A Totus Tuus Family: Recalling some St. Therese miracles on my trip to Medjugorje

"God would not make me wish for something impossible and so, in spite of my littleness, I can aim at being a saint. It is impossible for me to grow bigger, so I put up with myself as I am, with all my countless faults. But I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight, a little way that is quite new. . . . It is your arms, Jesus, which are the lift to carry me to heaven! And so there is no need for me to grow up. In fact, just the opposite: I must stay little and become less and less."

St. Therese, the Little Flower

St. Therese is so humble that I'm sure she would not wish to be honored on a feast day, but she would want God to be honored and for others to find a way to grow closer to the God she loved so very much---and that is what her feast day is all about. Her feast day points people to her "Little Way"--a way that everyone can use to become a saint! I am so grateful that she taught us this way to holiness, because lately I feel so small, so little, so sinful, so insecure, and so incapable of succeeding at all the things I wished I would be great at: marriage, motherhood, holiness, leading others to holiness... But, Therese's words remind me that God loves my littleness; His mercy covers my sins; He will carry me to heaven because He knows I am too weak to get there myself. What a relief! :) Thank you, God. St. Therese, pray for us to walk confidently in your Little Way!

It also seems fitting to share some St. Therese "miracles" that happened to me in Medjugorje back in June of 2015. Like many other Catholics, I have a tender devotion to Therese and often ask for her intercession when I have an important prayer request. So, when Paul and I went to Medjugorje, I wanted to pray a novena to St. Therese and ask her to pray for us on our pilgrimage. Specifically, I asked for her to pray that our pilgrimage would help Paul and I receive the graces we needed to grow in holiness and to find healing and joy in our marriage.

The day Paul and I arrived in Medjugorje, we found out that we would be staying at a little hotel called "The Two Hearts" (referring to the two Hearts of Jesus and Mary). I was slightly disappointed, because we had been told there was a chance that we would be staying at the visionary Marjana's house, but I tried to offer up my disappointment and embrace what God had given me :} We were handed our room key, but when we unlocked the door to our room, we saw that someone else already had their luggage in that room, so we headed back to get a different room key. When we walked into the second room that was given to us, a huge smile spread across my face, because the only thing in the room, aside from 2 single beds and a crucifix, was a picture of St. Therese. I was sure this was a little gift from God, and that He was assuring me at the start of our pilgrimage that Therese would be with us, interceding for us during our stay in Medjugorje. It was my first little Medjugorje miracle! :)

The second little St. Therese miracle occurred 6 days into our pilgrimage. We were told that we would have to leave the Two Hearts Hotel to make room for a larger pilgrimage group that was arriving. The up-side, however, was that we were given the honor of moving to the visionary Jakov's house to stay for the remainder of our pilgrimage!!! I was thrilled! But there was a part of my heart that was sad to leave our old room because I really liked the consolation of St. Therese's picture and the reminder that she was praying for us. But again, I tried to offer up my disappointment and embrace what God had given me. So we headed to Jakov's house and were given our new room key. We walk in the door, and again, a smile spread across my face. This time, there was no picture of St. Therese on the wall, but I clearly felt her presence when I saw what was in the room: 2 single beds, a crucifix, and a rose-covered chair with Carmelite brown curtains behind it :) God is so good to me! :)

Aside from "being showered with roses" in our two hotel rooms, I felt the Little Flower's presence everywhere I went in Medjugorje. Paul and I prayed our Therese novena every day, and the words to the novena guided our hearts towards her "Little Way," teaching us to offer up our littleness, our weaknesses, our sins, our sufferings, our disappointments to God with joy (that's the hard part), trusting with Therese-like confidence that He will transform those offerings into something fruitful. I constantly felt St. Therese whispering in my heart: "Maria, it is OK to be little and not accomplish the great things you had hoped to do for God...your little acts of love and small sacrifices are just as pleasing to God as great big deeds for His glory." "It is OK to be a big failure because God's mercy is bigger than your mistakes (oh and by the way, God's mercy is big enough to cover your husband's mistakes too!) :}" And throughout the entire pilgrimage, Therese kept guiding my eyes to find the littlest flowers on the paths that we tread, beautiful, hidden weeds that no one else would notice, to remind me to embrace my littleness. One tiny flowering weed offered to God with a heart full of love is worth more than an offering of grand, gorgeous roses. All around me I saw pilgrims placing huge expensive bouquets of flowers at the feet of the statues of Mary, but all I had to offer Our Lady was a small handful of tiny, beautiful weeds. And Therese whispered to me, "It is a beautiful offering--YOU are a beautiful offering, because you are filled love." God gave me so many opportunities to offer up little flowers of love and sacrifice to Him on our pilgrimage. Some of the opportunities I embraced, others I did not, but I was at least learning to see them as opportunities. Even the failed opportunities I could offer to God! The Little Flower was gently teaching me her Little Way every day that I was there.

And then my third St. Therese miracle happened when I got home from Medjugorje. At the end of a St. Therese novena, it is not uncommon for Therese to send a rose from heaven to reassure you that she heard your prayers and interceded for you. In fact, right before she died, she told her fellow nuns that "she would spend her heaven doing good upon the earth and let fall a shower of roses." So, on the last day our novena, I went to the adoration chapel in my parents' town to pray for an hour. I walked into the chapel and immediately saw a statue of St. Therese, and on the floor beneath her, someone had placed a beautiful red rose in a simple glass bowl. I felt it was my rose sent from heaven. Therese had heard my prayers, and God had certainly granted the graces that Paul and I needed during our pilgrimage to help us grow in holiness and find healing and joy in my marriage again. God is so good. St. Therese is so faithful. I am so grateful!

Paul and I in Medjugorje in 2015---