Feast Day / Saint Thérèse (10/1)

A young woman died at twenty-four years of age on September 30, 1897. The body of Sister Thérèse was taken from the small Carmelite monastery in Lisieux (France) to the municipal cemetery by a few friends. Scarcely anyone noticed.

No sooner was her body committed to the earth than the fragrance of her goodness began to stir the imaginations of multitudes. Her simple and quiet witness to faith, hope and love was shared with other monasteries, first in France then throughout Europe. Soon thereafter the world was ablaze with devotion for one of God’s holy ones. The young woman who sought to live for God anonymously became known to believers and unbelievers alike with an astonishing fervor.

Her profoundly simple approach for ordinary living beautifully resonates with Christians and non-Christians alike: do little things with great love.

Given the religious name Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus and Holy Face when she enters the Carmelite monastery, she is known to most people by her nickname – the Little Flower.  In contrast to the great Carmelites whom she admires like Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross, Thérèse never considered herself able to become such towering spiritual figures rising high from the forest floor, instead desiring only to be a “little flower” amidst the ground cover.

In Thérèse, the Church finds an important truth in her “little way.” That is, the key to a discovering a happy and fulfilling life is found in wholeheartedly giving what one has – time, talent and treasure – however small the gift. Her “little way” emphasizes how we do things, enabling everyone one to grow in virtue for no act done sincerely in love ever can be too small.

To enthusiastic acclaim, Thérèse was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and declared a doctor of the Church by Saint John Paul the Great in 1998. Her feast day is celebrated on October 1.

Saint Therese 6

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