I Forgot but Heaven Did Not

A few weeks ago, I returned to a hotel where my company had previously hosted a conference. My colleagues and I were stationed there for two weeks for that event, and we befriended many hotel employees during that period of time.

This trip I was quite jet-lagged upon arrival, and it was wonderful to be welcomed back by so many familiar faces. Tired but happy, I made my way to my room and briefly checked the internet before I went to bed.

After checking the news and my e-mail accounts, I logged on to Spirit Daily for the latest in Catholic current events. I read a great post about a priest and his devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux. The story of the saint's desire to be a missionary moved me, and I recall offering a heartfelt prayer to St. Therese before falling asleep.

The next morning I bumped into another favorite hotel employee, a beautiful and joyful woman who handled special events, flowers and other things for the hotel. She went out of her way to make our group feel special during our last stay and I was truly happy to see her again.

I returned from some meetings that afternoon and found a lovely bouquet of flowers in my room. I smiled and knew they were from the wonderful employee I had encountered earlier in the day.

I admired them for a bit more then got ready for dinner that evening. Two colleagues came to meet in my room before our dinner meeting. They were chatting as I was finishing getting ready. As I reached to grab something out of my suitcase, I saw the flowers on the table.

Wanting to share my sentiments of just how extraordinarily gracious I found the hotel staff to be, I picked up the flowers and started to take them over to my chatting friends.“You aren’t going to believe this, " I said. “Look at these beautiful flowers! This wonderful woman who works for the hotel sent them. Her name is Ther…."

I froze in mid-sentence. My friends looked at me expectantly.

“Oh. My. Goodness.” I said, reeling a bit.

Fortunately for me, my colleagues are devout Catholics. I turned around, flowers in hand, and said for the second time in a few minutes,

“You are not going to believe this."

I told them of seeing the article on Spirit Daily, reading the story about St. Therese of Lisieux , then saying a prayer.

I was so tired I had forgotten offering that prayer.

I continued “These flowers were sent by a lady I saw in the hall today. She works here. Her name is Therese.”

I looked at the bouquet of white lilies and spectacular pale pink roses.

“Her name is Therese. “ I said again.

I had heard of the Shower of Heavenly Roses from The Little Flower before but never came close to experiencing anything like this.

I still can’t recall exactly what I said to St. Therese in that prayer. But I know she - and God - heard it.

And I thank God for that extraordinary moment.

Thank you St. Therese. May God Bless you always.