Who is This Saint That the Lord Loves so Much?
A Carmelite Postulant Reflects on the Saint Thérèse and Her Relics Tour
A Carmelite Postulant Reflects on the Saint Thérèse and Her Relics Tour
My first recollection of clearly seeing but only half-recognizing Saint Thérèse was during a Mass I attended at Mount Saint Joseph Carmelite Monastery in San José. It was the Fall of 2023, and I was a new seminarian at Saint Patrick's Seminary for the Diocese of Oakland. I will never forget the way that the Lord impacted me through her that day. All it took was a single glance in the direction of her image while in the chapel, and my heart was immediately seized by a divine love for her, and I was overcome with tears.
My first recollection of clearly seeing but only half-recognizing Saint Thérèse was during a Mass I attended at Mount Saint Joseph Carmelite Monastery in San José. It was the Fall of 2023, and I was a new seminarian at Saint Patrick's Seminary for the Diocese of Oakland. I will never forget the way that the Lord impacted me through her that day. All it took was a single glance in the direction of her image while in the chapel, and my heart was immediately seized by a divine love for her, and I was overcome with tears.
My reaction so surprised me that I asked the Lord in my heart, "Who is she to me that I would love her like this?" For the duration of the Mass at the Carmelite Monastery, even a single look in her image’s direction during the Holy Mass threatened to reduce me to tears. When the Mass had ended, and I dared to peer into St. Thérèse’s face once more, I was once again overcome with affection, tears, and deep love.
I asked the Lord again, "Why do I love her so much?” It was as though the Lord said within my heart: "This is not your love for Thérèse but mine." From that startling moment of realization came my own, and I prayed it to Thérèse: "If the Lord loves you so, then so must I." That day, I left Mount Saint Joseph with her book, The Story of A Soul, in hand.
That encounter with the Lord's love for Thérèse led me on a journey that resulted in my entering the Discalced Carmelite (OCD) Friars here in San José this past summer. It was good timing, for I was graced with witnessing her USA relic tour’s stop in the Diocese of San José last October. At the event, I witnessed hundreds of souls come to venerate her relics. Their interior devotion was oftentimes made visible through their tears, prostrations, and gentle kisses of the relic. It was truly remarkable to see how a 24-year-old cloistered nun, who died more than a century ago in distant France, was so truly alive and living in eternal relationship with so many people, most of whom did not know one another.
For me, and I am sure for many others, this was a true display of Thérèse as "love in the heart of the Church." It all meant a great deal to me. It was like being with a dear friend and coming to more deeply appreciate how this dear friend of mine is a dear friend to so many. It became clear to me in that moment of veneration — or even in a series of moments — that each dear friend of Thérèse is a little flower that she herself gathers to place in the arms of our Lord, whom she loves so dearly; the very same Lord who has loved her and all of us, unfathomably, from the start.
Steven Ellison is a Postulant of the Discalced Carmelite Friars, currently residing at Mt. Saint Joseph Monastery, San Jose. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, and moved to the Bay Area in 2016 to work as a Psychotherapist. He converted from Protestantism to Catholicism in November 2021 and was confirmed in the Church during Easter Vigil 2022 at the Oakland Cathedral of Christ the Light. He enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time in nature.