Leafing through the Christmas Newsletter of the OCD Home Regions I came across a reminder of one of my favourite stories about Therese and her influence. It concerns the French singer Edith Piaf (1915-1963), one of the most famous popular singers of the 20th century. She was born into great poverty and neglect in Paris and went blind as a child. She was taken to the grave of Therese (who had died in 1897) and her eyesight was restored shortly after, a healing which she always attributed to Therese. One thing I love about the story is that traditionally, Carmelite nuns had to be buried in the private monastery enclosure, which - if the rule had been applied to Therese - would most likely have prevented the miracle from ever taking place. However, the government was hostile to the Church at the time of Therese's death and burials inside the enclosure were banned, so Therese was buried in a public cemetery. This had as an unintended consequence that her grave was accessible ....
Edith Piaf was nicknamed 'the Little Sparrow' and the writer of the Newsletter article comments 'The Little Sparrow found in the Little Flower encouragement and understanding and forgiveness'.
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