[Rank]
S. Theresiae a Jesu Infante Virginis;;Duplex;;3;;vide C6

[Rule]
vide C6;
9 lectiones

[Oratio]
O Lord, who hast said: Unless you became as little children you shall not enter~
the kingdom of heaven, grant us, we pray, so to follow, in humility and~
simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the virgin blessed Theresa, that we may~
attain to an everlasting reward.
$Qui vivis

[Hymnus Matutinum]
@Commune/C6:Hymnus Matutinum 1

[Lectio4]
Theresa of the Child Jesus was born in Alencon in France.  Her parents were~
estimable people, well known for their piety and their love of God.  From her earliest~
childhood, endowed by a special grace of the Holy Ghost, she yearned to enter the~
religious life.  She promised God with the utmost sincerity that she would deny him~
nothing he might ask of her.  She kept this promise faithfully to the end of her life,~
although she had to suffer a great deal to keep it.  Her mother died when Theresa~
was but five years old.  From then on the child committed herself to the providence~
of God, under the vigilant care of a most tender father and her elder sisters.  Under~
their teaching Theresa raced as gayly strong as a young giant along the way~
of perfection.  At the age of nine she was sent to school at Lisieux to the~
Benedictine nuns, where she made remarkable progress in her knowledge of~
divine things.  In her tenth year she was ill for a long time of a serious~
and mysterious malady.  From this, as she herself relateth, she was delivered~
only by the power of God himself, through the intercession of the Blessed~
Virgin Mary, who appeared to her with a smiling countenance, and to whom under~
the title of our Lady of Victories, she was constantly making novenas.  Filled~
with angelic fervour she prepared herself at this time with the utmost care~
to receive Christ in the sacred banquet of her first Holy Communion.

[Lectio5]
After being refreshed for the first time with the Eucharistic Bread~
Theresa seemed to develop an insatiable hunger for the celestial food.~
Then, as if by inspiration, she asked Jesus to turn all her earthly consolation~
into bitterness.  After that she burned with a most tender love for Christ~
the Lord and for his Church.  More than anything in the world she wanted~
to enter the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, where by self-sacrifice she~
might assist priests, missionaries and the whole Church, and so gain~
innumerable souls for Christ Jesus.  All this, she promised God would do~
for her, even when apparently she lay at the point of death.  Her extreme~
youth was an obstacle which hindered her entrance upon the religious life.~
Even this she overcame by her incredible courage of soul.  She entered Carmel~
at Lisieux happily at the age of fifteen.  There God fashioned the heart of~
Theresa in a marvellous way, teaching her to ascend to him step by step.~
Imitating the hidden life of the Virgin Mary like a well-watered garden she~
bore flowers of every virtue, especially an abiding love of God and neighbour.

[Lectio6]
That she might please the most high God to greater degree, when she read~
in Sacred Scriptures the warning, Whoever is a little one, let him come unto~
me, she determined to be a little one in spirit.  As such she consecrated herself~
forever with childlike confidence to God, her most loving Father.  The way~
of spiritual childhood, following the teachings of the Gospel, she taught~
to others, especially to the novices who training in the pursuit of religious~
virtues she undertook in obedience to her superiors.  Overflowing with~
apostolic zeal she pointed out to a world filled with pride and a love~
of vanities, the simple way of the Gospels.  Meanwhile Jesus, her spouse,~
inflamed her with a desire to suffer both in soul and in body.  Moreover,~
perceiving that the love of God was everywhere rejected, she became~
filled with grief and two years before her death, offered herself as a~
victim of love to the merciful God.  She writeth that she was then wounded by~
a flame of fire from heaven, whereupon she became consumed by love, rapt as~
it were in ecstasy.  Repeating over and over again the fervent words, My God,~
I love thee, she passed on to her Spouse on the 30th day of September, in~
the year 1897, at the age of twenty-four years.  As she was dying she~
promised that she would let fall upon earth a ceaseless shower of roses.~
This promise she hath indeed fulfilled in heaven, and her shower of roses~
hath continued to this very day.  The Sovereign Pontiff Pius XI added her name~
to the Virgins declared Blessed and two years later, at the time of the great~
Jubilee, listed her among the Saints.  He also appointed and declared~
her Patroness of all the missions.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 18:1-4
In that time: The disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the~
greater in the kingdom of heaven? And so on.
_
Homily of St Leo, Pope
!Sermo 37, in Epiphaniae solemn 7, cap 3-4
The whole teaching of Christian wisdom consisteth, dearly beloved, not~
in an abundance of words, not in skill in disputation, not surely in seeking~
after praise or glory, but rather in seeking after true and voluntary humility. ~
This was the way which the Lord Jesus Christ chose and taught with all his~
strength from his Mother's womb to his death on the Cross.  When the Lord's~
disciples, as the Evangelist saith, discussed among themselves which should~
be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he called a little child and set~
him in the midst of them, and said : Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be~
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom~
of heaven.  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the~
same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Christ loveth childhood,~
which state at first he took upon himself, both in his soul and in his body.~
Christ loveth childhood, for it is the teacher of humility, the rule of innocence,~
and the type of meekness.  Christ loveth childhood, for he formeth the~
character of the grown man on this model, and bringeth back the latter~
years of the old to this very state ; and he shapeth on this wise those~
whom he would raise to the kingdom of heaven.

[Lectio8]
But, that we may be fully able to understand how this marvellous transformation~
can be accomplished, and by what change we are to return to the state of childhood,~
let us follow the teaching of the blessed Paul, who saith: Be not children in~
understanding; howbeit, in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.~
Hence we are not to return to the pastimes and imperfect beginnings of childhood,~
but thence are rather to take whatever is suitable to the full-grown: such as~
the swift passing of excitement; the speedy restoration of peace; the~
forgetfulness of injuries; the indifference to dignity; the love of the~
companionship of their comrades; and the natural evenness of temper. It is~
indeed a great good not to know and not to have a taste for harm; for to do~
and to return injuries is the wisdom of this world, but to render no man~
evil for evil is to possess the childhood of Christian goodwill.

[Lectio9]
The mystery of this day's festival, dearly beloved, calleth you to this~
imitation of little children.  And the Saviour, who was adored by the Magi~
as a child, recommendeth to you this pattern of humility.  To shew what glory~
he prepareth for them that would imitate him, he consecrated by martyrdom~
those born at the same time as himself.  And thus the children born in Bethlehem,~
where Christ was born, became sharers of his passion by virtue of sharing the age~
of his infancy.  Let the faithful then love lowliness, and shun all arrogance.~
Let each one prefer his brother to himself.  Let him seek not even what is his~
own, but only that which will profit his brother.  The feeling of charity will~
abound in all; the poison of envy will be found in none.  For he that~
exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall~
be exalted.  This is the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with~
the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
&teDeum

[Lectio94]
Theresa of the Child Jesus was born of good and devout parents at Alencon in~
France. When she was five years old and had lost her mother, she committed~
herself completely to God's providence under the care of her loving father and~
older sisters, and with such teachers "rejoiced as a giant to run the way" of~
perfection. When she was nine, she was sent to the Benedictine nuns at Lisieux~
to be educated. Then, at the age of ten, she was tormented by an unknown and~
serious illness, from which she was divinely freed by the aid of Our Ladv of~
Victory. When, filled with angelic fervor, she went to the holy banquet for the~
first time, she seemed to daw from it an insatiable hunger for this food. She~
desired to enter the Order of Discalced Carmelites but, because of her Youth,met~
with many difficulties in embracing the religious life. These difficulties she~
courageously overcame and happily entered the Carmel of Lisieux at the age of~
fifteen There she burned with love for God and neighbor. She followed the~
spiritual way of childhood according to the teaching of the Gospels, and taught~
it to others, especially to the novices. Inflamed with desire for suffering, she~
offered herself two years before her death as a victim to the merciful love of~
God. At the age of twenty-four, on September 30, 1897 she hastened to her~
heavenly Bridegroom. Pius XI, enrolled her as a Virgin among the Blessed, and,~
two years later on the occasion of the great jubilee, solemnly placed her among~
the Saints appointed and declared her the special Patroness of all Missions.
&teDeum