Author Interview – Shower of Heavenly Roses

I believe that my own strong devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux, lovingly known as “The Little Flower”, stems from the fact that she gives me such great hope – hope that someone who spends most of every day doing mundane little tasks (like washing laundry and driving car pools), can make these little acts holy by offering them to God with a loving heart.

In her new book Shower of Heavenly Roses: Stories of the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux (Crossroad Publishing Company, September 2004, paperback, 227 pages), author Elizabeth Ficocelli shares stories of countless hearts touched through the intercession of St. Therese. For those not acquainted with St. Therese and her wonderful autobiography Story of a Soul, Ficocelli’s introduction relates the life history and spirituality of this magnificent woman. In her Prologue, Ficocelli shares her own personal faith journey and the role in that journey played by St. Therese, as well as the meaning of the sign of the rose.

Millions have turned to St. Therese for aid and intercession in times of difficulty and despair. The stories shared in Shower of Heavenly Roses are stirring accounts of prayers answered by miracles, great and small. St. Therese inspired many with her words “I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth.” Shower of Heavenly Roses shows that St. Therese’s spirit of love and service, her “little way”, lives on in our world.

I am pleased to share the following interview with author Elizabeth Ficocelli.

LH: It’s a pleasure to be able to share the following interview with Elizabeth Ficocelli, author of Shower of Heavenly Roses: Stories of the Intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux. Elizabeth, first off let me say that this book is a treasure! Would you please begin by telling our readers a bit about yourself and your family?

EF: I am a Catholic convert who entered the Church in 1983. I have been married to a wonderful man for 19 years, the man who first introduced me to the Faith. I am a stay-at-home mom and my husband and I are raising four boys — ages 13, 9, 6 and 4 — in central Ohio. For the last five years, I have been writing books and magazine articles to share my love and enthusiasm of the Faith with others. My desire is to excite and educate people about the sacraments and the other treasures that our Church offers.

LH: Elizabeth, this book has a great deal of personal meaning for you as you share your own story of conversion. Can you briefly relate to our readers your own personal experience with St. Therese during your faith journey?

EF: As I mentioned, I am a convert. I was raised Lutheran, and when I was eight years old, I found a medal on the sidewalk as I was walking to school. I thought the woman on the medal was Mary. For some reason, I kept that medal in my jewelry box, and it wasn’t until I was an adult Catholic that I discovered the meaning of the mysterious message imprinted on the back, “After my death I will let fall a shower of roses.” It was the famous quotation of St. Therese of Lisieux. This prompted me to read her autobiography, Story of a Soul, and like so many others, I fell in love with her. I felt she had always been present in my life, from my youth. Years later, I wrote a magazine article about the intercession of this saint in my life and the life of my son. It was my first published work, and it ran in Catholic Parent in January 2000. Interestingly, this was exactly when the relics of St. Therese were touring this country and creating quite a fervor, as they seem to do in every country they visit. I did not know about the relics tour when I wrote the article. The timing was all her doing. She accomplished this a second time with my book, Shower of Heavenly Roses. Due to the overwhelming response to my call for stories, the book was completed a full year ahead of schedule. It was released in September 2004, a few weeks before the launch of the major motion picture, Therese. I was aware that a movie had been made about her, but I had no idea it was going to be released this year until my manuscript was well into production.

LH: For our readers who have not yet had the opportunity to read Shower of Heavenly Roses please give us a description of the book.

EF: Shower of Heavenly Roses is a compilation of 65 stories that depict the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux in the lives of a variety of people. The stories are beautiful and inspiring examples of faith that I think the world needs to hear right now. But I wanted to do more than present some beautiful stories. I wanted to make the world aware of this special Saint and the lesson of love that she teaches us all. That’s why I provide an introduction about her life, her spirituality, and why she was named Saint and Doctor of the Church. In my prologue, I talk about saintly intercession in general, and I address how this idea can be easily be misconstrued or self-serving. And that’s not the point at all. The saints are one of our terrific gifts from God, an example to us all, and yes, their help is available for the asking. But we should not limit ourselves to simply asking for personal favors. We really should be asking these holy men and women to help us follow the wonderful example they left us.

LH: In reading the stories included in Shower of Heavenly Roses, I was deeply moved by the impact that St. Therese has had on so many lives. The stories come from such a broad cross section – old and young, lay and religious, male and female…how did you go about collecting the stories for the book?

EF: I used the Internet for my primary research. I discovered many organizations, publications and private web sites dedicated to St. Therese, in addition to lay and religious orders. I contacted organizers of the relics tour and was able to get a list of most of the churches and monasteries that hosted the relics. A few Catholic publications posted my call for stories, but for the most part, the word was spread electronically.