Look at the photo of St Therese!

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Blessedstar, and others when I look at the photo of St Therese Inotice she is partial smiling and Iremember her saying ( in her book) I smile so that Jesus will not see any pain I go through or what others do to me, so He will think that i am happy. That smile shows off that relationship she has with Jesus.

But does it go further than that?
What can we learn and gain here?
Godbless
 
Godlovestrength said:
Blessedstar, and others when I look at the photo of St Therese Inotice she is partial smiling and Iremember her saying ( in her book) I smile so that Jesus will not see any pain I go through or what others do to me, so He will think that i am happy. That smile shows off that relationship she has with Jesus.

But does it go further than that?
What can we learn and gain here?
Godbless
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Is there a photo to go with this?
 
Yes, below in my signature.

In the Living Prayer of my life
 
I have a friend I have had since I was ten years old. She has led a very tragic life with awful events happening to her that she did nothing to cause. If you were to meet this person you’d never guess this terrible things had happened to her. She is always wearing a smile and is always of cheerful disposition.

My mother and I have always noted this and commented on her smile. I recalled St Therese and her smile and my friend and her smile and uncomplaining nature and I wondered if I offered a smile to Jesus when I hurt what good it would do my soul and others. Then one day something hurtful happened to me and I made myself smile to Jesus just to see what it was like to smile in adversity. A child-like experiment I suppose. The second I smiled it was easier to bear the pain in my heart. It grew easier and easier to smile and bear the hurt.

Now if I had gone around inanely smiling I don’t think it would have done me much good apart from making some ‘feel good’ hormones come into my system. But because I offered a little smile to Jesus He consoled me greatly and helped me to carry those little crosses. Since then I have grown to love the cross and see it as a gift to be thankful to God for because I may offer it to Him. I suppose the fact I have something to offer Jesus is what would make me smile at the cross.

In the Living Prayer of my life
 
Godlovestrength said:
Hi BS how do you get to have a signature of any kind?

God bless
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I took me a long time to find out. Someone on the forums told me how to do it in the end and I’m sorry but I can’t remember who told me, but thanks to them, again.🙂

I think what you do if I remember rightly is you go into where your messages are and there is a function on the left hand side where it says edit signature.

You use a service like Photobucket and upload your pictures there that you want to use and then you copy the code from photobucket into your signature and the picture will be shown in your signature.

I can’t remember exactly how I did it now, because it was a long time ago, but I think that’s how it is done.

Perhaps someone else can better say how they did it.

I hope that’s some help.

In the Living Prayer of my life
 
BarbaraTherese said:
Pictures of St. Therese:
traditioninaction.org/religious/c005rpSt.Therese.htm

Therese at 13
catholictradition.org/Lisieux/lisieux1-3.htm

The Saint
catholictradition.org/Lisieux/lisieux1-8.htm

Comprehensive Gallery and photographs - St. Therese
catholictradition.org/Lisieux/lisieux.htm#PHOTOS
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Those are beautiful photos of St. Therese. 🙂 Thanks for posting these links Barb!! I never knew that they existed because of the dating.

I remember reading that Blessed Mother Theresa said that she herself didn’t like to take photos either but she did so as an offering to the holy souls in purgatory.
 
I smile so that Jesus will not see any pain I go through or what others do to me, so He will think that i am happy.

Does she mean she thought she could fool Jesus into thinking she was happy when she wasn’t?
 
Interesting, and it makes me think of the Icon of Christ- the one at Siani.

Half his face, tourtured looking, the other peaceful and calm. Holding the scriptures in hand, and there are many layers of meaning in the entire icon. And other things in the picture that give one many things to think about.

I wish I had one handy to post, I know some EO posters here have posted it before, and its one of my favorites. I dont know how to transfer one here, sorry.
 
bpbasilphx said:
I smile so that Jesus will not see any pain I go through or what others do to me, so He will think that i am happy.

Does she mean she thought she could fool Jesus into thinking she was happy when she wasn’t?
Click to expand...
The interesting thing about smiling when one is not in “smiling mode” at all, is that it does not increase the suffering, in fact tends to mitigate suffering if anything. I am not sure at all just how much truth is in it, but when studying psychology our tutor told us that the act of smiling, the muscles involved, actually trigger “happy hormones” into the brain. Having smiled under difficult conditions, I certainly know that smiling and keeping one’s unhappy interior state to oneself, can mitigate what one is enduring - while not at all claiming that the release of any “happy hormones” into the brain is the reason.
I am not too sure if the words you have quoted above are exactly what St. Therese wrote?..hard to know precisely without a link to the actual quotation and I dont think St. Therese’s autobiography is in total online - only quotes from it…as you are inferring and completely correct, Jesus sees the truth of matters always. If the words are exactly what she wrote, we need to insight that St. Therese was a very simple and childlike and largely uneducated person and if the words are what she wrote, her theology may have not been spot on in this particular instance, but her holiness certainly shines in the words with her love of Jesus - she does not want Him distressed for her nor on her account. The core of it all is that for love of God she covers her unhappy state with a smile.

Barb:)
 
BT I never looked at all of the photos but thank you .
I have a book writen in the 1955.
It is called 'A retreat with St Therese"
by Pere Liagre, C.S.Sp.
It is the book Jesus gave to me when asked Him for someone to show me how He wanted me to live. It is the best book of the “little way” of St Therese.

I am using extracts from it to form the carmelite group over here,. We are blessed by having two carmelite priests. They have given their blessing for me to make out a carmelite way built on the “little way”

Thank you again.
Godbless.
 
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