TODAY'S SAINT (Therese of Lisieux)

THERESE OF LISIEUX

(1873-1897)

Discalced Carmilite nun, mystic, Doctor of the Church

Also known as: Sister Tersa of the Child Jesus, the Lit-

tle Flower, the Saint of the Little Way

Therese of Lisiesux was born on January 2, 1873, in Alcon, Normandy, the ninth child of a middle-class, devout French family. Her father, Louis Martin, was a watchmaker. the parents, who had desired cloistered lives themselves, encouraged religious interests in their children. Therese was four when her mother died of cancer, and she was placed in the care of her sistes Marie and Pauline. She was especially close to Pauline, and when her sister announced her intention to become a nun, Therese expressed not only the same desire but also the desire to become a saint. Later, she wrote her autobiography as though it were a letter to Pauline.

From an early age Therese exhibited a delicate consitiution, a strong desire to suffer for God. She called herself "the Little Flower." She was concerned about the poor and gave alms to them as a child. After Pauline entered the Discalced Carmelite convent at Lisieux, nine-year-old Therese went to the mother superior and expressed her desire to join as well. She was told she would have to wait until age 16 to become a postulate.

At age 10, Therese fell seriously ill. In her autobiography she blamed the illness on the devil, who was angry at Pauline for entering the convent and so punished the family for the harm that would come to him as a result. Her illness brought fits of delirium and strange behavior, as well as great suffering. One day she was cured when she had a vision in which a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary came to life and smiled at her.

The entrance of Marie into the Carmelite convent intensified Therese's desire to become a nun heself. Her father refused to give her his permission to do so until she was 17. She appealed to her uncle, who gave his consent, but Pauline told her that the superior of Carmel would not allow her to enter until she was 21.

At 15 she accompanied her father on a pilgrimage to celebrate the jubilee of Pope Leo XIII (r. 1878-1903). In an audience before the pope, Therese begged him to allow her to join the Carmelites at her young age. He told her to follow the guidance of the appropriate autthorities, and that it would happen if God willed it so. Upon their return, Therese was admitted on April 9, 1888. She chose the name Therese of the Child Jesus to distinguish herself from another nun whose name was Therese. She took the veil on September 24; her ailing father was too ill to attend. Her spiritual marriage took place on September 8, 1890.

Therese suffered through an intial spiritual dryness after intering the convent, and then seemed to to back and forth from great happiness to great sadness. She gave instruction to novices and devoted herself to her spiritual work. She constantly sought suffering to purify herself, and wished to die young. Once toward the end of her life she had a dream in which she was walking in the convent corridor with the mother superior, when three veiled Carmelite nuns suddenly appeared. She knew they were from heaven. One was the Venerable Mother Anne of Jesus, the founder of Carmel in France. Her face was lit by an unearthly radiance. Therese asked her if God would come for her soon. She said yes, and that God was very pleased with her.

In 1895 Therese, in prayer, offered herself as a victim to "God's merciful love." She had begun the stations of the cross when she felt herself wounded by a flaming dart, and thought she would die from the intensity of the fire of divine love. The experience was similar to the transverberation, or the piercing of the heart, with fiery arows and blades, as experienced by St. Teresa of Avila and Padre Pio.

In 1895, her sister Pauline, then prioreess, and whose religious name was Mother Agnes of Jesus, instructed her to write an account of her early life. She did so in the small amount of spare time she had in the evenings. In April 1896 Therese showed the first symptoms of tuberculosis. Initially her illness was not seen as serious, but by wintertime it was evident that she was fatally ill. She was relieved of all her duties in May 1897, and was instructed to continue her story with her experiences at Carmel. She began that work in June 1897. During her final illness, Mother Agnes recorded all of her conversations, spiritual experiences and counsels, which later were published in a small book, Novissima Verba.

Therese died on September 30, 1897, at the convent, with the cry of "My God, I love thee!" on her lips and a radiant look upon her face. She was buried at the cemetery of Lisieux.

Many miracles were reported through her intercession, among them a manifestation of much-needed money at a Discalced Carmelite convent in Gallipoli, Italy, in 1910. The prioress, Mother Mary Carmela, dreamed one night that Therese appared to her in heavenly raiment, bilocated the two of them to the parlor and placed 500 francs inside a box. The money was found there the following morning.

Therese autobiography was published in 1898 on the anniversary of her death. Interspersed with accounts of her life are Therese's spiritual insights, profound for such a young and relatively inexperienced person. She called her doctrime "the little way of spiritual childhood," which involves an infallible trust in, and love of, God. Its simplicity and purity have had an enduring appeal. The Story of a Soul rremains one of the most popular of Catholic books. It has been published in 38 Languages. Mother Agnes of Jesus devoted much time to answering the letters that poured in from Therese's devotes around the world.

Her body was exhumed on September 6, 1910. A strong scent of violets permeated some of the boards of the coffin that had been removed, as well as the saint's clothing and a palm that was still fresh in her hand. The palm was considered a sign of her martyrdom of self, of which she had said, "I desire at all costs to win the palm of Agnes; if not by the shedding of blood, it must be by Love." The palm was kept at the convent.

Throughout her monastic life Therese experienced many graced and mystical expriences in addition to the spiritual wounding. During her novitiate, she had transports of love, or raptures in which she felt far removed from the earth. During her final illness, she exhibited an unusual rapport with birds, who came to the window of the infirmary and sang until she died.

On her deathbed, Therese made many prophesies, and said she would be the instrument of much good to many souls after her death. She had cleared clouds from the sky, and decreed that at the moment of her passing the sky would be cloudless. The sky was cloudy on the day of her death, but cleared rapidly at the time she passed, at about 7 P.M.

Pope Pius X (r. 1903-14) called her "the greatest saint of modern times." Pope Pius XI (r. 1922-39) called her "the star of my pontificate."

PRAYER

God our Father, You destined Your Kingdom for Your

children who are humble. Help us to imitate the way of

St. Therese, so that, by her intercession, we may attain

the eternal glory which You promised. Amen.

Cannonized: May 17, 1925, by Pope Pius XI

Declared Doctor of the Church: 1997 by Pope John Paul II

Feast: October 1

Patronage: African missions; AIDS sufferers; air crews; aircraft pilots;

aviators; Belgian air crews; black misions; bodily ills; florists; flower

growers; foreign missions; against illness; loss of parents; mission-

aries; parish missions; restoration of religious freedom in Russia;

against sick people; against sickness; Spanish air crews; tuberculo-

sis; France; Russia

FURTHER READING

"Homily of Pope Pius XI at the Canonization of St. Therese on 17 May 1925,"

www.ewtn.com/therese/readings/reading2.htm
Saint Therese of Lisieux. The Story of a Soul. Tr. John Becevers. New York:

Image Books/Doubleday, 11957.

www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/byname.asp

www.catholic.org/saints/stindex.php

www.catholic-pages.com/dir/saints.asp

MIRACULOUS INVOCATION

TO ST. THERESE

O Glorious St. Therese, whom Almighty God has raised

up to aid and inspire the human family, I implor your Mir-

aculous Intercession. You are so powerful in obtaining ev-

ery need of body and spirit from the Heart of God. Holy

Mother Church proclaims you "Prodigy of Miracles........

the Greatest Saint of Modern Times." Now I fervently be-

seech you to answer my petition (mention here) and to carry

out your promises of spending Heaven doing good upon

earth......... of letting fall from Heaven a Shower of Roses.

Little Flower, give me your childlike faith, to see the Face

of God in the people and experiences of my life, and to love

God with full confidence. St. Therese, my Carmelite Sister,

I will fulfill your plea "to be made known everywhere" and

I will continue to lead othes to Jesus through you. Amen.

"I will let fall from Heaven.........

A Shower of Roses" -St. Therese