Praying with Mother Thérèse: The Mass and Blessed Sacrament
The month of April is traditionally the month dedicated to the devotion to the Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament, the Passion of the Lord and the Divine Mercy. This month we propose to pray with two prayers of Mother Thérèse.
Praised be Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, a million times, as many millions of times as there are stars in the firmament, as there are drops of water in the ocean, or grains of sand upon the earth, or leaves in the forests, and atoms in the air. May Jesus Christ be eternally praised in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Amen.
This prayer was written in pencil in the same little notebook as the prayer to the Holy Trinity.
Offering of Holy Mass
Behold, I humbly prostrate before Thee, O my God, to honor Thy Divine Majesty, but what can I do - I who am nothing but a miserable sinner, unworthy to appear before Thee? Nevertheless, I will do so, I can do so, for I know that Thou art the Father of mercies and that Thou wilt not cast out the prayer of a humble and contrite heart. I offer Thee, therefore, in the name of all creatures, this Mass and all those that shall be said today in every place on this earth, to adore Thee, to praise Thee, to bless Thee, to thank Thee, and it is my intention to renew this offering every moment of the day, so as to render, if possible, to Thy Divine Majesty a glory that is worthy of Thee. I beseech Thee for myself and for all sinners, and for all infidels even, the grace of salvation, so that all may share in Thy mercies. Amen
During the process of beatification, our sisters recounted how Mother Thérèse, in an extreme sense of poverty, recovered and reused everything. We have an example here: this prayer was written in pencil on the back of a paper on which were written the lists of the Associates who participated in the retreats of 1876, 1877 and 1878. This enabled us to affirm that this prayer was not written by Mother Thèrèse before the year 1878.
