Boston Carmelites’ Festivities for St. Therese

The Discalced Carmelite nuns and friars recently hosted a Mass in honor of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. It was held on Sunday September 29th at the nuns’ monastery in Boston in anticipation of her feast day on October 1st.

The homilist and celebrant was Bishop Mark O’Connell, the Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Boston. Fr. Bonaventure, Prior of the Discalced Carmelite Friars in Boston, concelebrated the Mass.

The Carmelite nuns sang beautiful songs inspired by St. Therese’s own poems, one of which was “To Live by Love.” A verse from this poem read, “O Love, thou glowing furnace, sacred flame!/ I fix my dwelling in thy fires above,/ And there the mercies of the Lord proclaim,/ And live by love.” This verse reflected the great desire Therese had to be consumed by the love and mercies of God, and the confidence she had in God’s fatherhood to dwell in His love. 

The readings reflected Therese’s message of spiritual childhood: “As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13), “Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap, so is my soul within me,” (Psalm 131:2) “He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, ‘Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 18:2-3). 

At the end of the Mass, Bishop Mark held a first class relic of St. Therese for the faithful to venerate, and the nuns distributed blessed roses to everyone. As Bishop Mark blessed the roses, he prayed, “O Lord Jesus Christ, we ask you to look with favor on these roses which we bless in honor of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Grant that all those who breathe their sweetness may run after you to the fragrance of your perfumes, and may deserve by the intercession of your spouse, to receive health of mind, soul and body.”

This coming May marks the 100th Anniversary of St. Therese’s canonization. To honor St. Therese and to spread her spirituality, the nuns will be hosting a reading group once a month on Saturdays from 10:30am-12:00pm at their Boston monastery. The friars also have a weekly book club on Tuesday nights at 7:45pm at the Monastery of the Espousal of Mary and Joseph in Brighton. 

The Carmelite family hosts many events throughout the year. The next event is on Saturday October 5th. This Day of Recollection will be about St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). There will be Mass, adoration, Confession, food, presentations, and fellowship!