Dear Friends! This past few days were the most touching and the happiest in my life! So many things I have to tell you, but if I were to tell you everything in one posting, the article would be too long. Let us just say for now, that during this October novena to St. Therese, I received not only a single rose, but a "shower" of roses. The roses we receive tell us that she is praying hard for us and that God is understanding, merciful and benevolent towards our wish.
This past Friday morning, on the sixth day of this October novena, I went to the market. Many flower stalls offer their beautiful flowers, but of all the beautiful flowers there was one pink rose that immediately caught my eye. It was so beautiful and so fragrant, that I could not resist; I bought it. The lady behind the stall told me that she had just began to sell these types of roses and that I should come back the following day to let her know how well the rose survived. Naturally I knew this rose was a gift from me to myself, and not sent by St. Therese. I only bought it because I loved it and because as soon as I saw it, it brought St. Therese into my mind.
As soon as I came back home, I put this pink rose into the vase and offered it to St. Therese. All afternoon I was looking at it, delighting in its delicate petals. The next day, on Saturday, when I awoke, to my sadness I saw that the rose died. As I had to go the market anyways, remembering what the flower lady had told me, I put the rose into my basket and headed to the stalls. The flower lady was there, and I showed to her what had happened to my pink rose. As I was talking to her, an old little lady approached the stall and said to the flower lady: "Darling, would you make a bouquet for me, for Therese day?" In Hungary, in addition to birthdays, we also have name days. Name days give everyone an opportunity to celebrate a friend, as so many birthdays can be difficult to keep in mind. I looked at the old lady and just to make sure I heard her well, I asked her if today was really, truly, Therese day. And she said that yes, it was, and indeed she was here to get a bouquet made for a loved Therese in her life. Her bouquet finally ready, she left, and I was alone with the flower lady. She took my dead rose and gave me another pink rose, a fresh one, in exchange for the one that died so quickly. And then, she turned to a bucket of white roses, picked one out, and with grace and kindness handed it to me. "This is for you too", she said. Happiness surged within my heart. I knew this was my rose from St. Therese. A white rose from a stranger, given to me for no reason at all, only out of kindness. As I took my roses, I could barely see because of the tears in my eyes. I got a white rose from St. Therese on Therese day, the sixth day of my novena, on October 14th. The last one I got was on October 1st, on St. Therese's feast day.
As I got home, I put the two roses into my vase: the new pink one and my white one. This time too, St. Therese has listened to me and has made sure that I know that she loves me and is praying for me. Although my life is like everyone else's: among the wonderful and the happy, I too have my fair share of the frustrating and the heartbreaking, knowing of the love and support St. Therese has for me, I no longer feel the harshness and the sharpness of the bad in my life. Sadness and heartache are just episodes that I must go through, lessons in life, something God allows for my own good. So I take these episodes with grace and calm, knowing that even when I walk in the deepest valleys, there is a divine plan that will make sense in the end, and which in the end will turn all into great joy.
So, now, even when nothing is perfect on the surface, everything just feels perfect. I am happy for the smallest things, from the brightness of a sunny morning to the calmness of a rainy afternoon. It took me a long time and a great deal of struggle to immerse myself so deeply into God's creation. It really started when I placed my free will into His lap, as a sign that I made peace with my smallness and weakness and that I put His wisdom, love and greatness before anything in this world, and certainly before my own. It is then, when the shower of roses began...
By: Esther Gombor
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