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On October 1, the Church celebrates the feast of my favorite saint, Saint Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower!   I blogged about why I love her so much a few years ago and how a pilgrimage to Medjugorje inspired me to name our youngest after this beloved and well-known Saint.


This year, as in year's past, we had a simple celebration with rose decorated cupcakes and we read some books about her.

Our little one whose middle name is Therese loves to celebrate her "Name Day" with cupcakes, books and her St. Therese Shining Light Doll.

At Mass on Sunday, October 1, my daughter brought roses from our rose bush to place in the vase in front of the St. Therese statue that stands in the gathering space of our church.


We read from The Little Flower: A Parable of Saint Therese of Lisieux, which is a beautifully illustrated book about how St. Therese saw herself as a little flower in a garden full of a variety of beautiful flowers. 


I won the book Mornings with Saint Therese: 120 Daily Readings at The Edel Gathering in July 2015.  I just love reading these short quotes and reflections by St. Therese.

 
Another book we own and enjoy is The Little Flower: The Story of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.


And I'm currently reading, (along with Raising Chaste Catholic Men: Practical Advice, Mom to Mom), I Believe in Love.


If you have younger children, I just discovered Therese of Lisieux: Little Flower of Love.


Another great gift idea for a young child (or an adult ;) ) is the St. Therese of Lisieux Shining Light Doll.

If you would like to find out more about St. Therese of Lisieux be sure to read I Didn't Like St. Therese of Lisieux...Until I Learned These 8 Little Known Facts About Her, which includes a short video by Bishop Robert Barron on the life and lessons of St. Therese of Lisieux.

Have you heard this about St. Therese before?  I find this fascinating!











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October 1 is Saint Therese of Lisieux's feast day.  She is my favorite Saint! She inspires me in so many ways and I'm still learning more about her life and how her "Little Way" can be applied to my own life as a wife and a homeschool mom. I tell all about why I have grown to love this beloved Saint in my blog post that I wrote in October 2015 with details of how a trip out of the country helped me to "meet" her and inspired my husband and me to name our 5th child after her.

This year, similar to the past few years, I set up a table in honor of St. Therese. Our family read some books about her and had rose cupcakes.  This year my 8 year old daughter, whose middle name is Rose, helped me decorate the rose cupcakes since St. Therese is affectionately known as "The Little Flower".
“When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens, I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.”  
 -St. Therese of Lisieux



We read from The Little Flower: A Parable of Saint Therese of Lisieux, which is a beautifully illustrated book about how St. Therese saw herself as a little flower in a garden full of a variety of beautiful flowers. 

I won the book Mornings with Saint Therese: 120 Daily Readings at The Edel Gathering in July 2015.  I just love reading these short quotes and reflections by St. Therese.

 
Another book we own and enjoy is The Little Flower: The Story of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.


And I'm currently reading, (along with Raising Chaste Catholic Men: Practical Advice, Mom to Mom), I Believe in Love.


If you have younger children, I just discovered Therese of Lisieux: Little Flower of Love.


Another great gift idea for a young child (or an adult ;) ) is the St. Therese of Lisieux Shining Light Doll. I ordered one, but haven't received it yet,  but I'll be tucking it away for a future gift for someone special.


If you would like to find out more about St. Therese of Lisieux be sure to read I Didn't Like St. Therese of Lisieux...Until I Learned These 8 Little Known Facts About Her, which includes a short video by Bishop Robert Barron on the life and lessons of St. Therese of Lisieux.

Have you heard this about St. Therese before?  I find this fascinating!

This post contains affiliate links. 

Today, October 1,  is St. Therese of Lisieux feast day and October 18, 2015 will be a historic day for our Catholic Church as her parents, Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, will be the first couple canonized Saints on October 18.

This young, sweet Saint has been tapping me on the shoulder, so to speak, for several years now.  

I've always known of her, but like most Saints' lives, I didn't really take an interest in her until I became a mother and started reading the lives of the Saints with my children.  

She first got my attention in November 2009 when I went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje with friends, new friends and a local priest.  She was trying to get my attention in many ways as her name popped up in the most random conversations, I would notice her image and statues in the most unexpected places, and there have been several other "hints" that have encouraged me to get to know St. Therese a little better.  I'm still trying to figure it all out, but I have a feeling her "Little Way" example needs to be one way I need to grow in personal holiness.  And this growing in holiness stuff is easier said than done!  Amen?!?
It was on my 2009 pilgrimage that I vowed if we ever had another baby girl (We had a boy and 3 girls at the time), I would name her after St. Therese of Lisieux.  In July 2013, our Leah Therese was gifted to us so today is also special because it is my 5th child's "Name Day". 

Here is our sweet baby girl in 2013 at 2.5 months and then currently at 2 years old.  Let's just say it was easier to get our daughter to take a picture with her St. Therese plaque she got at her baptism in 2013 than it was now.  :)  She wanted to walk around with her plaque (or throw it on the chair) so I had to snap this year's photo fast and furiously! :) 


To celebrate today's special feast day I made chocolate cupcakes with my daughters and we decorated them like roses since St. Therese stated “When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens, I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.”   -St. Therese of Lisieux


I put this St. Therese tray together and put it on the center of our dining room table to celebrate St. Therese, also known as the Little Flower or Therese of The Child Jesus and the Holy Face. 


  
I have really enjoyed reading the book I won at Edel this past summer, Mornings with Saint Therese, 120 Daily Readings!  Each day there is a very short meditation in St. Therese's own words and getting to know her more intimately this way has been a blessing to me.  I highly recommend this book! 

Here are some close up shots of some other items on the tray with their significance:

As mentioned above, the plaque in the top left corner was given to our little Leah Therese on her baptism.  The plaque reads: 

How sweet is the way of Love! True, one may fall, one may not be always faithful, but Love, knowing how to draw profit from all, very quickly consumes whatsoever may displease Jesus, leaving naught but humble and profound peace in the innermost soul.