A Shower of Roses

[Originally published in New Earth, The Magazine of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, May 2022]

I live near Fargo, North Dakota, but I’m not from here. I grew up in the small town of Newville, Pennsylvania, and I really never planned to come west. North Dakota was not even on my radar as a place to visit. But in my sophomore year of college, I found myself inspired by the example of a friend to search for somewhere to spend a summer of service. God guided me to the Young Disciples missionary apostolate in the Diocese of Fargo, where I served on a team of four young adults in the summer of 2015. It was a summer that would completely change my life. Not only did I grow tremendously in my relationship with Christ, in confidence, and in friendships, God also brought me deeper into the mystery of His specific plan for my life, which He did through the intercession of Saint Therese of Lisieux. I think St. Therese is a saint who I will be able to greet as an old friend someday, because her presence in my life has been tangibly relational. Whenever she shows up, it’s been to lead me into loving God more, or following His will better. In this particular instance, her intercession brought me the grace of clarity in making a big decision.  
 
Some of the other missionaries and Young Disciples staff that summer were students at the University of Mary in Bismarck. Being from Pennsylvania, I had never heard of UMary until then. But I gathered that it was a good Catholic school and the other missionaries liked it. Several of them suggested during training week that I consider transferring to UMary for the fall semester. That was quite a bit more than I was willing to consider! Transferring in a few weeks to a school I’d just heard about halfway across the country was definitely too spontaneous.  
 
Also during training week, I heard one of the staff members talking about her novena to St. Therese. This was new to me as well. She described how she had done the novena for an intention, and received a rose in answer. I was intrigued but nothing more at first. However, as a couple weeks passed and my team went on the road to put on our first few Young Disciples camps, something wouldn’t stop coming up in prayer: the idea of transferring to UMary. But my own doubts and anxieties got in the way, and I ended up stressing over how big of a decision it was. I wasn’t certain that it was what God wanted for me, but I thought it might be.  
 
I remembered the staff member talking about her St. Therese novena, and I decided to try it. One of my teammates told me to ask for a specific color of rose, so I would recognize my answer if it came. I settled on the color purple, because it seemed so unlikely that I would see a purple rose by accident! I kept it secret, though, so I could be sure only God knew what I had asked for. As the nine days of the novena went by and I said the prayers each day asking to know God’s will, I felt more and more sure that He wanted me at UMary. But I was still hesitant. I remember praying something along the lines of “God, I want to follow you, but if this is your will you have to make it really obvious!” 
 
On the last day of my novena, it was the end of our Young Disciples camp in Valley City. I was leading the campers down into the social hall to get their lunchboxes before their parents picked them up, when I stopped in my tracks. The social hall, which had been bare the day before, was decorated for some event or reception, and every table had an arrangement of flowers that included purple roses. St. Therese hadn’t just sent me a rose in answer – she sent me a whole shower of roses! I immediately had so much peace and joy, and the certainty that I would be following God’s will for me by transferring to the University of Mary for school.  

I remain so grateful for the grace of answered prayer that day. It has led me to much more than just a change of school. Every step along the way in the years since then has confirmed that I’m right where God wants me, as He has poured His love and mercy into my life, led me to my vocation with my husband Chris, and more. And it has all been thanks to the intercession and guidance of a heavenly friend, St. Therese.