It's the Feast of
St Therese of the Child Jesus,
3rd Class, with the color of
White. In this episode: the meditation: "Acts and Fruits of Penance", today's news from the Church: "A Successful First Outing for the "O Roma Felix" Camp of the Sisters of the SSPX", and today's thought from the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
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Sources Used Today:
- "Acts and Fruits of Penance" — From the Assumption to Advent
- "A Successful First Outing for the "O Roma Felix" Camp of the Sisters of the SSPX" (FSSPX.news)
- The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus is famous for her "Little Way," the idea that holiness doesn't necessarily require doing spectacular things. Sometimes it means doing something very small that costs you quite a lot.
And one of my favorite examples involves a nun Thérèse simply could not stand.
Thérèse entered the Carmelite convent at Lisieux at only fifteen. Life there meant living every day with the same small group of women. You prayed together. Ate together. Worked together. Saw each other constantly.
And inevitably, there was one sister whose personality rubbed Thérèse completely the wrong way.
Thérèse never names her in Story of a Soul, which is probably the first charitable thing she did for her.
She admits that this sister had "the faculty of displeasing me in everything." Her mannerisms bothered Thérèse. Her personality bothered her. Thérèse couldn't even explain everything that irritated her.
So she made a decision.
She would treat this sister as though she were her favorite person in the convent.
Whenever they met, Thérèse gave her a warm smile.
She prayed for her.
She looked for opportunities to help her.
When the sister said something irritating, Thérèse tried not merely to suppress an annoyed response, but to answer with genuine kindness. She even tried to discover something admirable about the sister so that her charity wouldn't become completely fake.
And apparently Thérèse became too good at it.
One day the sister finally asked her something along the lines of, "Sister Thérèse, would you tell me what attracts you so much to me? Whenever you look at me, I see you smile."
That's the best part of the story.
The poor woman had absolutely no idea.
Thérèse writes that what attracted her was Jesus hidden within this sister, because Christ makes lovable even what naturally seems unlovable.
There's another wonderfully human convent story. During prayer, a sister near Thérèse repeatedly made a small clicking or rattling noise that drove her crazy. Thérèse couldn't stop noticing it.
So instead of spending prayer mentally complaining about the noise, she deliberately listened to it and turned it into a kind of music offered to God.
That is the Little Way in real life.
Not floating around the convent feeling affectionate toward everyone.
Not pretending difficult people aren't difficult.
It's recognizing, "This person is driving me absolutely nuts, and I am going to love her anyway."
Thérèse died from tuberculosis in 1897 at only twenty-four. She never traveled as a missionary, founded a religious order, or accomplished anything the world would have considered particularly important.
She smiled at the nun who annoyed her.
She tolerated the irritating noise.
She did tiny things with enormous love.
And the Church eventually declared her a Doctor of the Church.
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, teacher of the Little Way and saint of ordinary acts of love, pray for us.
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What is the SSPX Podcast?
The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.
What is the SSPX?
The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood.
Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls.
Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it.
https://sspx.org
