N.O.-founded prayer circles do ‘big’ things in ‘little’ ways

Above: Mary Frawley, president of the Missionaries of St. Thérése, hands monies raised by the missionaries to the pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in New Orleans for church repairs following a storm in 1951. (File photo from Catholic Action of the South, the former Catholic newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the predecessor of the Clarion Herald)

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

During her 24 short years on earth, St. Thérèse of Lisieux demonstrated how small acts, when performed with great love, have the power to transform the world.

For the last 75 years, a missionary effort founded in St. Thérèse’s name has had the same global impact of spreading the Gospel message of Christ’s enduring love.

The Missionary ‘Rose Petals’ of St. Thérèse, founded by a group of New Orleans women in 1945, have provided nearly $1 million in spiritual and financial assistance to the missionary work of the church. To do it, the group’s 71 prayer circles have raised ‘a dollar here, a dollar there’ through their modest annual dues, simple events such as bake sales, basket raffles and luncheons, and a whole lot of prayer.

“Long before the church started with the ‘New Evangelization,’ the Rose Petals of the Missionaries of St. Thérèse have been literally spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth and doing what St. Theresa wanted to do – ‘plant the cross of Christ on every shore,’” said Lynn Schonberg, the group’s current president and a member of Circle 27 based at St. Philip Neri Parish in Metairie.

Through prayer and fundraising zeal, the Rose Petals have supported seminarians and missionary priests in nearly two dozen countries, including Japan, India, Nigeria, Granada and Timor-Leste. They also respond to needs of the American Catholic church, with recent funds directed to rebuilding a fire-damaged church in Tennessee, religious education programs in the poorest U.S. diocese (Brownsville, Texas) and the missionary endeavors of seminarians at Notre Dame Seminary and St. Joseph Abbey.

“Missionaries of St. Thérèse have touched a tremendous number of lives over 75 years, especially when you think of the education of a seminarian,” Schonberg said. “When he becomes a priest, think about the number of people that he then touches.”

The Rose Petals will mark their 75th year with two special events this month:

• A Mass on St. Thérèse’s feast day of Oct. 1 will be celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond at 11 a.m. at St. Matthew the Apostle Church, 10021 Jefferson Hwy., River Ridge. All are welcome to the Mass and reception.

• A “Rose Petal Luncheon-Social” is set for Oct. 13 at 11 a.m. at the Audubon Tea Room and will include raffles of a $1,000 cash prize and a carved statue of St. Thérèse.

Post-war effort takes off

The first circle of Rose Petals was founded at St. James Major Church in New Orleans on July 15, 1945 by Marcella Reehorst, a recipient of St. Thérèse’s graces who was inspired by the testimony of Rhoda Wise, an Ohio Catholic who was miraculously healed after having a vision of St. Thérèse. That original prayer circle of 12 women grew to 71 circles, most of them in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and others in Texas and Kentucky. The circles had a total membership of 1,400 in their peak years in the early 1950s.

Archives dating from the group’s founding – just after the end of World War II – reveal the scope of its impact.

“It is amazing to learn what these ladies accomplished (using) simple ways and means, such as a dance where the entrance was $1,” said Schonberg, noting that one of the group’s first works involved crocheting Sacred Heart badges for 2,000 wounded and disabled soldiers returning to New Orleans from active service in the Pacific war zone.

A clipping from 1961 reports that the prayer circles had, to date, supported the ordinations of eight seminarians to the priesthood – including those in China, Korea and the Philippines – and were helping an additional 34 seminarians spanning Asia and Africa.

The archives also document the Rose Petals’ spiritual and financial outreach to the local church. In 1957, for example, the prayer circles sent $2,500 to help rebuild fire-destroyed Our Lady of Grace Church in Reserve, and $200 to a hospital chaplain to purchase altar linens, candles, rosaries and missals for his 250 Catholic patients.

In more recent years, more than $20,000 has been distributed annually to causes identified by the Rose Petals, Schonberg said. Recent recipients include the religious education programs at St. Bernard and Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Kenner) parishes; the Multiply the Harvest non-profit in West Africa; and a fledgling community of women religious in France.

“We have zero administrative costs and everyone’s a volunteer,” Schonberg said. “Every dollar donated to the Missionaries of St. Thérèse goes to the missions.”

New missionaries welcome

Their reach is particularly impressive, given that only seven circles, totaling about 150 members, are active in the following parishes: St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Philip Neri, St. Dominic, Our Lady of the Rosary in New Orleans, Divine Mercy, St. Jerome and Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Kenner. The individual circles meet monthly – always beginning with prayers and intercessions to their saintly patroness – and also come together as a larger, archdiocesan group at bi-annual board meetings, a Mass celebrating the feast of St. Thérèse, an annual luncheon-gala and Lenten/Holy Week mornings of reflection.

Circles, which also enjoy fellowship and a snack at the end of their meetings, are free to design their own activities. For example, the members of Circle 27 meet once a month after Mass to pray a litany and rosary dedicated to St. Thérèse.

Gloria Woods, secretary of Circle 27, said the enthusiasm of her late mother-in-law for the Rose Petals and reading St. Thérèse’s autobiography led her to join in 1993.

“She’s a powerful little saint – I’ve seen so many little personal miracles,” Woods said.

Gloria Gagliano, who learned about the Rose Petals at a 1975 tea held in her home parish of St. Matthew the Apostle, was the group’s longest-serving president, filling that role from 1992-2017.

“What I have felt over the years with St. Thérèse is a lot of peace, love and blessings as a result of asking her to help us in our duties of constantly trying to establish money for the missions,” Gagliano said. “She always comes through, not only in a little way but in a big way. We’ve had fashion shows, luncheons – anything we could do to raise extra money.”

The missionaries hope awareness raised by their 75th anniversary will inspire those as young as teenagers to join an existing prayer circle or start one of their own, with the permission of their pastor.

“I tell the circles, they don’t have to do a lot of things or devote a lot of time – they can just have a meeting, pray the chaplet, find out the news of the organization and maybe have a Coke and a cookie,” Gagliano said. “St. Thérèse did many things in little ways, so we don’t have to be elaborate!”

Although it is overwhelmingly composed of women, men are also welcomed to become Missionaries of St. Thérèse, Woods said.

“We (Rose Petals) lovingly call them ‘The Thorns,” she said, smiling.

The ministry is part of the four Pontifical Mission Societies under the archdiocese’s Office of Missions/Propagation of the Faith. Reservations are required to attend the Oct. 13 luncheon, with tickets priced at $35. For ticket information or more on the Missionaries of St. Thérèse, email [email protected]; visit www.archnomo.org; or call (504) 527-5774. Checks can be made payable to the “Missionaries of St. Therese” c/o Jo-Ann Testa-Hebert, 714 Crystal Street, New Orleans, LA 70124.

In addition to Schonberg, who assumed the presidency of the group in 2017, past presidents are founding president Vivian Faia (1945-48); Mary Frawley (1948-72); Adele Broas (1972-78); Hilda Gaspard (1978-92); and Gloria Gagliano (1992-2017).