Devotee is eager to see 'Therese'

As "Therese," a new movie about St. Therese of Lisieux, opens in theaters across the country, Dr. Emma Aliwalas is among those celebrating.

Dr. Aliwalas, a parishioner of St. Madeleine Sophie Church in Guilderland, has been promoting the movie in the Albany Diocese for nearly four years.

It was that long ago that the Association Jeanne Jugan -- a group of lay volunteers associated with the Little Sisters of the Poor -- invited St. Luke Productions to put on a play about the life of St. Therese at Troy Music Hall.

Promotion

St. Luke Productions was already at work on the movie version, and Dr. Aliwalas, a retired physician, promised to do whatever she could to promote it.

She was already a devotee of St. Therese of Lisieux (also known as "the Little Flower"), having prayed for the saint's intercession in her life and had her prayers answered.

Dr. Aliwalas signed up for an email list from St. Luke Productions to get updates about progress on the making of the movie. Since then, she has encouraged everyone she meets to visit www.theresemovie.com, so the production company can "show Hollywood" how much interest there is in the film by the number of "hits" on the site.

Small opening

The film about the saint is ready to be released, but Dr. Aliwalas is discouraged that Albany was not chosen as one of the cities where the movie will premiere.

Still, she happily reported that about 30 theaters across the country will show the movie, beginning either Sept. 29 or 30. Two theaters in New York State are among those: the Regal Battery Park 11 in New York City and the Regal Sheepshead Bay 14 in Brooklyn.

Dr. Aliwalas plans to travel to one of the theaters to see the film she has awaited for four years.

'Little Way'

In encouraging Catholics in the Albany Diocese to visit the movie's website, write letters asking theaters to show it or make a donation to St. Luke Productions, Dr. Aliwalas said she is trying to live St. Therese's "Little Way" of doing simple things to get to heaven.

"We can do little things and spread the Word of God," she stated. "St. Therese said, at the end of her life, 'I feel my mission is only beginning.' We are an extension of her mission."

(To learn more about "Therese," go to www.theresemovie.com. A review of the film can be found in the print edition or at www.evangelist.org. Click on "movie reviews" and search in the archives.)

(9/23/04)