Carmelite nuns in Holladay will share with the faithful conferences about St. Therese of Lisieux

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HOLLADAY – Local Catholics will have the opportunity to join the nuns of the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for two days of conferences to learn about St. Therese of Lisieux and sharing God’s love. The presentations will be on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

The 12 nuns who live at the monastery have annual retreats to help them gain deeper insight into Carmelite spirituality and vocation. Mother Superior Therese Bui, OCD, wanted her community to hear more conferences on Carmelite spirituality next month with the celebration of the feast days of two of the most renowned saints of the Carmelite order, St. Therese of Lisieux on Oct. 1 and the Solemnity of St. Teresa of Avila on Oct. 15.

This year, members of the public are invited to hear the speaker.

“In prayer, I was inspired to open these conferences to the public, since the nuns already benefited from a private retreat earlier this year,” Mother Therese said. “I peacefully chose St. Therese as the subject for the upcoming conferences since she is such a well-known saint, a very easy-to-imitate saint, and yet at the same time can also be a very easily misunderstood saint.“

“Her teaching is so simple for all to practice and yet is so profound,” she added. “She is not only a beloved saint of our Carmelite order, but a great saint for all God’s children.”

The conferences will be led by Carmelite Father Thomas Reeves, a member of the Discalced Carmelite Order of the California-Arizona Province. Since entering the Carmelite order in 1999, he has served in various roles, including pastor, rector of the house of studies and retreat director. He is currently the prior at Mount St. Joseph Carmelite Monastery in San Jose, Calif.

The theme of the conferences is “God’s merciful love: ‘My God, I love you’ (St. Therese’s last words)—Discovering new love with the help of St. Therese.”

During the two Sept. 30 conferences, Fr. Thomas will focus on how St. Therese experienced God’s love. On the second day, the two conferences will examine St. Therese’s life and how she can help the faithful share God’s love with others.

“If we can respond in love to all the little ordinary circumstances that present themselves to us throughout the day, then anyone can become a great saint,” Fr. Thomas said. “That’s what’s so encouraging about St. Therese. She is so easy to relate to and she shows us that it’s possible to be a great saint in our ordinary lives.”

Fr. Thomas encouraged those who would like to attend the conferences to prepare by reflecting on what particular grace they’d like to ask for during these days of prayer and reflection, “whether it’s deepening one’s friendship with Christ, obtaining healing to one’s heart or asking for graces for others or all of the above.”

“St. Therese is still active; she can help,” he said. “St. Therese said when she died and went to heaven that she would spend her heaven doing good on earth. It’s just so encouraging to remember that St. Therese is still active in our lives and wants to help us.”

The conference sessions, which will be held at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. each day, will each last about 45 minutes. The public also is invited to the concluding Mass, which will be celebrated by Fr. Thomas at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 1.

There is no charge to attend the four conference sessions.

“Come to St. Therese; she won’t disappoint you,” Mother Therese said. “She will lead you straight to Jesus, no matter what your stage in life is.”