聖德蘭·里修（小德蘭）（貞女、聖師、傳教區主要主保）
聖女小德蘭是十九世紀法國里修加爾默羅赤足隱修院的隱修女。她年輕早逝，只有二十四歲。當時，她只是一位藉藉無名的隱修女；但一年後，她的自傳卻傳遍全球各地，並獲得稱許，更被翻譯為多國文字，中譯本就有馬相伯的《靈心小史》、蘇雪林的《一朵小白花》和張秀亞的《回憶錄》。
聖女小德蘭生於1873年一月二日法國亞冷松的一個虔誠公教家庭，是路易‧瑪爾定和瑞梨‧葛林夫婦九個孩子中最小的女兒。夫婦二人虔誠敬愛天主，所以小德蘭自小便生活在一個充滿愛和祈禱氣氛的家庭中；不幸是她四歲時母親病逝；後舉家遷往里修。
小德蘭不是天生就是聖女，她也曾為自己執拗的稟性，以及「玻璃心」般敏感，不斷掙扎，經驗到失敗和挫折。後來靠天主的聖寵，她才明白，只有全心仰賴天主和主所賦與的力量，才能接納自己的軟弱和限制。小德蘭自稱為「耶穌小花」的，年紀很小時便想完全奉獻給天主，但礙於她的執著和太敏感的性格，使她內心起了很大的掙扎、受苦和病倒，幸得「勝利聖母像」的安慰。1886年聖誕夜，她更獲天主恩寵，感悟「耶穌因為愛我而變成軟弱渺小的嬰孩」，遂甘心接受自己的弱小，身心遂得痊癒。
她十五歲獲得教會特准，進入法國里修加爾默羅赤足隱修院，取修道名為：嬰孩耶穌．聖容．德蘭修女。在她短短九年的修道生活中，度着忠信、全心愛主、簡樸和謙遜的隱修生活。
她從聖經中獲得啟發：「你們若不變成如同小孩一樣，你們決不能進天國（瑪18：3）。」遂倡導她的「愛的小路」（又譯作「神嬰小道」）。這是完全信賴天主和完全交付的靈修方法，猶如進入天主愛情的「升降機」，直奔天主台前，也就是對天主慈愛的完全委順；1895年她自獻於天主仁慈的愛情作為全燔犧牲；她曾說：「我的聖名就是愛。」
聖女小德蘭渴望成為祈禱的傳教士，她本來有望被委派往越南，可惜身體虛弱而不能成行。她唯有以祈禱支援傳教士的工作。她睡房貼上四川地圖，來為她在遠方的傳教士朋友祈禱。在她生命的最後日子，她了解到自己的使命便是在「慈母教會心中的愛」，並說：「我將度生於天，以造福人間。我將從天上沛降玫瑰花雨。」。
聖女小德蘭於1897年9月30日安逝。1923年教會列她為真福，1925年獲教宗庇護十一世列為聖品，1927年教會欽定她與聖方濟各沙勿略並列為「傳教區主保」；聖女小德蘭以祈禱福傳，聖方濟各沙勿略則以行動福傳。1997年教宗若望保祿二世宣布她為「教會聖師」。更難得的是她的雙親路易．瑪爾定和瑞梨．葛林於2015年也獲教宗方濟各列為聖品，這是教會首次夫婦同時獲教會列聖。
聖人金句：
「對我來說，祈禱是內心的奮發之情，向着天的淳樸凝視；是困苦或歡樂中的頌謝聲。」（《自傳手稿》）
「我的聖召就是愛。」（《小德蘭自傳》）
集禱經
天主，你應許把天國賜給謙卑的人和小孩子；求你引導我們，追隨聖女小德蘭「愛的小路」，全心信靠你，藉她的轉求，享見你啟示的永恆光榮。因你的聖子、我們的主耶穌基督，他和你及聖神，是唯一天主，永生永王。亞孟。
St Thérèse of Lisieux (Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus), Virgin and Doctor of the Church
From obscurity as a young, idealistic Carmelite, Thérèse of Lisieux has emerged as one of the best-loved saints. Her simplicity attracts us because she puts holiness within our reach. Thérèse was the daughter of Louis and Zélie Martin. When she was four years old, her pleasant childhood was interrupted by Zélie’s untimely death. Then Thérèse’s older sister, Pauline, took responsibility for raising her in the faith. In 1882, Pauline entered the Carmelite convent at Lisieux, igniting a desire in Thérèse to do the same. Thérèse’s fourteenth year was pivotal. Her sister, Mary, joined Pauline at the convent. And at Christmas, the young saint had an experience she described as her “conversion.” Later, in A Story of a Soul, her autobiography, Thérèse described it as a release from depression and oversensitivity: “Jesus flooded the darkness of my soul with torrents of light. I got back for good the strength of soul lost when I was four and a half.
Love filled my heart, I forgot myself, and henceforth I was happy.” In spite of Thérèse’s youth, the next year the bishop allowed her to become a Carmelite at Lisieux.
From childhood Thérèse aspired to become a missionary and a martyr. It soon became clear to her, however, that neither option was open to a cloistered nun. So she sought the Holy Spirit and searched the Scripture for another way to excel: We live in an age of inventions. We need no longer climb laboriously up flights of stairs. And I am determined to find an elevator to carry me to Jesus, for I was too small to climb the steep stairs of perfection. So I sought in Holy Scripture some idea of what this lift I wanted would be, and I read, “When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (see Mk 10:14). I also wanted to know how God would deal with a “little one,” so I searched and found: “You shall be carried in her arms and fondled in her lap; as a mother comforts her son. . . .” (Isaiah 66:12–13 NAB) It is your arms, Jesus, which are the elevator to carry me to heaven. So there is no need for me to grow up. In fact: just the opposite: I must become less and less.
In 1897, Thérèse thought her dream of becoming a missionary was about to come true. The Carmelites at Hanoi in Indochina, now Vietnam, had invited her to join them. But on the early morning of Good Friday she began to hemorrhage from the mouth. She had contracted tuberculosis, which tortured her for several months before it took her life on September 30, 1897.
Collect
O God, who open your Kingdom
to those who are humble and to little ones,
lead us to follow trustingly in the little way of Saint Thérèse,
so that through her intercession
we may see your eternal glory revealed.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
資料來源 References
圖：https://www.ctsbooks.org/litany-of-st-therese-of-lisieux/
中文內容：
赤柱嘉爾默羅赤足隱修院
《平日彌撒經文》，香港教區禮儀委員會
English text: https://littleflowerchurch.net/about-us/our-patron-saint/
Daily Roman Missal, 2011