Patron Saint of Spirited, High-Maintenance and High Energy Children Everywhere

St. Therese’s mother wrote about her:

“The dear little thing will hardly leave me, she follows me everywhere, but likes going into the garden best; when I am not there she refuses to stay, and cries so much that they are obliged to bring her back. She will not even go upstairs alone without calling me at each step, ‘Mamma! Mamma!’ and if I forget to answer ‘Yes, darling!’ she waits where she is, and will not move.”

Raise your hand if you were a high-energy, high-maintenance child.  Raise your other hand if you have one or more children in this category.

I’m raising both my hands.

Does anyone else think it is a travesty that St. Therese’s parents are not yet canonized?  Only Blessed? Really? Laughing here, but I think it’s pretty obvious they are saints.

Happy Feast of the Little Flower, St. Therese, patron saint of spirited children and their parents.

The reason I know about that quote above is when my younger teen daughter chose St. Therese as her confirmation saint, and read The Story of A Soul, that was one of her favorite parts.  This morning, there were at least two of my children doing that as they came downstairs.  “Mamma!” “Yes, darling.”  Repeat.

As you might be able to discern, we really love St. Therese at our house. I did the St. Therese novena–I’ve done it many times in the past, and this year I did the one along with Pray More Novenas.

I was a little sad that I didn’t see or get any roses, one of the promises of doing the novena.

Last night, my 13-year-old daughter and I made rose-shaped scones, as we do every year, using this pan (you can get one, too, if you click on the photo. I only use it a handful of times through they year, but I’m so glad I have it).

 This morning after Mass, I came home and decided to take an Instagram photo of the scones before we ate them, and as I was composing the photo, I heard St. Therese whisper, “Well, there are your roses!”

There was no actual voice, but that kind of a thing would be something St. Therese would say.

Later that morning, my younger teen came down wearing leggings that have roses on them (it is her feast day, after all)  so I expect a lot more roses throughout the day.

Some books about St. Therese and her family:

I’ve written about Leonie: A Difficult Life before, and you can read that here.  But this is the first book I thought of today after Story of a Soul. (you can read Story of a Soul online here).

Briefly, Leonie: A Difficult Life  details the ups and downs in Leonie’s life.  Reading about her mental health issues and how she worked to overcome them and persist in seeking to fulfill her vocation has brought me to tears on several occasions.

I still have not read the entirety of this book, though several of my friends have it as a favorite.

Olivia and the Little Way by Nancy Carabio Belanger chronicles Olivia’s fifth grade year and her ups & downs, as she discovers the spirituality of the Little Flower. Just a wonderful book. Nancy wrote a sequel to it called Olivia’s Gift which has a subtle pro-life and modesty theme that is excellent for older girls, and that we also loved at our house.  Here is my Q&A with author Nancy Carabio Belanger.

Are you doing anything special to mark the feast of St. Therese? Any roses?