A great honour for one of the few non-Cathedral venues that the relics are to visit during their national tour of England and Wales, the parishioners of Sacred Heart and St Thérèse in Coleshill organised a splendid reception for their holy patroness.
This incredibly beautiful church owes its dedication to St Thérèse to its one-time parish priest and founder, Bishop Bernard Griffin. The church was begun in 1937 and completed in 1942. Bishop Griffin went on to become the Sixth Archbishop and Cardinal Priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster. Bishop Griffin had a great devotion to St Thérèse and, following his death in 1956, on his memorial card was written a quotation from him: ‘I leave as a spiritual legacy the doctrine of the Little Way of St Thérèse, from which springs absolute and abiding confidence in God’
The church was adorned with a vast array of flowers both within and without. The smell of roses perfumed the sanctuary and altar. The relics were welcomed with hymns, incense and the Litany of St Thérèse. There was then opportunity for the many pilgrims to venerate the relics until the celebration of Mass at midday.
By 12.00 noon the number of pilgrims in the church had swollen to over 1,000. Although only a comparitavely small parish in terms of its population, the parishioners of Coleshill were magnificent in the way that they welcomed and stewarded the pilgrims, more than 3,000 on Monday alone.
The Right Reverend David McGough was the principal celebrant of the Mass, accompanied by priests from the Archdiocese of Birmingham and from other dioceses in England and Wales.
 |
Statue of St Thérèse at Coleshill.
|
In his homily, Bishop McGough recalled the Little Way of St Thérèse: ‘In her Little Way Thérèse speaks for all that is hidden in our very ordinary lives, she makes what seems most forgotten, most unremarkable, the path to sanctity. “I turn to the scriptures, then all seems luminous. A single word opens up infinite horizons to my soul. I see that it is enough to realise one’s own nothingness, to give oneself wholly, like a child, into the arms of God. I rejoice to be little because only children, and those like them, will be admitted to the heavenly banquet.” In this understanding, with a Wisdom beyond her years, Thérèse became one with the Son of God, who did not cling to his equality with God, but humbled himself, and became as we are. He entered into the ‘little things’. Thérèse was given the grace to truly understand the words of the Lord, that the least service we perform, be it no more than a glass of water offered to the thirsty, is an act of communion with the Lord. “The only way I can show my love for God is in every little sacrifice, every glance or word, and doing the least of actions for the Love of God”. We would do a great disservice to Thérèse if we were to think that this Little Way is easy. The little things of life reveal not only our strengths, but also the unconscious selfishness of sinful lives. In these little things the world teaches us to ask ourselves ‘what do I want?’ Thérèse puts to these little things a different question. “How can this action, small and insignificant in itself, become an expression of God’s love?”’.
Bishop McGough concluded his homily by exhorting all the pilgrims: ‘If we are faithful to Thérèse’s little way there is nothing in our hidden lives that is not capable of becoming the image of Christ’s presence in our World. Grand and pretentious resolutions would not have been the way of Saint Thérèse. Let us go forth from this Church today with a more modest resolution, a resolution that made Saint Thérèse a saint, a resolution that can transform this World. Let us resolve that the very next thing that we do is done as an expression of the love of Christ. Having done that, let us go on to the next thing in the same spirit. In this way our lives are hidden with God in Christ. The Face of Christ is revealed anew.’
The afternoon saw crowds of pilgrims thronging to venerate the relics. A wonderful calm and peace descended on everyone as the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for adoration at 3.00pm. A special Liturgy and Evening Prayer for Priests followed at 4.00pm. The celebrant for this was Fr Timothy Menezes, parish priest of St Thomas More in Coventry and a teacher of Liturgy at the Diocesan Seminary, St Mary’s College, Oscott. The preacher was Canon John Udris, Dean of Northampton Cathedral and a well known writer and scholar on the spirituality of St Thérèse.
Another Mass at 7.00pm kept the church packed to capacity. The preacher at this Mass was Fr Jonathan Veasey, parish priest of St John Vianney in Coventry and Director of Religious Education.
Thérèse was given the grace to truly understand the words of the Lord, that the least service we perform, be it no more than a glass of water offered to the thirsty, is an act of communion with the Lord.
After the evening Mass, an all night vigil before the Blessed Sacrament was kept to allow continuous prayer for vocations to the pristhood and the religious life.
At dawn, Morning Prayer was celebrated and was followed at 10.00am by the celebration of a farewell Mass. The preacher at this liturgy was Fr Joseph Quigley, who until recently was the National Advisor for Religious Education. With many children from schools in the diocese present at this Mass, Fr Quigley encouraged the pupils to follow St Thérèse’s ‘Little Way’.
The Mass was followed all too soon by the departure of St Thérèse’s relics for Cardiff but not before the children thronged around the car and clapped as the ‘Little Flower’ was driven away. The visit of the relics of St Thérèse to our parish has had a profound effect on all who took part; it will live long in our memories and in our hearts. St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, pray for us!
