Saint Thérèse Lisieux
By Sarah the Aspirant
St.Thérèse lived and died
little known outside her family, friends and fellow sisters inside the Carmel
of Lisieux, yet she ranks among the most beloved saints in the history of the
Church. The young nun who died at twenty-four even received the title Doctor of the Church, and Pope St. Pius
X described her as “the greatest saint of modern times.”
Zita and Louis Martin
welcomed their last child, Thérèse on January 2, 1873, in Alencon, France. St. Thérèse
grew up with her other four sisters in a very loving and religious family,
though not without suffering. Their mother died when Thérèse was four, and Thérèse
subsequently turned from a lively child (“a little imp” according to her
mother) to an oversensitive young girl.
Her father, to whom St. Thérèse grew very close, and her sisters
showered love on her. Her two oldest sisters became her mothers, but this
caused more heartache for St. Thérèse when the two became Carmelite nuns when
she was six and ten years old. Throughout her childhood, St. Thérèse suffered
from her over-sensitivity and scruples until her fourteenth year when she
received an outpouring of grace to regain the firmness of mind she lost at age
four. Promptly, St. Thérèse began advancing more surely in virtue. A year later, she felt called to leave the
world and live solely for Christ inside Carmel, but there were many obstacles
because of her young age.
Eventually, her zealous prayers bore fruit and the superiors opened the
convent to the fifteen year old.
Once in the cloister, St.
Thérèse seriously undertook the noble task of becoming a saint, but she did so
through the most ordinary and simple means, what she called “Little Way”, the “way of spiritual
childhood.” She sought to love God totally in everything she did with childlike
trust and abandonment, which required heroic faithfulness and constancy. She
lived the religious life perfectly, following the Rule exactly, obeying her
superiors, and practicing poverty. She suffered greatly from a cold without
complaint and accepted whatever food was given her without comment. She was
determined to turn everything into an act of love for God through a constant
and generous self-denial in all things. True love is proven with sacrifice, but
for St. Thérèse the sacrifice did not need to be externally great but only
performed with great love. She wrote, “I
was not like those grand souls who practice all kinds of penances from
childhood. My mortification consisted in checking my self-will, keeping back an
impatient word, doing little things for those around me without their knowing
it.” For example, once a
sister accidentally kept splashing St. Thérèse with water in the laundry, but
instead of showing her exasperation, she bore it patiently for the love of
Jesus. Little sufferings like this were very dear to her. She asked, “Can a victim of love find anything her Spouse sends terrible?” Her devotion to Mary assisted her in
this little way of love. She was comforted that she and Jesus have the same
Mother.
St. Thérèse allowed her
charity to “shine before men” in a supernatural way. Although three of her biological sisters lived in the
convent, she avoided their presence during recreation, which cost her dearly,
and instead cheerfully spent time with sisters whom she naturally liked the
least. St. Thérèse recounts that one sister, touched by her kindness, asked St.
Thérèse what she found so admirable in her, and St. Thérèse wrote in answer, “It was Jesus hidden in the depths of her
soul, Jesus who makes attractive even what is most bitter.” St. Thérèse practiced heroic patience
and kindness with all her fellow Carmelites and, when she became the assistant
novice mistress, guided the novices with supernatural love and wisdom. St.Thérèse also showed great love
towards all souls and Holy Mother Church through her prayers and penances.
Eventually, inspired by
the love of God, she offered herself as a victim to God’s merciful love, in
reparation of all the sinners who refused His Mercy, and God accepted that
sacrifice. Towards the end of her life, her sufferings, bodily but much more
spiritually, increased terribly. In the spring of 1896, when St. Thérèse was
twenty-three, she contracted tuberculosis, and her health slowly declined so
that by the fall of 1897 she was confined to bed. Meanwhile, God deprived her
soul of all spiritual consolations, leaving her in absolute darkness, so that
she attested, “my only consolation lies in not having any here below.” She accepted these sufferings with
resignation as the will of God and the means to save souls. She said, “I
could not have believed one could bear so much and can explain it only by my
great desire to save souls. Thy
will be done, my God, but have mercy on me; sweet Virgin Mary, aid me.”
Still, she remained joyful and cheerful with her sisters and, more heroically,
maintained her faith and trust in God’s love and mercy to the very end. On
September 30, 1897, after choking in agony for two hours, she died holding the
crucifix and uttering, “My God, I love
you!”
Before she died, she had
said, “I feel my mission is soon to
begin, to make others love God as I do, teaching others my ‘little way.’ I will
spend my heaven doing good upon earth.” This prediction has proved true through the publication and
distribution of her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, in which she
illustrates her “Little Way” and of which was said, “The abundant fruit of
salvation, remarkable and worldwide, that reading this so engrossing and
touching work still daily produces, far exceed the results of efforts purely
human.” St. Thérèse also promised,
“After death I will let fall a shower of
roses,” and she still sends roses in remarkable ways to her clients as
proof of her powerful intercession.
St. Thérèse’s “Little Way”
is an incredible gift for the Church.
It proves that all souls can reach great holiness by changing the most
mundane acts into a loving sacrifice for God. No soul can be disappointed in
this saint’s friendship and in following her “Little Way.”
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