NOVENA TO SAINT THERESE

PRELUDE

Saint Therese, flower of Carmel,
you said you would spend your heaven
doing good upon the earth.
Your trust in God was complete.

Listen to my prayer;
bring before God my special intention...
Pray for me that I may have something of your confidence
in the loving promises of our God.
Pray that I may live my life in union with God’s plan for me,
and one day see the Face of God who you so ardently loved.

Saint Therese,
you kept your word to love God
and to trust the world to that loving providence.
Pray for us that we may be faithful to our commitment to love.
May our lives, like yours,
be able to touch the world and bring it to peace.

DAY ONE

Loving God,
you blessed St. Therese with a capacity for a great love.
Help us to believe in your unconditional love for each of us.

DAY TWO

Loving God,
you loved St. Therese’s complete trust in your care.
Help us to rely on your providential care
for us in each circumstance of our lives.

DAY THREE

Loving God,
you graced St. Therese with a capacity to see your hand
in the ordinary routine of each day.
Help us to be aware of your presence in the everyday events of our lives.

DAY FOUR

Loving God,
you taught St. Therese how to find a direct way to you
through the “little way” of humility and simplicity.
Grant that we may never miss the grace there is
in humble service to others in family and neighborhood.

DAY FIVE

Loving God,
you graced St. Therese with the gift of forginving others
even when she felt hurt and betrayed.
Help us to be able to forgive others who have wounded us, especially...

DAY SIX

Loving God,
St. Therese experienced each day as a gift from You,
as a time for loving and through others.
May we, too, see each new day as a single moment
of saying yes to Your will in our lives.

DAY SEVEN

Loving God,
St. Therese offered to You her frailty and powerlessness.
Help us to see in our weakness and our diminishments
an opportunity for letting Your light and Your strength be all we need.

DAY EIGHT

Loving God,
You shepherded St. Therese with a gracious love
and made her a tower of strength to people who had lost faith in You.
Help us to be unafraid to pray with confidence
for the many in our culture who do not believe they can be loved.

DAY NINE

Loving God,
St. Therese never doubted that her life had meaning.
Help us to understand our possiblities for loving and blessing our children,
our elderly parents,
our neighbors in need,
and for priests throughout the world.

CONCLUSION

Say one Our Father...
Say one Hail Mary...
Say one Glory Be...