Oct. 1st is the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus. She also was referred to as "the Little Flower" and is a Doctor of the Church. Most people don't know that St. Therese of Lisieux felt called to
be a priest. She prayed for death at 24, the age of ordination, so she could celebrate in heaven at the age men could celebrate the Eucharist on earth.
St. Therese's Words:
"I feel in me the vocation of the priest. With that love, O Jesus I would carry you in my hands... And...give you to souls. Ah, in spite of my littleness, I would like to enlighten souls as did the prophets and the doctors. I have the vocation of the apostle... I would want to preach the gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages. But above all, O my beloved Savior, I would shed my blood for you even to the ver last drop. Charity gave me the key to my vocation... I understood that the Church has a heart and that this heart was burning with love...I understood that love comprised all vocations and that love was everything, that it embrace all times and places... in a word, that it was eternal! Then, in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my love, my vocation, at last I have found it...My vocation is love!" (The Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, 2 volumes translated by John Clarke, O.C.D, ICS Publications, Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite Friars, Washington DC, 20002, 1982,1988.)
I believe that if St. Therese lived in our time she would be ordained a priest! She would be a prophetic voice affirming Vatican II's vision ..."every type of discrimination based on sex... is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God's intent" (Gaudium et Spes #29)
St. Therese, patroness of all who seek equality for women in ministry, pray for us!
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org
2 comments:
Such beautiful and prophetic words! You are an inspiration to all women in our church and I admire your courage and vision.
Dishonest quoting and another attempt to hijack a holy woman saint for your shameful cause (like you have done with Mary Magdalene).
Read this passage from St. Therese:
"I feel as if I were called to be a fighter, a priest, an apostle, a doctor, a martyr; as if I could never satisfy the needs of my nature without performing, for Your sake, every kind of heroic action at once. I feel as if I'd got the courage to be a Crusader, a Pontifical Zouave, dying on the battlefield in defence of the Church. And at the same time I want to be a priest; how lovingly I'd carry You in my hands when you came down from heaven at my call; how lovingly I'd bestow You on men's souls! And yet, with all this desire to be a priest, I've nothing but admiration and envy for the humility of St. Francis; I'd willingly imitate him in refusing the honour of the priesthood."
You said: "I believe that if St. Therese lived in our time she would be ordained a priest!"
To which I direct you to the last part of the passage:
"I've nothing but admiration and envy for the humility of St. Francis; I'd willingly imitate him in refusing the honour of the priesthood"
So no, she would not be "ordained a priest" were she to live today. St. Therese would definitely not enter into schism and excommunicate herself, but rather would humbly submit to the authority of the Catholic Church as given by Christ.
Post a Comment