At National Shrine, Hundreds Venerate St. Therese's Writing Desk

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Mission Month of October has been an eventful one for St. Therese of Lisieux, the patroness of the missions and missionaries, as the small wooden writing case she used to compose her spiritual masterpiece, "Story of a Soul," is on a 20-diocese tour in the United States.

For the first time, the small desklike case has left the archives of the Carmelite convent in France where the saint lived from the time she entered the order at age 15 until her death at 24 in 1897.

Oblate Father Andrew Small, the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of the United States, was given permission to take the relic throughout the country, so in the Year of Faith, more people could become familiar with the writings of St. Therese, whom Blessed John Paul II declared a doctor of the church in 1997.

In an Oct. 3 interview at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, where the relic was venerated by hundreds of people after a Mass at its Crypt Church, Father Small noted one of many ironies in St. Therese's life -- that she had always dreamed of being a missionary, but poor health prevented her from leaving her convent.

Yet through her writings, she would eventually touch the lives of millions of people around the world. Before she died of tuberculosis, she said to the sisters there, "I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth."

As he showed the relic to reporters, Father Small noted, "She was somebody who had an evangelizing heart, spreading the Good News to the ends of the earth."

The writing desk, or case, measures 12 inches by 18 inches and was found by St. Therese after she had given her own writing case to her sister Celine when her sibling entered the convent. Father Small said that the saint rooted around in the attic and found the old writing case, which has a small drawer. She then used it almost every day for the last three years of her life, holding it in her lap as she composed "Story of a Soul," letters to missionary priests, and prayers and poems.

"It's the first laptop," said the priest, who has carefully transported the relic on planes, trains and automobiles, first to Las Vegas and then to San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Antonio and New York, with stops in St. Louis and other cities planned after Washington.

Father Small said that the writing case, which includes an ink bottle and pen used by the saint, allows people to get a personal look at the saint, who is known for her simplicity. The desk even has some small ink smudges, presumably left by the saint in the course of her writing.

He said the saint knew that even after her death, she would be "active on earth through the power of God's grace." Her "Story of a Soul," reflects the story of every soul, the priest said, noting how in times of joy and dark times, she remained faithful to God and knew he was always present.

On the relic's tour throughout the United States, he said he encountered how St. Therese continues to touch the lives of the faithful, including a mother of four in Seattle, a survivor of brain cancer, with a special devotion to the saint.

The priest also has brought the saint's writing case to cloistered Carmelite convents, where he said some nuns approached it with tears in their eyes, and others touched their rosary beads or scapulars to the desk.

Once the U.S. tour is completed, Father Small said he hopes to show it to Pope Francis before returning it to the convent in Lisieux. The pontiff has called St. Therese one of his favorite saints and has been known to include her holy card in his personal notes to church leaders.

At the national shrine in Washington, Father Small invited people to write their names and prayer intentions on a small card and then place them in the drawer of the case. He said the Carmelite nuns had promised to place the prayer intentions at the saint's tomb.

"By placing the papers in the desk, you have opened an account with Therese," he said.

Hundreds of people of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life lined up to venerate the relic, pausing to take cell phone photos and to stand or kneel in prayer before it.

Joseph Lanzilotti, a student from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America, noted that the case was rugged and sturdy, like the cross to which St. Therese united her life and love. With that love, the saint picked up her pen and wrote, he said, adding, "her mission went out to the world from that desk."

Maureen Schweers, a member of St. Rita Parish in Alexandria, Va., brought her four young daughters, ages 2 months to 9-years-old, to see the desk, which she called a "once-in-a-lifetime experience."

"We've always had a strong devotion and love for St. Therese," she said, noting that her oldest daughter, Sarah Teresa, is named for the saint. "The 'little way' is such a beautiful devotion to follow. It reminds us we can all be saints in our everyday lives."