St. Therese of the Roses
song performed by Billy Ward and His Dominoes
"St. Therese Of The Roses" is a 1956 popular song written by Remus Harris and Arthur Strauss. The song takes the form of a prayer to St. Therese of the rose (Saint Thérèse of Lisieux), by a man who is about to marry asking the saint for her to send her blessings to himself and his sweetheart, so they will have a happy and loving marriage.
A version performed by Billy Ward and His Dominoes was recorded on 18 April 1956, and issued in June of that year on the Decca label (Catalogue No. 29933). In the United States the song reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1956.
In the United Kingdom, a version was recorded by the singer Malcolm Vaughan and reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Its success was helped following a controversy involving the BBC when, in October 1956 Vaughan had been scheduled to appear on BBC TV's Off The Record to promote the release of the song, but had the invitation withdrawn after a BBC committee decided that it was unsuitable for broadcast. The reason given was that "the lyric is contrary both to Roman Catholic doctrine and to Protestant sentiment." The resulting controversy coupled with airplay on Radio Luxembourg ensured the record's success.
“St. Therese of the Roses” enters the record as song performed by Billy Ward and His Dominoes. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Therese, Roses and song can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“St. Therese of the Roses” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Therese, Roses and song provides the most credible route into that argument.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 10, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q7591855. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1956.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “St. Therese of the Roses” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.