Happy Feast of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux! Saint Thérèse, also known as the “Little Flower”, was a Carmelite nun and writer. She is patron of missionaries and a Doctor of the Church. She lived from 1873 – 1897, dying when she was not even 24. What is so remarkable about this young woman is that is is precisely through her “little way” that she became so “great”. “She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, never performed great works. The only book of hers, published after her death, was an brief edited version of her journal called The Story of a Soul
Read more about Thérèse’s life at catholic.org.
Here’s a great quote from Saint Thérèse … and a challenging one!
“I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.”
What “little way” do you practice in your own life?
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Join Sister Maxine and me for prayer on
this Feast day
at 12:00 p.m. noon Central Time (UTC-5)
at anunslife.org/live
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux is one of my fave saints. I read her works this summer. There was a great passage where she asked Jesus to come and take her soul. It was so powerful. It was very moving. Happpy Feat of Saint Thérèse everyone. Jeannie:)
Happy Feast of Saint Therese of Lisieux – The Little Flower
Therese is not only my big sister, she is, in truth, my life saver. At a time when my life was crumbling around me, suicide looked like a real option so that the pain would finally stop. I was driving during a very dark time and began to think that driving the car directly into a tree would do the trick. Suddenly a voice within me said “Pray the rosary”. I knew it was Therese (don’t ask me how I knew, I just knew). I am not a great rosary pray-er, but I do keep one in the car and on my person. I took it out and got “I believe in God” out when all the pain and stress and frustration came pouring out of me in great heaving sobs. And once that was over, I was able to see clearly again. The sun did not shine and the times still were VERY tough, but my sister reminded her “kid brother” that he would not go through this dark vally alone.
THANKS, SIS!!
St. Therese once did me the greatest favor of my life. Her intercession helped pull me out of hopelessness during a very dark period of my life. My favorite quote of hers is written on the wall of a church in NYC “The little way is the way of spiritual childhood. It is the way of trust and absolute self-surrender. My way is a sure one. I am not mistaken in following it.” When I have to face times of hardship, her words become my mantra, especially the part about trust and self-surrender. I began praying to/with her when a brother I know gave me a novena prayer in her honor. He told me,”Be careful what you ask Therese for…she’ll turn your life upside down.” Looking back, I know he was right. Life has never been the same for me since I “friended” her.
Tom –
Your story is beautiful.
You are so generous in your willingness to share this experience with others here, especially in light of questions about Religious life and, let’s face it, the millions and millions of Catholics around the world who struggles with emotional and/or mental health crises and illnesses and, yet, remain – as each of us does – essential members of the church. The MAJORITY of mental illnesses experienced are NOT severe, are NOT psychotic in nature and this majority of mental illnesses need not, beyond acute episodes when and if they occur, be debilitating or frightening and (I await this day in hope) never shameful. We need to understand them – in the same we have to understand the facts of any physical illness and how to manage and live with them – but we need not fear or catastrophize the fact of mental illness among members of our communities, religious or otherwise. History is, there can be no reasonable doubt, occupied by innumerable saints and Religious whose crosses were psychiatric and emotional in nature. We trust that God called those souls to Christ-centered and consecrated lives. There is, again, every reason to believe that God continues to call to Religious life and great service those who bear this cross and bless our lives as they travel their own road to God’s peace.
I am so grateful for you and your story, Tom, on this day as I pray for a friend who is struggling with despair and too far away for me to visit.
Do you know about the book Maurice and Therese: The Story of a Love? Letters from Therese to Fr Maurice, a struggling priest. You may find, in those letters to her little brother, your little sister speaking to you again.
Jean
I am so grateful to St. Therese. I am a young woman who is on the (bumpy) road of converting to Catholicism. I was raised in a secular family, and so converting has been strange and unfamiliar at times. I was initially turned off by St. Therese, thinking she was too pious and goody-goody, too one-dimensional. I didn’t “get it”. This was when I was part of an RCIA inquiry class. Early on, when I met with my RCIA leader, he said some really discouraging things to me. He implied that I could never embrace Catholicism, and that I would leave the church when I got frustrated, and go on to become a Buddhist. This really hurt me, as I looked up to this man, and it was my first “spiritual trial”, I suppose. I was pretty distraught for a while, and felt alienated from the church and from God. One day, when I was putting away laundry, it hit me, totally out of the blue, that St. Therese did not let the ambivalence of the Pope stop her from following her call to God when she entered the convent as a young woman. How could I let a few discouraging words keep me from the love and joy I felt when I am with God? I am so grateful to St. Therese for being so loving and strong and for helping me back to the church. I am totally devoted to her now.
“Everything is grace.”
Therese of Lisieux
My friend Sister Patricia Therese was a great fan of St. Therese. Sister Patricia was a religious hermit and lived in Aguanga, CA. She disappeared a few years ago. Correspondence was part of her mission so I thought it very strange when letters were returned and her PO box was closed. Does anyone have any information about her?
St Therese is one of my great friends and inspirations. There are many times I’ve asked her to help me out and to share with me her strength and courage. I am an Anglican and it took me a while to accept her friendship and intercession, but she was persistent and I’m so glad! Therese’s little way has really helped me to learn how to control myself and to be more gentle with others through the small things.