Learning Humility with St. Therese: Not Every Flower can be a Rose

10/1/2012

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of God! And that is what we are!" 1John 3:1

It's actually a relief to know that I am not fooling God. He knows this fearful, perverted "humility" lives in my heart, preventing me from realizing the peace of true humility. He will take care of it if I let Him; even in this I have to let go, trust Him to keep His word and wait.

My progress toward holiness follows my cooperation, not my command. It will not be accomplished on my schedule; I cannot rush or cajole Him into action. Learning to wait is part of learning humility. I have no one to impress - I only have One to love.

St. Therese helps me understand: "the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy.if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers. And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus' garden. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be." (Story of a Soul)

A heart that is humble rests confidently in His mercy and love, and has no fear of being little or unnoticed, nor any need for adulation. He may be walking with the red rose in His hand, smelling its sweet fragrance, but He will also lie down on the grass that is covered in a bed of small wildflowers, and He will rest His head on their simple beauty, enjoying their soft comfort. I can think of nothing sweeter than to be that wild flower that's pressed close to His heart as He lies down to rest. That is all my soul really longs for.

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Jennifer Hartline is a grateful Catholic, a proud Army wife and homeschooling mother of three children. She is a contributing writer for Catholic Online. Visit her online at Wake Up, Deborah!
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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: St. Therese, Little Flower, humility, roses, Jennifer Hartline

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1 - 7 of 7 Comments

Jonas Simon Nathan
6 months ago
Humility is acceptance of one petal with another neighbour petal with their shades of colour and strenghth of aroma Blooming into a be beautiful daily offering - Sweet Surrender - Joyfully Suffer. See HOW White the Lilies are. O' Sinnuda
kathleen
8 months ago
This is a very good article...I am guilty of false humility and wanting of people's atttention...I will keep this article and read it when I stray from God's love...thank you so much for sharing this...God bless always.
roseo64
8 months ago
here's what thomas merton says about humility:
from "the seven storey mountain"

(for those not familiar with him or his autobiography--he was an atheist and takes us through
his life leading up to becoming a Trappist monk).

p.295..........."there is a certain kind of humility in hell which is one of the worst things in hell,
infinitely far from the humility of saints, which is peace.
"the false humility of hell is an unending, burning shame at the inescapable
stigma of our sins............
"the anguish of this self-knowledge is inescapable even on earth, as long as there is any self-love left in us: because it is pride that feels the burning of that shame.
"only when all pride, all self-love has been consumed in our souls by the
love of God, are we delivered from the thing which is the subject of those torments.
it is only when we have lost all love of our selves, for our own sakes that are past sins
cease to give us any cause for suffering or for the anguish of shame.
"for the saints, when they remember their sins, do not remember the sins,
but the mercy of God and therefore even past evil is turned by them into a present
cause of joy and serves to glorify God."
Emmanuel Tio
8 months ago
October 2, 2012

Feast of our Guardian Angels

Dear Sr. Therese,

Thank you for sharing you prayers to all of us. We have the same lung disorders a while ago but with your help and support, I was able to recover from broncopneumonia, lung infection, asthma, allergic rhinitis and pulmonary tuberculosis.

I received my first lung "cancer" (broncopneumonia) when I was still a high school student in the high school seminary at the age of 16. I almost died in the seminary due to repressive and continuous coughing. I watched your movie a couple of times and found out that you have the same problem while still in the Carmelite Monastery. It was a surprise that you didn't consulted a physician in order to survive a little more in the cold monastery. I felt sorry that you have a very painful and bitter memory with your parents. I know what it felt like to lose a mother and a father later while in the monastery.

Life in the monastery was happy for you and I saw you before while I was still studying. My brother who was studying in the University of St. Thomas in Manila bought a very big picture and he posted the big picture in one of the rooms in our house - the room where I had the worst nightmares. This is the room where I almost died due to a medical accident and I would want to share a prayer that may help us ease the pain in the purgatory:

O my God, I don't want to go to hell.
I know that because of my many sins I deserve to go there.
Help me get rid of my sins.
I don't want to lose my soul in everlasting torment,
without all happiness, banished from You forever.
Help me realize that I shall have to make up for my venial sins,
too, and that some of the punishment due to all sin,
even if we escape hell,
must be paid in purgatory.
Help me do some real penance to make up for my sins,
and get rid of part of my purgatory before I die.

O my God, now I see very clearly that I have not given You
the service that I owe You for so many reasons.
I have abused Your wonderful gifts,
using them to offend You who are so good and so lovable.
I sinned even in Your presence.
I saddened Your Heart at the very moment
when You were looking on me with perfect love.
I was so blind and ungrateful as to love creatures more than You, my creator,
who because You are infinitely good and lovable deserve all my love;
I preferred my own pleasure to doing Your will.
Pardon me, O my God,
for all the sins of my whole life.
I am sorry for them.
I hate them from the bottom of my heart because You hate them.
I beg of You, say to me, "Your sins are forgiven."

http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/english3/p02649.htm

I know this prayer will help a dying soul.

You should've prayed this when you're on your death bed since I know that your sins are too many to
be counted. I saw one of your fellow monks said, "May God have mercy on your soul." And I
believe that all our diseases are effects of our sinfulness. I experienced what you've ex-
perienced and we have one thing in common: we have the same difficulties in breathing.
The only thing that you've missed was the corporal works of mercy. If I was in Italy and France,
I will be helping St. Francis de Assisi accomplish the works of mercy of curing self and
the
sick neighbors. They should've studied how since they will be very useless if they die very,
very early. You should've cured the sick including your self since corpses are useless save the
memories. You have doctors coming into you place unlike in our place. We should go to the
hospital since doctors don't visit the patients' house in this part of the globe. Whenever I see
your dying body in your movie, I still reminisce the night when I have the same problem. There
was something in my body that made my breathing come to an end and I know that it was God. I feared
so much that made me think of being hurled into a bottomless pit. But I never forget thinking of
God whenever death arrives. I tried to pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and Glory in the emer-
gency room and voila, sting and spirits of death vanish in the thin air.
You should've done the
same. I know how difficult your breathing was and I know how difficult it
is to pray while losing and ending your breath on your death bed. It was very scary alright. But
you never lost hope.
I just noticed something in your life. Don't you have a doctor when you felt sick in the monastery?
I still feel my lung cancer killing me up until now but I never lose the presence of God in my
mind and in my life. The most difficult thing in our place is that doctors don't visit the sick at
home rather, patients should go to the hospital right away and sometimes patients die while going
into the hospital - that would be worse!
I just want to share that curing the sick is one of the best things God did in our universe.
The question would be: why didn't you? I have the same question regarding St. Francis of Assisi.
I've tried to cure the sick including my self but
seemed to let the spirit of death permeate into
their souls, not the spirit of Life Who is God. Don't you know that the Corporal Works of Mercy came
from God? And I would want to suggest to cure the sick: the neighbors and the self. Death is
worthless and saints would be useless if they die very early. You know why? Because death doesn't
seem to pray. I hope that God forgive all our sins of omission. If I live in Italy and France, I
would be telling everybody to cure the sick with the doctors since saints will not help anymore
after death except through prayers. But if God plans for it, then may His will be done on earth as
in heaven. May you
see Him face to face since I saw God face to face before I died. He may burnt
in the heavens but His body is still intact even if cosmic waves disintegrate His Sacred Body. He's
the Strongest Being alright and I felt very happy with His Inexplicable Beautiful Sacred Face.
I felt healthy after seeing Him looking at me with a burning love for souls.
I would want to cure the sick but I can't stop death for Only God could control the spirit, the
shadow and the stings of death. I love them a lot and I hope that they will love me in return.
I hope for curing the sick in the future.

Gratefully yours in Christ,
Emmanuel

Most Holy Guardian Angels, watch over us and protect us. Amen!
kasoy
8 months ago
Very insightful article. I simply have to re-read it.
Terri Lanuti
8 months ago
Happy Feast Day, Jennifer! Thank you for sharing your beautiful thoughts on St. Therese!
mjgt
8 months ago
What honesty and depth!

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