[Mother Agnès writes:] We had brought her a bouquet of dahlias from outside; she gazed at them with pleasure, running her fingers ever so gently through the petals! After Father Denis’ First Mass, she asked to see his chalice, and because she was looking for a long time at the bottom of the cup, someone asked:
“Why are you looking so intently at the bottom of the chalice?”
Because my reflection is there; when I was Sacristan, I used to love doing this. I was happy to say to myself: My features are reflected in the place where the Blood of Jesus rested and where it will descend again. How many times, too, have I thought that at Rome, my face was reproduced in the eyes of the Holy Father.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Note: Canon Joseph-Pierre-Eugène-Marie Denis de Maroy was born on 20 March 1871 in Paris. He was a friend of the Guérin and La Néele families. During his seminary years, he visited with all four of the Martin daughters—Marie, Pauline, Céline, and Thérèse—in the monastery parlor. A Lisieux native, he wanted to be ordained in Lisieux, but his ordination took place in the diocesan see of Bayeux on 18 September 1897; his first Mass was at the Carmel of Lisieux on Sunday, 19 September 1897. In 1958, Father Denis said that for his first Mass at the monastery, Thérèse had roses given to him to adorn his chalice, after she had kissed them. He died in Lisieux on 29 December 1962.
Thérèse & Clarke, J 1977, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Her Last Conversations, Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington DC.
Featured image: Photographer Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. captures this image of the consecration of the Mass. Image credit: Lawrence Lew, O.P. / Flickr (Some rights reserved)
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