J
,/
I
'\
,"/
(
~:
((
'\
\\
l
VOL. 41, NO. 38
•
\//
(
~ --,//
\ ./
\~
/l _
,
"'---
Friday, October 3, 1997
/
I FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
/'"
,//
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
•
$14 Per Year
Hundreds commemorate lOOth anniversary of St. Therese of Lisieux By CHRISTlNE VIEIRA MILLS ANCHOR STAFF Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, bedecked in glorious gold vestments bearing the device of the Jubilee 2000 celebrations, walked by row after row of churchgoers who filled St. Mary's Cathedral in Fall River. He was at the end of a long procession which wound its way into the church September 29 to commemorate the centenary year of the death of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower. Also in the procession, joining 20 priests, several deacons, and religious brothers and sisters, was a group representing Our Lady Star of the Sea Lay Carmelites of New Bedford, a Third Order of Carmelites who, with the help of the Franciscan friars from Our Lady's Chapel in New Bedford, organized the Mass. Louise Roberge, director of the group, explained the special significance of St. Therese to the order. "We celebrate her [St. Therese] because she was a Carmelite nun," Roberge said. "Her 'Little Way' was a revolutionary kind of spirituality that made holiness possible for anyone." "She said to be faithful to the things that God caBs you to do and do it all for the love of God," she explained, adding that the saint is an example for everyone in the church and in the world. "The fact that she is being declared a doctor of the church makes it an even more glorious event."
Members of the Third Order (Guerin) Martin and was known for Bishop Sean said, "but she said, 'If month, one of only three women. wore brown scapulars bearing the her intelligenc(:. By age three, she you say yes, they will say yes.' He Her piety, sanctity and vocation are initials "BVM" (Blessed Virgin could already read and write and at said yes." linked in her writings to her theoMary) on the front. .On the back 13 she petitioned the Carmelite nuns During the Mass, the bishop logical mission: to explain the Gos"IHS" was embroidered (a mono- in Lisieux, France, to accept her into blessed an icon of St. Therese of the pel to the people, offering them a gram for the name of Jesus, using their cloistered convent, but they re- Child Jesus and the Holy Face which "little way" to make themselves the first three letters of the name in fused, saying that she could not en- is enshrined on the altar of the Ca- holy. "St. Therese did little things, not thedral. After the Mass, the entire the Greek alphabet). The men and ter until she was 21. women in the group, with their speBishop O'Malley told the story assembly was invited to venerate acts of grandeur that stem from vancial devotion to the Blessed Virgin of the Martin family's pilgrimage to relics of St. 1berese and to pray the ity," the bishop said. "She kept her eye on the intention and results of Mary of Mt. Carmel, see the scapu- Rome where their group had an au- Litany of the Saints. dience with Pope Pius IX. Though lar as a reminder. Prayer was always the biggest the act, not the act itself." People came from all over the "The brown scapular is Our not supposed to speak to the pon- part of St. Therese's life, but because Lady's gift to the' world," Roberge said. "It serves as a reminder that she loves us and is protecting us always." Bishop O'Malley, during his homily, compared masterpieces of art with God's masterpieces in the saints. "We look to them as examples," he said, adding that St.. Therese's family' played a major role in her sainthood. "They nurtured spirituality and became a' family of saints," he said. "St. Therese once said, 'Since· I ~"""B-=-IS~H=-='O~P-S=EA~N~O=IM-=-A~L~L=Ey:-:---lprays at a solemn pontifical Mass held September 29 at St. Mary's ~:.ve n~v~r had/n y- Cathedral, Fall River, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of St. Therese, the Little a~~fe ~O:~~I I ~~i Flower. In the foreground and at left photo, an icon of the saint and her relics are decorated with roses. imitat~ it.'" . (Anchor/Mills photos) The bishop spoke glowingly of tiff, Therese grabbed his hand and of her great intelligence, she was diocese last Monday to celebrate the the young saint who, he pointed out, pleaded with him to allow her to also known for the many writings anniversary of this great saint. They was canonized in record time, a mere enter the convent when she turned she produced as a result of that venerated her relics and sang songs 25 years after her death in I897from 15. prayer. Because of those writings, of praise, perhaps hoping to follow consumption at age 24. "He told her that she needed to she will be named a doctor of the her by learning to do ordinary things She was born to Louis and Zelie follow her s'uperiors' wishes," church by Pope John Paul II this with extraordinary love. _ _ _ _ .__.
..
-.'
.L--
-.
,--
_
- 1 ---t
Four to be honored with St. Thomas More award
FOUR FROM THE DIOCESE will be honored at a 10 a.m. Mass for those who work within the legal system to be held October 18 at Holy Name Church in New Bedford. The award, named for St. Thomas More, a 16th century Catholic layman, lawyer and martyr, will be given this year to (from left) Massachusetts Appeals Court Associate Justice George Jacobs of South Dartmouth; Superior Court Associate Justice Elizabeth J. Dolan of West Harwich; Attorney Peter B. Gay of Taunton; and Clerk Magistrate Thomas E. Kitchen of Westport Point.