Catholic Activity: Nameday Ceremony for St. Therese of the Child Jesus

Ideas and prayers for a nameday celebration for St. Thérèse the Little Flower.

DIRECTIONS

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, known as the "Little Flower," is the patroness of all foreign missions. She has never ceased to fulfill her promise: "I will pass my heaven in doing good on earth." Her cult has had phenomenal extension and influence. Her nameday dessert is the Rose Petal Coconut Cake, in memory of how she fulfilled her dying words: "I will let fall a shower of roses after my death." The book cake could also be used to commemorate The Story of a Soul, which she wrote two years before her death at the age of twenty-four.

Father:	Let us pray. O Lord, You said: "Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Grant us so to follow in humility and simplicity of heart the footsteps of the virgin Therese that we may obtain everlasting reward. You are God, living and reigning forever.
All:	Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns!

The National Shrine of the Little Flower in Chicago contains the most noteworthy collection of her relics outside of France. Other places of pilgrimage to which parents and godparents may take their nameday children are Shrines of the Little Flower, Royal Oak, Michigan; San Antonio, Texas; and Nashville, Rhode Island.

Parents with a daughter named Thérèse, Theresa, Therese or other forms, will want to read Story of a Soul, which is the autobiography of St. Therese.

Activity Source: My Nameday — Come for Dessert by Helen McLoughlin, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1962