Talking to Therese

I treasure a story I heard some years ago from a Secular Carmelite named David.  He was talking about how he came to be a Secular, and he recalled that it was mainly down to the influence of his mother, who had a deep devotion to St Therese – so much so that he would often hear her talking to the saint of Lisieux.  His mother even started making Alençon lace, which was the kind made by St Zélie Martin, mother of our saint.  (I find that this kind is sometimes known as ‘the queen of lace’.)  When David asked his mother how she had learned to make this kind of lace, she replied that Therese had taught her.  The manufacture of Alençon lace entered terminal decline at the end of the 19th century with changes in fashion and the development of cheaper, machine-made lace. What is fascinating is that hand-made lace-making survived on a small scale and the technique was preserved by Carmelite nuns in Alençon. 

Intercessions:

Marie, Bernard, Agnes – cancer

Elara, Siena – children with severe health issues

Rosemarie – multiple afflictions