From Catholic News Agency:
Pope Francis on several occasions has spoken of his strong devotion to the Little Flower saint as well as his habit of asking her for favors: favors, his former press secretary says, which have often come in the form of little miracles. One of those miracles came Aug. 7, 2010, when the then-cardinal Bergoglio was accompanied by his press secretary, Federico Wals, to celebrate Mass honoring St. Cajetan on his feast day.
After celebrating Mass the cardinal was in too much pain to walk the whole distance, and decided to go just two blocks before heading back to the center of Buenos Aires, Wals recalled. However, as they reached the second block Wals said they came across a man “taller than (the cardinal), dressed with a black overcoat and he had his right hand inside the coat.” Before they could blink the man “pulled out a white rose,” he said, explaining that Bergoglio was “surprised,” blessed the rose and tried to move out of the way.
From Dolls From Heaven:
My devotion started from a young child where I always heard my mother talk about St. Thérèse and how she sent her a rose and got her prayer answered as well.
Even when I was away from the Catholic Church in my late teens and early twenties I kept a fond devotion to her and when I returned to the faith I prayed a novena to her which was answered quickly and I got my first rose from her. It was in a homeless woman’s shopping cart and was the largest rose I had ever seen and after sharing the love of Christ with her I realized that the Rose I saw was my Rose from Thérèse. I just read recently in a Carmelite magazine that Pope Francis also gets white Roses from St. Thérèse. God Bless you forever! your brother, Brian
I recited a five-day prayer which honors Saint Thérèse. It is as follows: “Saint Thérèse, the Little Flower, please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me with a message of love. Ask God to grant me the favor I thee implore, and tell Him I will love Him each day more and more.: The prayer also had the following instructions; the above prayer together with five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys and five Glorias must be said on five successive days, before 11 a.m. [Such time frames are for discernment.] On the fifth day, after the final set of prayers are completed, offer one more set of five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys and five Glorias.
I wondered why the prayer had to be said each day before 11 a.m. No reason was given. Perhaps the person who composed the prayer decided to stipulate: before 11 a.m. as a small act of sacrifice. On the fifth day a lady telephoned me and asked if I could come up on the train to her parish for the 9 a.m. Mass. I said that I was not able to. At five minutes past 11 a.m. she arrived at my house with a gift. It was a statue of Saint Thérèse! The lady had attended Mass, then purchased the statue, got it blessed, and then took the trouble to catch a train to visit me, so determined was she that I would receive the statue on that particular day. She knew nothing of the prayers that I was saying to Saint Therese. On another occasion I prayed a novena to Saint Thérèse for a special favor and as I walked to and from the pre-school with my daughter, I kept finding roses on the footpath.
I wondered if the roses were a sign from Saint Thérèse. On the way home from the pre-school, I went into the news agency to make a purchase, and while I was waiting in the queue to pay the shop assistant, I turned to look at the newspapers and magazines. On the front page of the afternoon newspaper was a photograph of a statue of Saint Thérèse.
My unspoken question about the roses was answered. On yet another occasion I had just finished teaching Catholic scripture class to kindergarten, as I was leaving, one of the children from year one came up to me to show her treasure, a photograph given to her by her scripture teacher. “Who is this?” she asked. “It is Saint Thérèse,” I replied. As I said this I smelt the roses, which I understood to be a sign of Saint Thérèse’s presence.
“The most recent sign of friendship from Saint Thérèse occurred soon after I had finished saying a prayer to her. My son called out “come and see Saint Thérèseon TV.” I thought that he was mistaken. It was an item about Saint Therese’s relics touring England and the great interest that people there have in viewing them. This is definitely not the type of story that is usually shown on the secular news programs here in Sydney.
My aunty was diagnosed with breast cancer. I went to her home with a first class relic of Saint Thérèse. Her daughter-in-law said that my aunty and uncle were attending Mass at the parish church. My husband and I then drove down to the church. Mass has just ended. I looked down the hill, and I could see my aunty and uncle leaving the church. As soon as I saw them I smelt the heavy scent of roses. There were no roses nearby. Saint Thérèse was giving a sign that all would be well. My aunty underwent chemotherapy and surgery, which was successful in eradicating the cancer. (It is a well-documented fact that Saint Therese sometimes allows people to smell roses in connection with her favors and miracles.) Special Note: First class relics are part of the saint’s body e.g. bone. Second class relics are objects which belonged to the saint during their lifetime e.g. clothing. Third class relics are touched to the saint’s body or tomb after their death e.g. cloth — Mary Ann Matulis.
From Prayer4Reparation:
ST. THERESE HELPS THE SICK, THE AFFLICTED AND UNBELIEVERS
From every part of the world came reports of miracles of physical healing and, more important, miracles of supernatural grace. Men and women were not merely restored to bodily health but brought back to their faith and to the Church. Missions that had long been languishing sprang to life. Districts in the mission field where there had been no conversions for years were suddenly overwhelmed by people asking to be baptized and taught. Her help extended to every rank of society, but she seemed to have a special love for the sick and humble, the sick and the abandoned, and especially for little children.
ST THERESE LOVES TO HELP PRIESTS TO GET NEW ZEAL
Above all her help was lavished upon priests. On every side priests were strengthened in their labors, consoled in their loneliness, comforted in their sickness. All who committed their ministry to her care had the same story to tell of wonders happening which they could not account for on any other basis than that they were her answer to their prayers. Taking her as his model, many a priest who had lost heart and grown lukewarm found his early aspirations rekindled and his soul set on fire again with the Love of God. ‘Pray to her’, said Pope Benedict XV to a priest, ‘it is her vocation to teach priests how to love Jesus Christ.’
THOUSANDS OF THANK-YOU LETTERS OF THE FAITHFUL
As a result of this shower of roses came the immense flood of letters with which St Thérèse’s convent was inundated. The post soon became unmanageable. By the year 1911 it had reached the figure of a hundred letters a day, while in 1923, before her canonization, the daily number had risen to five hundred. By the 1930s, if we include all the various departments at Lisieux, it surpassed a thousand a day.”
– V. Johnson
From Littleflower.org:
What did she mean by her “shower of roses”?
Experience has shown that St. Thérèse’s “shower of roses” is both figurative and actual. As she was dying in the convent infirmary, Thérèse could look out and see the rose bushes blossoming. She loved roses. She had thrown rose petals as a Child before the Blessed Sacrament. As she reflected on her quiet, hidden, and gentle life ending, she believed in faith that God had great things in store for her. She believed that her mission was only beginning as she entered the fullness of life with God. She explained: “After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved…”
Shortly after her death, the rain of roses began. Sometimes roses literally appeared, and sometimes just the fragrance of them. Cures of painful and fatal diseases and many other miraculous experiences were attributed to her intercession. Sometimes people found inner peace and regained an inner warmth of spirit and confidence, by appealing to St. Thérèse. Many miracles and actions of St. Thérèse do not involve roses. More often than not, marvelous things happen in people’s lives as they ask for her heavenly intercession. The miracles, healings and inner peace come from the trust one places in God, not from any manifestation of roses. St. Therese lived in the dark night of the senses and spirit, with little consolation. Thus, the friends and followers of St. Thérèse expect no consolation of sighted roses that their prayers are being answered. Her “little way” is about child-like trust and gentle love. She is the great apostle of faith in God’s love, not simple reliance on physical signs. Jesus warned us, and Therese experienced that the desire for signs is a sign of weak faith. It is always important to remember that St. Therese did not experience extraordinary phenomena in her life. Her faith was refined and strengthened by God.
Roses are Thérèse’s signature. It is her way of whispering to those who need a sign that she has heard, and God is responding. Thousands of people have given witness to the way Thérèse responds to their petitions and prayers with grace and roses. The grace is more important than the roses. So many miracles have happened through the intercession of St. Thérèse without any roses appearing – usually the deep inner peace of accepting God’s will and seeing His loving plan and presence is the “rose” experienced. Sometimes the lack of a physical “rose signature” is an affirmation of a strong faith.
One does not pray for roses. Thérèse’s message is about simplicity and love in the ordinary events of life. Trust in Therese is important, and when she wills, roses or their fragrance may appear. The stories are remarkable how roses have shown up in the lives and experiences of people, especially in the darkest times. The ordinary and constant way these roses and graces have shown up in people’s experience is extraordinary. It is important to always maintain the rose of confidence that our All-Loving God hears and responds to our needs, according to the mysterious ways of His Love.
[see also: her healings]
INVOKE ST THERESE’S HELP TODAY!
“St Thérèse,
the Little Flower; please pick me a
rose from the Heavenly Garden
and send it to me with a
message of Love.
Ask God to grant the favor I thee
implore and tell Him
I will love Him each day
more and more.
Amen.”