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Novena to St. Therese

Day 3

10 min
Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

Novena to St. Therese

Opening prayer:

Dearest St. Thérèse of Lisieux, you promised to spend your heaven doing good upon earth. Your trust in God was complete. Teach me your Little Way of confidence and love, present these petitions to the Lord, and obtain for me the grace to love Him more each day. Amen.

Read the meditation and offer the intention of the day.

Day 3: Finding God in the ordinary

Thérèse never left the hidden routine of Carmel, yet she found God in every ordinary hour: in the laundry, in a sister's irritating habits, in the cold and the silence. She gathered up the smallest sacrifices like flowers and offered them to Jesus. Nothing in our day is too plain to become prayer. The whole of life is a place to meet God, if we are awake to His presence within it.

Prayer for today:

St. Thérèse, you saw the face of God in the dull and the daily. Open my eyes to His presence in the ordinary events of my life. Let me gather up small sacrifices like roses and lay them at His feet, until even my plainest hours become an offering of love. Amen.

Today's intention:

For awareness of God's presence in daily life.

Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Pater noster, qui es in cælis,

sanctificétur nomen tuum.

Advéniat regnum tuum.

Fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie,

et dimítte nobis débita nostra,

sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris.

Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem,

sed líbera nos a malo.

Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum.

Benedícta tu in muliéribus,

et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta María, Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatóribus,

nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.

Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper,

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Closing prayer:

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Little Flower and Doctor of the Church, obtain for us the grace to do small things with great love, to trust Jesus in every trial, and to make our whole life an offering to His Merciful Love. Let fall upon us your shower of roses, and pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

About this prayer

A nine-day novena to St. Therese of Lisieux, asking for childlike trust, hidden charity, and faithful love in ordinary life.

History

St. Therese of Lisieux (1873–1897), a Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church, taught the 'Little Way' of holiness through trust, humility, and ordinary acts done with great love. This novena follows the Church's tradition of persevering prayer over nine days under her intercession.

How to pray it

Pray once daily for nine consecutive days. Begin with the Sign of the Cross and opening prayer, read the meditation and intention for the day, then conclude with an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and the closing invocation to St. Therese.

Portuguese text of St. Thérèse's promise (opening prayer, Day 9): as the Carmelo Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Discalced Carmelites, Belo Horizonte) prints it — [carmelobh.com](https://carmelobh.com/)

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