The St. Thérèse Scarf: Tender Joy

The hope for spring beats wildly in our hearts as birdsong can be heard again and the sunshine begins to linger. As the East Coast is still welcoming snow flurries, we would love to tell you more about the scarf that hugs this in-between of snow and spring.

Behold our beloved St. Thérèse scarf, a wearable love letter to the Little Flower herself!

Did you know St. Thérèse of Lisieux loved the snow? She especially saw it as a gift when Jesus gave her snowfall on her “clothing day” as novice. She knew the snow was for her. She received moments like this personally knowing with confidence the deep love of Jesus. St. Thérèse reminds us to remain soft in a hardened world and be on the lookout for gifts from Jesus in the ordinary. The Lord is always writing love letters to you from flowers breaking through cement to the gentle tip-tap of rain. The more we recognize the Lord’s tapestry of truth, beauty, and goodness woven in the world around us, the more we are inspired to create with a childlike joy.

Veronica was ecstatic to craft a texture in the design. She wanted to mimic little kid fingerpainting to reflect the sensitive heart of St. Thérèse. The globs of paint also harkens to Céline Martin’s oil painting of roses and the warm affection among the Martin sisters. They all dabbled in various types of craft from embroidery and sewing to painting and sketching.

Céline Martin's still life of roses

When discussing the design of the scarf, Veronica emphasized the beauty of rough, messy strokes,

“The finger painting is indicative that no matter how messy something is, if I do it with love for God, then He is so delighted by it, and this unites us to Him.”

St. Thérèse reminds us that wisdom is indeed given to God’s little ones (see Matthew 11:25). Her writings reflect how Christ meets us in our neediness, sensitivity, and fragility and transforms us by His tender mercy. The Story of a Soul was written out of obedience to her superiors. This vulnerable diary highlights Christ’s compassion. Her simple and humble writings caused her to be named a doctor of the Church because Christ is honored through childlike dependency. Inscribed on the edges of the scarf, it reads from her autobiography:

“When one loves, one does not calculate. How sweet is the way of Love! True, one may fall, one may not be always faithful, but Love, knowing how to draw profit from all, very quickly consumes whatsoever may displease Jesus, leaving naught but humble and profound peace in the innermost soul. Jesus, it seems to me you could not have overwhelmed a soul with more love than you have poured out on mine.”

What joy to know that Christ loves us without condition or cost! He loves you as you are. Imagine Him gathering you up like a bundle of roses, pressed to His heart with deep affection and delight, keeping you safe in His heart.  

On the scarf, the roses bloom in the theological color of joy, blush pink and coral, shimmer on silk. The bright brushstroke textures mix with a garden palette of Ordinary Time greens, the theological color of hope, ripple in the light. The pink also reminds us of her ribbon sash wrapped around her cotton eyelet dress on display at her basilica in Lisieux.

More than anything else, we hope this scarf reminds you to stay tender and rejoice in the ordinary.

St.Thérèse of Lisieux, pray for us!