SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX MASS GUILD
Patroness of Missionaries
Ask for Saint Thérèse’s intercession!
Members enrolled in the guild receive the benefit of being remembered in Shrine Masses invoking the intercession of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. St. Thérèse of Lisieux Guild Masses take place on the second Wednesday of each month, at 12:15 p.m. CT.
The Saint Thérèse of Lisieux Guild offers:
- Monthly remembrance in Holy Mass on the second Wednesday of each month
- Receive intercession from Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, patroness of missionaries
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A card can be sent to you upon request so that you may send it to the enrollee.
- Find strength and support in a compassionate community
About Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Although the “Little Flower,” in her brief life at home and in the cloister, never made a missionary journey, she burned with longing to bring the Gospel to souls everywhere who had never encountered the Lord. “I long to bring light to souls, like the prophets and doctors; to go to the ends of the earth to preach Your name…” she wrote in her autobiography, Story of a Soul. Thérèse understood in the end that she would fulfill this longing by supporting missionaries through her life of prayer and sacrifice.
The Calling
As Thérèse’s example shows, the Guild is a reminder that every member of the Church has a missionary calling of some kind. If one is not called to preach in distant countries or give talks at conferences, one can offer the simple witness of faith in one’s own community, and always, like Thérèse, have recourse to the power of prayer and sacrifice.
Painting: Saint Therese of Lisieux and Saint Théophane Vénard
Side-Aisle Painting in Shrine Church
Saint Théophane Vénard was a French priest martyred in Vietnam. While imprisoned waiting for his execution, he wrote a series of letters to family, including his father. One of those letters contained a line which said, “We are all flowers planted on this earth, which God plucks in His own good time: some a little sooner, some a little later . . . Father and son may we meet in Paradise. I, poor little moth, go first. Adieu.”
Saint Therese read this letter and was inspired by Saint Théophane, someone who lived her own image of a martyr and missionary. From this letter, particularly the line quoted above, Saint Therese came to use the image of being a little flower.
Painting: The image presents Saint Théophane and Vietnamese martyrs (carrying the palms) presenting a flower to Saint Therese at Carmel. Therese was invited to join a Carmelite mission in Vietnam (then French Indochina), but was unable to travel because of tuberculosis.
The background is a depiction of Ha Long Bay, a highly recognizable location in the northern part of Vietnam.
Above the saints is the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.
“I long to bring light to souls, like the prophets and doctors; to go to the ends of the earth to preach Your name…” —St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, c. 11
What Is a Mass Guild?
A Mass Guild is a sacred spiritual enrollment. Those who join are prayed for in monthly Masses offered by the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. You may enroll yourself or a loved one, living or deceased.
The Guild of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux is one of the seven current Mass Guilds at the Shrine. The guilds unite prayer intentions under a patron saint and your intentions are then offered in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by one of the Shrine’s priests.
Add your prayer intention!
Enroll yourself or a loved one in this guild with the intention for an increase in prayer and sacrifice.
