The past is not so far away

Last night in our OCDS community we were studying St Therese’s last conversations before she died and the president of our community spoke of a special connection she had to the saint.  Her father had read The Story of a Soul as a teenager when it first came out.  He was in the French navy and he was greatly moved and affected by it.  I was strangely moved to think of this physical link this person in front of me had to Therese.  And it was an illustration of how this publication by a young nun living her life in an enclosed convent impacted on many young men, for we know of countless stories of how devoted many young soldiers were to her in World War I.  One of the extraordinary mysteries surrounding Therese is why The Story of a Soul should have made such a stunning and immediate impact.  Sales rocketed all over the world within a very short time.  You could call this her first miracle – the first of a multitude.

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Sue B, Theresa K, Fr Jon B

Siena, Elara – sick children

Matthew – six-year old boy dying of bladder cancer

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David OCDS – housebound; Martin Gilham – unable to attend community meetings

Sophia – blind infant

Joy Smith OCDS – seriously ill

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Lucia – Overwhelmed by weariness