Blogcast: St. Therese and the Power of Intercession

Catholic Apostolate Center Resources

This blogcast explores “St. Therese and the Power of Intercession" written by Danielle Schmitz and read by Meghan Abando.

In this blog post, Danielle shares the intercessory power of St. Therese of Lisieux and how we are called to intercede for those in our lives, like St. Therese.

St. Therese realized that our prayer has power because it is the cry of children to their Father, a Father who can’t resist saying “yes” to His children. She saw prayer not as bargaining with God, but as uniting her will and desires to God’s and asking that the same happen for whoever she was interceding for. Approaching prayer in this way radically changes the way that we intercede for others. We can step out and ask for prayer boldly and with confidence, because we can trust that the prayers will help bring about God’s will in our lives, not our own.

Another key part of St. Therese’s model for intercession is that she saw intercession not as her own work, but as God’s work. St. Therese called her spirituality “the little way,” and it involves recognizing our own weakness and littleness before God and asking Him to sanctify us and bring us closer to Him through our littleness. One of the most fundamental keys to intercession is believing in the power of our prayers despite our littleness and imperfection. To understand the power of our prayer, we need to understand that God delights in us and desires to use us in our littleness. St. Therese explains that when we become little, we make room for God to work. If we apply this same principle to intercessory prayer, we see that no matter how small or simple the prayer, God wants to use it for His greater glory. God doesn’t ask us for a big complicated prayer but for the honest prayer of our hearts, no matter its size.

Intercessory prayer is one of the most important parts of Catholic life, but often it can be overlooked. Looking at the model of St. Therese and her little way, we can learn that intercessory prayer is a beautiful part of our lives. Further, we see that it can make a real, tangible difference in the natural and supernatural realities around us when we offer our prayers with full confidence in God’s providence despite our littleness. St. Therese, pray for us, and teach us how to intercede like you!

Author:

Danielle Schmitz is a Communications Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where she assists in the updating and creation of social media content for new and ongoing projects at the Center.

Danielle is a student at the Catholic University of America studying Marketing and Theology. Originally from San Jose, California, Danielle is currently studying abroad in Gaming, Austria with Franciscan University of Steubenville.

St. Therese of Lisieux:

Famous for her autobiography, Story of a Soul, St. Therese of Lisieux was a 19th century French saint and a Doctor of the Church. She became a Carmelite nun in 1887 at the age of fifteen, though her life was cut short by tuberculosis at the age of 24. She embodied the power of prayer and, as a result, became a patron saint of missionaries, despite her status as a cloistered nun. Seeing herself as the “little flower of Jesus”, she famously quipped: "I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses." Those with a devotion to St. Therese often report that roses appear when they ask for her intercession or guidance. St. Therese’s parents, Louis and Zelie Martin, are also saints.

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