you come so close to Jesus on the cross that he can kiss you. I once told this to a lady who was suffering very much. She answered, "Tell Jesus not to kiss me- to stop kissing me." That suffering has to come that came in the life of Our Lady, that came in the life of Jesus- it has to come in our life also. Only never put on a long face. Suffering is a gift from God. It is between you and Jesus alone inside."

~Taken from "33 Days to Morning Glory"- Day 15


Today, let us be more aware of all the little things that come our way and the opportunity to prove our love for Jesus. And if something unexpected happens, sickness or loneliness creeps in- Let Jesus kiss you!

If you received this through e-mail and would like to leave a comment at the bottom of the blog post please visit: www.inspirationforlittlesouls.blogspot.com

Image from tomperna.org Sept. 3, 2016

Saintly Desire

Have you ever taken the time to study a rose?  In just this one little flower we can see the love that Our Lord has for us!  Most people see a rose and they admire it for a second and then move on with their day.  The saints however, could glance at a rose and be reminded of God's goodness and his beautiful plan for each one of us!  St. Francis de Sales, when observing the beauty of the rose, covered his ears and said "Stop Shouting!"  He could see the hand of God in this rose.

Beyond the fragrance, color and unique blossom- the rose has the capacity to bring joy and a tender peace to a person.  And the funny thing is that God gave us a glimpse at our own beauty when he gave us the rose.  You see, we are God's flowers!  When Our Lord gazes upon us, he sees us like this beautiful rose- but even more of a unique flower than we could ever imagine.  We were created to be a sweet smelling rose in the garden of heaven- we were created to become great saints! Unfortunately, we often times don't realize our own beauty and what we were truly made to be!

With the Feast of St. Therese fast approaching on October 1st, I thought we could all rekindle our own desires to follow after this great saint and in becoming great saints ourselves.  To be a great saint does not mean that we have to be a recognized saint however.  I want to share with you a thought on this by the late Mother Angelica who always had something to say on most every topic!  In Mother's words:  "Canonization is nothing more than the Church saying publicly that they know for sure that this person is in heaven.  I mean, there are millions of people in heaven who are not canonized.  That's why we have All Saints' Day...  I always thought, personally, that the saints who are canonized may be the very least in the kingdom.  We don't know that, but it's a good guess.  Some little old washerwoman who had tremendous love for God may be greater than St. Augustine up there.  I think we're going to have lots of little surprises when we arrive." 

What great news this is for you and I!  We don't have to worry about accomplishing great things, but strive to do all of our little things with love.  Mother Angelica had an idea on "Being a Saint."  She says, "Being a saint is being who you were meant to be:  a frail human being keeping the Commandments, especially the new one.  It's loving when you are not loved in return.  It's being patient when you want to hit somebody on the head.  It's loving your family as they are, not as you want them to be.  It's not letting the disappointments in your life crush you.  The challenge of Christianity is to have fortitude in times of suffering; to stand for the truth, even if you stand alone; to be undeterred by obstacles; to know that there is a big world out there and you are a weak, little person.  But God is looking for weakness so His power can be manifest-  He needs you!"

~Taken from Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality, Chapter 11

One really great way to learn how to be a great saint is to read the lives of the saints ourselves.  There is so much to gain from studying the struggles, insights, and experiences of those saints that have gone before us!  Celine spoke about doing this herself- "In my childhood I often read the lives of the saints, and these stories used to inspire me and inflame my heart.  They intensified my yearning after the good and the beautiful, and they guided and enraptured the years of my youth..." 

Celine's ending thoughts are perfect for us to close on and ponder as well- "And if our admiration for the saints be genuine, we must be ready to imitate these heroes who have inspired it.  At Carmel, however, I found in our dear little St. Therese all that I had been searching for and, through her, all these desires were realized."

~Taken from My Sister Saint Therese, page XXI

Before Mother Angelica became a nun, she was actually tormented by a very serious stomach illness and she implored the help of St. Therese.  After praying the novena prayer below, Rita Rizzo (later known as Mother Angelica) was completely healed from her infirmary!

Novena Prayer to the Little Flower

O beautiful Rose of Carmel, St. Therese of the Infant Jesus, deign according to your promise to descend from heaven to visit those who implore you.  Pour down on us in profusion those celestial graces that are symbolized by the shower of roses that Jesus your Spouse has put at your disposition.  Your power is great with His heart.  He can only listen and hear your prayer.  I have then recourse to you, O St. Therese of the Infant Jesus, assist me in this circumstance.  Speak for me to Jesus and to Mary and obtain for me to live a holy life and die a happy death.  Amen.  St. Therese hear my prayer. Show your power with God and cure me if it be for the honor of God, and the good of my soul.  Amen.

Roses for "Maman"

With the month of September being the month to honor the Blessed Mother I thought maybe we could ponder a little bit of St. Therese's devotion to the Blessed Mother.  With Our Lady's three big feasts in this month- Sept. 8th The Nativity of Mary, Sept. 12th The Holy Name of Mary and Sept. 15th, Our Lady of Sorrows- this is a great time to reflect on the tremendous gift she truly is for all of us!

When St. Therese was young and was making her First Holy communion- she made a promise to say the Memorare prayer every day.  She confidently recited this prayer, recommending all of her petitions and particular needs to the intersession of Mary.  I love how the prayer begins with the word "Remember!"  St. Therese was imploring Mary to remember her promise to come to our aid in all things- and that never was she know to fail in her help!

As the Saint grew older, she began to pray the daily rosary (even before entering Carmel).  She might have not known at the time, but this practice of praying the daily rosary was preparing her for her life at the Carmel.  With each Hail Mary we say, we present the Blessed Mother with a rose.  By the end of the rosary, we give Mary a beautiful bouquet of 53 roses (from the writings of St. Louis Marie De Montford).  I wonder if St. Therese knew of what a beautiful gift she was making for her "Maman" as  she would tenderly call Mary in French- meaning mom or mommy.  This saint who loved roses and even sends her devoted petitioners roses as a sign of answered prayers- began her early years of her life giving beautiful bouquets of roses to her Maman with her daily rosary.

St. Therese also attributes her miraculous healing as a child to the graces of Our Lady of the Smile.  When she was just a child again, she was taken ill by something that her doctor at the time had never seen before.  She was struck with fevers and hallucinations for an extended period of time.  During her illness, her whole family prayed endlessly for her healing and her father even paid for special masses to be said for little Therese at the Shrine of Our Lady of Victories.  Soon afterwards, Therese's gaze fell upon a statue of the Blessed Mother in her room and little Therese saw Mary smile tenderly at her.  Miraculously, Therese was healed from that moment on and she continued to grow stronger and stronger each day, never to experience any more of her prior symptoms of the sickness.  St. Therese lived her entire life with gratitude and a particular love for the Blessed Mother, knowing that Mary took  pity upon her in her own grave sufferings.

Later, while in Carmel, the Saint would consecrate all her handiwork to the Blessed Mother.  St. Therese would continuously recite a Hail Mary every time she began her work.  She had confidence that Mary could use all her labors for the graces of a much needed soul.

At the very end of St. Therese's life, she wrote a beautiful poem about her Maman titled "Why I love Thee, Mary."  This would be the Saint's masterpiece of all her poems, of which there were many!  She wrote this poem just 4 months before her death and put all of her heart and soul into it.  This would be the very last poem she would compose before her death.

The conclusion of this beautiful poem is:

Soon I'll hear that sweet harmony.
Soon I'll go to beautiful Heaven to see you.
You who came to smile at me in the morning of my life,
Come smile at me again...Mother...It's evening now!...
I no longer fear the splendor of your supreme glory.
With you I've suffered and now I want
To sing on your lap, Mary, why I love you,
And to go on saying that I am your child!...

If you would like to read the entire poem "Why I love Thee, Mary" check it out at:

http://www.therese-de-lisieux.catholique.fr/Why-I-love-you-o-Mary.html

~Taken from My Sister Saint Therese- pages 122-123

Grace Giving Cross

We just celebrated the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Sept. 14th and this has gotten me thinking about how we carry our own crosses.  Often times I will talk with people who are going through a hard time in any way and I want to tell them to unite your sufferings to those of Jesus.  This is not a subject that is talked about all that often but truly has a tremendous amount of power!  The evil one is afraid of holy suffering because of how much good it can do.

It is true that the sufferings that Jesus endured during His passion and death were completely adequate to save all souls and ransom us back from what should have been eternal death.  His suffering was perfect in every way.  Where the problem comes in is at our end.  Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to be saved at every moment of their lives because they can be very much caught up in the pull of the world.

This is where our job comes in.  You may say what is the point of our suffering if Jesus' suffering and death were complete?  But our job to offer our sufferings up is a little different.  I'm going to quote the writings of a woman who has taken the name "Anne, the lay apostle."  She has been approved by her Bishop and she writes down her conversations that she has with Jesus.  She has ten volumes out but this was taken from her first volume.  This is her describing our work in offering our sufferings:

"Our suffering is not ransoming souls.  That work has been completed.  But our suffering is buying precious graces, graces that can be used for suffering souls, sinning souls, hardened souls, dying souls, souls in error, in ignorance, souls being victimized, abused.  Souls on the brink of hell can be brought back with our sufferings.  We're trading them in for graces.  The Blessed Mother, the Mediatrix of All Grace, takes our little offerings and uses them to buy mercy for souls, despite the horrendous behavior of us in this modern world." (pages 39-40 of Volume I)

Does that make a little more sense now?  We are not ransoming souls but buying souls the grace to have a conversion of heart.  When we offer up our sufferings to Jesus, Mary knows which souls are in most need of grace and she knows our hearts so well and the people in our own lives.  We never need worry about where our sufferings are being used because she takes everything into consideration and uses it where it is needed most.

It is a truly powerful tool to use to help save souls and we can all do a tremendous amount of good just by picking up our daily little sacrifices without complaint and offering all things up to Jesus and uniting it to His cross.  As simple of a prayer as:  "I offer this suffering up to you Jesus as an act of love."  Also, at the beginning of each day you can say a "daily offering" prayer and this will tell Jesus that you offer up all of the events of the day- both good and bad- to be used in whatever way needed.

Our beloved St. Therese used to offer all things up to her precious spouse and this was very important in her Little Way.  Even as a child, St. Therese would count her sufferings of the day on a little string of beads called sacrifice beads.  She knew the value of suffering from a very young age.  As she grew older, she took up a special desire to help missionaries all around the world in their hard work of spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth.  This is why St. Therese is the patron saint of missionaries but never left the soil of the convent where she lived.  Her little daily offerings of sacrifice were tremendously powerful and she did not know how far they helped souls until she reached her heavenly home.
                             
If this is something new to you, just try it.  You will not feel any different for doing it, but you will be making the difference for some soul that could really use the graces for their eternal salvation!

Check out the book at Amazon here:  https://www.amazon.com/One-Direction-Apostle-Thoughts-Spirituality/dp/1933684666/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1473762898&sr=8-9&keywords=anne+a+lay+apostle

Little Watch Dog

Do you ever have one of those days where you just can't seem to help getting discouraged because everything that you mean well just doesn't turn out the way you planned??  Celine once went to St. Therese lamenting that she was further away from her goal than she ever thought she was before.  She told the Saint, "It seems that the more I desire to advance in virtue, the worse I become.  I long to become sweet and patient, humble and charitable, but I do not think I shall ever succeed."

How often do we try so hard to be patient and kind but then speak and do the very things that we promised ourselves that we would not do?  Take heart, Jesus knows our struggle!  In Matthew 26:41 Jesus told his disciples  "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."  The Lord knows our hearts and he knows the interior struggles that we have between our spirit and our flesh.

Celine found a quote from St. Gertrude that brought her much comfort in the matter.  When St. Gertrude was having the same feelings of discouragement, Our Lord told her "In all things and above all things, hold on to your good will, for this disposition alone will impart to your soul the splendor and the special merit of all the virtues....  Furthermore, it might sometimes happen that one soul would derive more profit from such a desire than some other soul might gain from the performance of good works."

How beautiful it is that God takes into consideration our hearts and our good will of our every action.  Our Lord, who lives inside of our very selves, hears all of our desires and expressions of charity and love no matter how they may end up revealing themselves in our actions and efforts to show these desires.

When Celine told St. Therese about her findings, the Saint told her a story to confirm the truth of the importance of good will.

In the words of St. Therese, "Do you know that the Life of Father Surin contains a striking passage on this subject of good will?  He had just performed an exorcism and the demons confessed;  'We are victorious on all sides, yet, when it comes to this little watch-dog whose name is good will, we must always yield.'  And so, even if you are without virtue, you at least have 'a little watch-dog' who will save you from all danger.  Be consoled, for it will eventually bring you to heaven!  Ah!  Where is the soul who does not desire with all her heart to possess the virtues?  This longing is common to us all.  On the other hand, how very few there are in the spiritual life who are willing to fail, to stumble and fall, to be happy when others find them prostrate on the ground!"

How happy we must make Our Lord every time we have good intentions- even when it looks like we have failed from everyone looking from the outside!  Take heart and keep persevering in your desire to be a saint!

~Taken from My Sister Saint Therese, pages 22-24

Run with Sacrifice

Up to this point, we have aspired to live the Little Way with complete trust and blind faith in God but St. Therese did not stop there!  Not only did she rely on her total confidence in God but she fully cooperated with her own acts of generous virtue as much as she possibly could.  The Saint would often remind her novices of the importance of personal co-operation in the matter of our sanctification and modeled it beautifully for them!

St. Therese would explain that abandonment and confidence in God are only nourished by sacrifice.  So, the Saint is telling us that we have to do work- often times hard work- to help us along in our sanctification.  Having complete trust in Our Lord is extremely important but we need to put forth our own effort of sacrificial love in order to dive even deeper into our trust in God.

Here are some of St. Therese's own words on the matter:  "We must do all in our power to give without counting and to deny ourselves constantly.  We must prove our love by all the good works of which we are capable and which, after all, are of little worth....  Even when we have done all that we think should be done, we are to consider ourselves 'unprofitable servants' (Luke 17,10) hoping at the same time that God will, through His grace, give us all that we desire."

I love the beautiful way that the Saint has no doubt that Our Lord will fulfill her every desire.  In our own lives God will often times exceed our every expectation, as we place our trust in Him and do our own little works of sacrifice with love.

St. Therese concludes by saying:  "This is what all little souls who run in the way of spiritual childhood should hope for."  "Remember, I say run, not rest."


~Taken from "My Sister Saint Therese" pages 56-57

Happy in Humility

There is a book that I truly love that was written by the childhood sister of St. Therese, Celine Martin or later known as Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face.  The book is titled simply "My Sister Saint Therese."  As I have told you before, St. Therese was put in charge of the novices at her convent as novice mistress.  She spent much time forming the souls of the young sisters that would join their community.  As it worked out, Celine Martin, even though older than her sister by four years, entered Carmel after St. Therese so that she could care for her father in his declining health.  When Celine entered Carmel, she was being guided by her younger sister in the religious life.  Celine did not dislike this but rather thrived at being back with her soul-sister and tentatively listened to all that St. Therese advised.  Many years later, after St. Therese died, Celine began to write down all of the beautiful little teachings that her sister had shown her.  This really can be such a beautiful guide for all of us!

These two sisters were an inspiring gesture of the love that God can put into our hearts for one another.  Growing up they were partners in about everything they did- even the mischief they found themselves in.  These women are not what you may think of when you picture a cloistered nun living behind the walls of Carmel.  They were really quite heroic in their efforts to conform their wills to God's will and the life of sacrifice that they lived.  Their lives were filled with much hard work and discipline but yet they were truly happy and filled with peace as they offered all their prayers, works, joys and sufferings to Our Lord.  They did not loose their joy but rather through the perspective of their faith they really had a contagious joyful spirit about them.

When St. Therese would have her novices come to her with any type of discouragement she would quickly remind her sisters to stay close to humility so their joy would not be taken from them.  Once, Celine went to the Saint in a state of sadness and discouragement due what she thought was because of physical fatigue.  The Saint was quick to tell her that she should never blame her lack of virtue on anything physical or any other trial but rather make it an opportunity for humility and "take your place in the rank and file of little souls since you are so weak in the practice of virtue."  She went on to tell her that her soul was in a greater need for humility than practicing heroic virtue.  If all our actions were done perfectly then we would become prideful but when we recognize our weakness then we can recall these times of defeat and it will remind us of our littleness.  The Saint also told her that when our actions go unnoticed and unappreciated- it is actually a good thing for it keeps us humble!  We many never think we have the virtues we admire in other people and this will keep us close to humility.

After their talk, Celine asked her sister how she could "entertain such noble sentiments" and St. Therese replied, "My little method consists in this- rejoicing always and continually smiling- in times of defeat as well as victory."

~Taken from My Sister Saint Therese, pages 24-25

Who are "Little Souls?"

It may seem strange to talk about a soul as "little."  Does this refer to children's souls?  Does this mean this blog is only for people who are not too far into their spiritual life?  Does the "little" mean for souls lacking in virtue?  I guess the quickest answer is- yes!  But there is a catch (you knew I was going to say that right?)

To be a Little Soul, one would only have to be a child.  Not necessarily a child by age but a Child of God.  Well, aren't well all children of God?  Without a doubt, yes!  We are all children of a loving Heavenly Father and thus we are all His little souls. With that being said, just like children as defined by age, we all are working hard at growing! The funny thing about growing in the spiritual life though- its more like shrinking!  We actually need to become smaller (dying to ourselves and our own self will) and thus becoming little children that can easily rise to heaven in the arms of our Heavenly Father.

Does all this sound familiar??  Is this starting to sound like one of the greatest saints of modern times?  It should, because this idea is definitely not my own!  This idea of becoming a "little soul" was taken from St. Therese the Little Flower.  She was inspired by the Bible quote: Matthew 18:3 "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."  (There are other references in the Bible to being "little" that she also contemplated but this one verse really stood out to her.)

St. Therese strove to become littler and littler each day.  She did not rely on her own strength to reach the heights of heaven.  She called it her "elevator."  She wanted to be so little that our Heavenly Father would just lift her in her arms and carry her straight to Heaven rather than relying on her own zeal and virtues to climb the heights of the spiritual life leading to Heaven on her own.  We all can follow in her footsteps and take on her "Little Way" to be lifted up to Heaven by our Heavenly Father's arms.

St. Therese had a different approach to gaining virtue as well!  She was the novice mistress at her convent and one time a Novice came up to her and said "Oh, I have so many virtues to acquire."  To which St. Therese replied, "No, you've got a lot of things to loose."

With The Little Way in mind, my hope for this blog is to be an place of inspiration and a breath of faith for you in the midst of your busy schedules and constant distractions of the world.  I hope that my writings and the words and thoughts of St. Therese, can enlighten your minds and speak to your hearts as we are all striving for the same goal together- to be Saints!

Statue of St. Therese outside
 her childhood home 
 Lisieux, France 
(Taken during my trip there in 2014)