OUR LADY OF THE SMILE

 

On May 13, 1883, Our Lady of the Smile healed St. Therese of

the Child Jesus when she was bedridden. On that day, St.

Therese turned her head to a statue of the Virgin near her bed

and prayed for a cure. “Suddenly,” Therese writes, “Mary's face

radiated kindness and love.” Therese was healed. The statue has

since been called “Our Lady of the Smile.”

St. Therese, the heart that exclaimed a few months before her

death, “In the heart of my Mother, the Church, I will be love,” did

not always know she could love…did not always feel free to

love… But Our Lady smiled at her and she was deeply healed of

all her spiritual, psychological, emotional and corporal sufferings.

She was healed by a smile…a simple and powerful “smile” of Our

Mother…

The Mother’s Smile is a reflection of Her maternal and

immaculate love. She smiles to the depth of our hearts, to the

depths of our wounds…to our most hidden inner lackings and

sufferings. She smiles and we know Her love for us! She smiles

and everything becomes so peaceful, so calm in the ocean of our

hearts… She smiles and love flourishes in our whole being… She

smiles and the voids of our lives are suddenly filled… She smiles and the brokenness in our humanity is restored, is elevated, is healed… She smiles and the path of grace to our hearts opens up with a new freedom…

She smiles and we know we are loved, deeply loved, by a mother’s love! She smiles and our fears are driven away. She smiles and the doubts are enlightened with Her kindness… She smiles and the lackings and excesses in our lives are leveled to the perfect measurement of love… She smiles and our hearts know that there is so much more…so much more… There is tenderness, there is courage, there is freedom, there is fruitfulness, there is communion, there is life, there is love…and love makes us stronger, freer, younger and more joyful. She smiles and we are healed…healed in the depth of our hearts!

May She smile in our hearts... May She smile to us and for us!