St Thérèse de Lisieux the little Flower Shrine and Altar

St Thérèse de Lisieux

also known as The Little Flower

has always grabbed my imagination

What a comfort it is, this way of love! 
You may stumble on it, 

you may fail to correspond with grace given, 

but always love knows how to 
make the best of everything; 

whatever offends our Lord is 
burnt up in its fire, and nothing is left 

but a humble, 
absorbing peace deep down in the heart." 

And through time I have made many shrines dedicated to her

Not long ago I found the most beautiful vintage

statue of her - quite different to the modern day ones

and it was time for another shrine

for this young nun who was known for her

innocent faith and optimism despite being ill for most of her short life

Then I found this image of also a very unique

vintage prayer card that looks very differently to the

modern ones.

Here she is holding a candle

symbolising the light of her love and God's love

'For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; 

it is a simple look turned toward heaven,

it is a cry of recognition and of love,

embracing both trail and joy.

So obviously it was time for me to make another shrine for

The Little Flower, but with a twist this time!!

A word or a smile is often enough

to put life into a despondent soul

I decided to add a wearable shrine to this altar -

a handmade pendant of a holy card of St Therese

which fits snugly into the altar

or you can pop it out and wear it around your neck on

your favourite chain or St Therese rosary

I added a few tiny rose petals to the pendant

The rosary beads are real onyx;  the roses are porcelain;

I used a variety of paper flower, silk and ribbon roses

and a tiny madonna set under resin in a sterling silver setting

and a miniature St Therese statue dangles below the onyx cross

and black swarovski bead.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

A tiny St Joseph and Jesus the Child medal dangles

on the pendant and it has a beautiful St Joseph lily on the back -

this is a very old medal.

The entire shrine, inside and out, is lined with ribbon and lace

and the back is covered with pages from a very old

Afrikaans Bible.  Afrikaans is my home language

spoken here in South Africa.

and to add to the beauty of this shrine

I found this vintage prayer card image which

I used as the back of the pendant

'Let this Presence settle into your bones,

and allow your soul the freedom

to sing, dance, praise and love.

Holiness consists simply in doing God's will

and being just what God wants us to be

'Let us not be justices of peace,

but angels of peace.!

All quotes by St Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower