Dear Friend,  

Friday, March 8, 2024

Lenten Reflection by Dianne Traflet, J.D., S.T.D.

Doctor of the Church, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, has much to teach us on our spiritual journey, particularly as we seek the face of Christ this Lent.  At first glance, the spirituality of Thérèse might appear to be a bit saccharine or – using her own favorite word – just too “little.”  As we delve deeper, we learn of a path of struggles, challenges, illnesses, pain, even the Dark Night of the Soul. Here, we discover a fellow pilgrim and a spiritual guide, a person of strength, courage, depth, and maturity.

I believe that one of the major indicators of her spiritual maturity was her ability to look at others, and “read,” if you will, their faces.   She had the gift of studying faces.  She was the type of person who likely would say: “You don’t have to say anything; I can see it on your face.”  She would have been able to detect the faintest grimace, the slightest smile, the furrowed brow, the swollen eyes, the dried-up tear.

One example of many in her autobiography illustrates a young Thérèse “reading” the face of a man on crutches who appeared to be poor and in pain. She approached him to give him a small amount of money. His response was not what she expected: “He looked sadly at me for a long time, and then, shaking his head with a sorrowful smile, he refused my alms. I cannot tell you what I felt; I had wished to help and comfort him, and instead of that, I had, perhaps, hurt him and caused him pain. He must have guessed my thought, for I saw him turn round and smile at me when we were some way off.”

At only six years old, Thérèse understood that man’s expressions; his “sorrowful smile” pierced her heart.  She then remembered, “that one obtains all the favors asked for on one's First Communion Day.” Consoled, she resolved to pray for the man on the day of her First Communion, and for five years, she remembered him, praying for him on the day she first received the Eucharist.

It is no wonder that Thérèse also could readily ponder and contemplate the Holy Face--indeed, even request that “of the Holy Face” be part of her religious name.  What guidance might she have for us as we seek to gaze upon Christ this Lent?

Today, let us pray a few stanzas of Thérèse’s “Canticle to the Holy Face,” dated August 12, 1895:

Jesus, your ineffable image
Is the star that guides my steps….
Your Face is my only wealth.
I ask for nothing more.
Hiding myself in it unceasingly,
I will resemble you, Jesus.
Leave in me the Divine impress
Of your Features filled with sweetness,
And soon I’ll become holy.
I shall draw hearts to you.  Amen

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Dianne M. Traflet, J.D., S.T.D., Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Administration and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, earned a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, an M.A. in Catholic Theology and Pastoral Ministry from The Institute of Advanced Studies of Catholic Doctrine, St. John's University, and an S.T.L. and an S.T.D. from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (The Angelicum), Rome. Dr. Traflet is a key leader in the Center for Diaconal Formation, and she gives numerous lectures, retreats, and days of recollection, including some specific to wives of deacons and deacon candidates. She is the author of Edith Stein: A Spiritual Portrait (Pauline Media, 2008).