According to Pope Pius X, St. Therese of Lisieux is “the greatest saint of modern times”: she was determined to intercede on our behalf to the Father. Believers around the world still pray to her today, more than a century after her death. It is pretty common to pray to St. Therese to obtain the grace of healing. In 1986, on the eve of Maundy Thursday, St. Therese developed a cough: it was the first sign of the disease that would claim her life a few months later, tuberculosis. However, she immediately accepted her condition, and faced bravely the physical and emotional pain it would bring. Today, believers pray for her intercession to heal the sick, especially people suffering from tuberculosis and other pulmonary diseases.
There are many accounts of miracle healings attributed to St. Therese of Lisieux: her intercession on behalf of the sick is powerful. Discover healing prayers to St. Therese.
“Oh St. Therese of the Child Jesus,
You endured your illness and the intense pain that it brings without ever complaining:
Share your joy with me, which allowed you to face your suffering for the love of Jesus Christ.
You who brought so many miracles,
I pray you to do one more,
and to restore my health,
that I may follow your example,
and serenely, humbly praise the Child Jesus, Our Saviour,
with all my new strength.
Amen.”
“Saint Therese,
You turned your disease into a source of spiritual learning,
I beg you to intercede on the behalf of (...)
May their illness renew in them the grace of faith,
May they turn to Jesus and His heart with loving eyes,
And abandon themselves to Him with complete love and confidence.
May your intercession obtain for them the grace of healing,
Both spiritual and physical.
Amen.”
That night of Holy Week, in 1986, when she saw the few drops of blood in her handkerchief, St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face was not scared. On the contrary: she smiled. Those little droplets only meant one thing to her: she was about to join the Lord in Heaven.
Following that evening, Therese would endure intense physical and spiritual pain, which would lead her to experience what St. John of the Cross called a “dark night of the soul.” However, she was resolved, and did not let her doubts overcome her faith. What she found in this spiritual dryness was actually an even stronger vocation: one of love. “ In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and thus I will be all.”
Discover the many prayer communities on Hozana, and grow your faith every day in union with your Christian brothers and sisters around the world.
Say a novena to St. Therese of Lisieux: learn her confidence, love, and humility.
Pray with the Little Flower: reflect daily on quotes from Little Therese, and grow your spirituality.