Day 5- Hidden Crosses

"The more the suffering is and the less it appears before men, the more it is to Thy honor and glory."  ~ St. Therese

Preparatory Prayer:

Dear St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, I thank the Most Holy Trinity for all the graces lavished upon you, and through you upon the world.  I have great confidence in your intercession, both because of your power in Heaven, since you yourself said that "God would refuse you nothing," and because of your goodness and your promise that "no one would invoke you without receiving answer, since you would "spend your Heaven in doing good upon earth" and "let fall from Heaven a shower of roses."  Intercede for me with the loving Hearts of Jesus and Mary, that the Holy Spirit may assist me to understand your teaching on "Joy in Suffering" and may grant me the gift of fortitude, that fired with a burning love of God and souls, I may eagerly follow you in joyous suffering and share in your glorious triumph.  I promise to show my heartfelt gratitude by doing whatever I can to promote your honor and to make you ever more widely known and loved throughout the world, for the greater glory of the Most Holy Trinity.  Amen.

Reflection:

St. Therese said, "Through our little acts of charity practiced in the dark, as it were, we obtain the conversion of the heathen, help the missionaries and gain for them plentiful alms, thus building both spiritual and material dwellings for our Eucharistic Lord."  She knew the great power of suffering, but also the even greater power of a suffering gone unseen.  She even empathized with those who tell others of their bodily aches and pains, but encouraged others to not always share these pains but rather keep them hidden.  This is what she told a novice sister, "You feel this fatigue so much because no one is aware of it.  This is indeed a very natural feeling-  the desire that people should know our aches and pains; but in giving way to it, we play the coward."  St. Therese practiced what she preached because she would always be caught smiling, even in the midst of great suffering, to the point that many people thought that she had a very high pain tolerance.

Prayer: 

Dear St. Therese, please help me to persevere in accepting joyfully all my little crosses and trials that are sent my way as you did.  Help me to smile, as you so often did, when faced with an uncomfortable situation.  Let me not count my pains but only all the glory I give to God when I accept my trials and keep them hidden in my soul.  Pray for me to have the graces necessary for all my little hidden trials to make a beautiful bouquet of flowers in my soul to offer our dear Jesus.  I also recommend to you my special intentions in this Novena.  (Specify your intentions.)  To one who has suffered so much for Him, God will refuse nothing.

Our Father....  Hail Mary....  Glory Be....