Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
St Therese’ Life
Born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin in Alençon, France on 2 January, 1873, the daughter of a devout Catholic couple. Therese was a sickly child from birth. Her mother died when she was 4, and her older sister who became responsible for caring for her, entered a convent within a few years. Therese became seriously ill, but prayed and had a vision of Mary and was healed. She continued with her internal prayer life. Her other older sisters also left to join convents, but Therese was particularly small and immature, and when her turn came, the superior of the convent refused to take her.
Her father took her on a trip to Rome for an audience with the Pope. Although forbidden to speak to him, she begged for him to let her join the Carmelite convent! He was impressed with her determination, and she was admitted to the convent where two of her older sisters were already nuns. Therese’ eldest sister became prioress and there was a concern that the family was dominating the convent, so Therese was asked to remain a novice. She finally took the habit on 10 January 1889. After their father’s death in 1894, the youngest sister also entered the same convent. Therese accepted the hardships of her status gladly, and as a Carmelite, the restriction on not being able to do “good deeds”.
In 1896 at the age of only 23, Therese began to cough up blood. She had already started writing down her memories in a journal and she continued during her illness, believing that it may help those on earth after her death. She died on 30 September, 1897 at the age of 24 from tuberculosis. Her sister Pauline, the former prioress put together Therese’s writings and distributed them to other convents. Her “little way” of trusting in Jesus to make her holy and relying on small daily sacrifices rather than great deeds appealed to many who were trying to find holiness in their ordinary lives.
St Therese’ Writings
“I said to myself: God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can, in spite of my littleness, aspire to holiness. It is impossible for me to grow up, and so I must bear with myself such as I am with all my imperfections. But I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new. "
"We must not be discouraged by our faults, for children fall frequently"
“I (pray) like children who do not know how to read, I say very simply to God what I wish to say, without composing beautiful sentences, and He always understands me.”
“Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be and becoming that person.”
"The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes."
“Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.”
“Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, or even at their difficulty, as at the love with which we do them.”
“A word or a smile is often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul.”
“I should be distressed that I drop off to sleep during my prayers and during my thanksgiving after Holy Communion. But I don’t feel at all distressed. I know that children are just as dear to their parents whether they are sleep or awake and I know that doctors put their patients to sleep before they operate. So I just think that God “knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”
“After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved.”
"My vocation, at last I have found it; my vocation is love."
"Let us love, since that is what our hearts where made for."
“A word or a smile is often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul.”
Works of St Therese
The Carmelites at Lisieux offer all of her works digitally at this page: Works of Therese
Services
Prayer with St Therese | Contemplative prayer service
Music
Gregorian Chants To Therese of Lisieux | Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face
Websites
The Catholic Online site holds a page with an account of Therese's life
This site holds a range of resources, including records of the move to recognise Therese as a Saint, her story, writings and spirituality and references to other sources.
Here is a Video talk by Joe Heschmeyer, seminarian for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, on The Spirituality of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower
Here is short Video story of her life The Story of St Therese of Lisieux
Until we discover the “little way,” we almost all try to gain moral high ground by obeying laws and thinking we are thus spiritually advanced. People like Thérèse of Lisieux who follow this more humble and honest path are invariably more loving, joyful, and compassionate, and have plenty of time for simple gratitude about everything.
—Richard Rohr