The pious Catholic devotion to saying Novenas has been attacked in the Church history in particular by
Jansenists or rigorists. But Catholics know from their own experience that the novena (..) is the best means to obtain signal heavenly graces through the intercession of Our Lady and all the saints. The novena of prayer is the prayer of confidence and perseverance, with a pledge of being heard, the most important qualities of efficacious prayer. Moreover, from the Holy Scriptures we know Our Lady and the Apostles prayed in the Upper room for nine consecutive days before the descend of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
And now, words of St Teresa on prayer:
Prayer brings us here and now into God's kingdom
"Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come within us.» Now behold, daughters, how great the wisdom of our Master is... I am reflecting here on what we are asking for when we ask for this kingdom. But since His Majesty saw that we could neither hallow, nor praise, nor extol, nor glorify this holy name of the Eternal Father in a fitting way, because of the tiny amount we ourselves are capable of doing, He provided for us by giving us here on earth His kingdom. That is why Jesus put these two petitions next to each other...
Now, then, the great good that it seems to me there will be in the kingdom of heaven, among many other blessings, is that one will no longer take any account of earthly things, but have a calmness and glory within, rejoice in the fact that all are rejoicing, experience perpetual peace and a wonderful inner satisfaction that comes from seeing that everyone hallows and praises the Lord and blesses His name and that no one offends Him. Everyone loves Him there, and the soul itself doesn't think about anything else than loving Him; nor can it cease loving Him, because it knows Him.
And would that we could love Him in this way here below, even though we may not be able to do so with such perfection or stability. But if we knew Him we would love in a way very different from that in which we do love Him... The above would be possible, through the favor of God, for the soul placed in this exile, but not in perfection... for we are at sea and journeying along this way. But there are times when, tired from our travels, we experience that the Lord calms our faculties and quiets the soul. As though by signs, He gives us a clear foretaste of what will be given to those He brings into His kingdom. (St Teresa, Way of Perfection ch.30)
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Feast of St Teresa of Jesus
Recommended reading:
'The life and letters of St Teresa of Jesus' by Henry James Coleridge
'The life of St Teresa'translation from French original 'A Carmelite Nun' by Alice Lady Lovat with a preface by Robert Hugh Benson
St Teresa and her first English daughters
The life of St Teresa of Jesus of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel, written by herself"
St Teresa of Jesus of the Order of Our Lady of Mt Carmel written by the Saint also A History of St Teresa's journeys and Foundations with Maps and Illustrations with a preface an and introduction by Walter Elliot and edited by John J. Burke
The Wonders of the Heart of St Teresa of Jesus"by Simon of St Joseph and Teresa, priest of the 3rd Order of Discalced Carmelites
St Teresa book-mark - a Meditative Commentary Spanish translation by the Very reverend Luke of St Joseph, Assistant General of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, Rome
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