Saint Therese Chaplet
Little Flower Rosary
The use of this chaplet is encouraged by the Carmelite Fathers.
This chaplet consists of 25 beads. The 24 beads commemorating the 24 years of Saint Therese's life, and one additional bead.
On the one bead the following ejaculation is said:
Saint Therese of the Infant Jesus, Patroness of Missions, pray for us.
On the other 24 beads is said:
The Glory be to honor the Holy Trinity in thanksgiving for having given us the Little Saint who lived in this world but 24 years.
Additional information
As proof that the petition is granted, St. Therese, as it is believed grants the sign of a rose to those who practice this devotion for a period of nine to twenty-four days. The sign of a rose or some other visible sign is not always evident, but many persons have received special graces by reciting this chaplet.
Prayer to St. Therese
St. Therese, 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 above, plus 5 Our Fathers, 5 Hail Harys, and 5 Glory be to the Father, must be said on 5 successive days before 11 a.m. On the 5th day, when the 5th set of prayers have been completed, offer one more set - 5 Our Fathers, 5 Hail Marys, and 5 Glory be to the Father.
A Little History
Therese Martin was the last of nine children born to Louis and Zelie Martin on January 2, 1873, in Alencon France. However, only five of these children lived to reach adulthood. Precocious and sensitive, Therese needed much attention. Her mother died when she was 4 years old. As a result, her father and sisters babied young Therese. She had a spirit that wanted everything.
At the age of 14, on Christmas Eve in 1886, Therese had a conversion that transformed her life. From then on, her powerful energy and sensitive spirit were turned toward love, instead of keeping herself happy. At 15, she entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux to give her whole life to God. She took the religious name Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Living a hidden, simple life of prayer, she was gifted with great intimacy with God. Through sickness and dark nights of doubt and fear, she remained faithful to God, rooted in his merciful love. After a long struggle with tuberculosis, she died on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. Her last words were the story of her life: "My God, I love You!"
The world came to know Therese through her autobiography, Story of a Soul. She described her life as a "little way of spiritual childhood." She lived each day with an unshakeable confidence in God's love. "What matters in life," she wrote, "is not great deeds, but great love." She lived and taught a spirituality of attending to everyone and everything well and with love. She believed that just as a child becomes enamored with what is before her, we should also have a childlike focus and totally attentive love. Therese's spirituality is of doing the ordinary, with extraordinary love.
Therese saw the seasons as reflecting the seasons of God's love affair with us. She loved flowers and saw herself as the "little flower of Jesus," who gave glory to God by just being her beautiful little self among all the other flowers in God's garden. Because of this beautiful analogy, the title "little flower" remained with St. Therese.
Her inspiration and powerful presence from heaven touched many people very quickly. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 17, 1925. Had she lived, she would have been only 52 years old when she was declared a Saint.
"My mission - to make God loved - will begin after my death," she said. "I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses." Roses have been described and experienced as Saint Therese's signature. Countless millions have been touched by her intercession and imitate her "little way." She has been acclaimed "the greatest saint of modern times." In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared St. Therese a Doctor of the Church - the only Doctor of his pontificate - in tribute to the powerful way her spirituality has influenced people all over the world.