St. Christopher Ladies Guild Woman of the Month

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Any exploration into the life and influence of St. Thérèse of Lisieux prompts one to confront a great paradox: how this young woman, who led such a seemingly unremarkable and sheltered Catholic life on Earth, had such an extraordinary and immense impact on Catholic life after her death. In a rather unprecedented move, Pope Benedict XV declared Thérèse of Lisieux a Saint in 1925. Foregoing the usual 50 year beatification, she was canonized only 28 years after her death. Later in the twentieth century, Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church, one of only three women to receive the title. Yet, her life as a Carmilite nun was relatively undistinguished. She died at the young age of twenty-four from tuberculosis, having traveled no farther than the 20-mile radius surrounding her birthplace, aside from one short trip to the Vatican during her childhood. So how is it that a 24-year old cloistered nun from a small French village, who led a rather humble life with very little worldly experience has come to be known as one of the most venerated saints of our time? 

She was born Thérèse Martin on January 2, 1873, the youngest in a family of five daughters. Her mother and sisters remember Thérèse talking about wanting to be a saint when she was only 4-years old (Edmonson 20). At the age of fourteen, she petitioned the Bishop to allow her to follow in her older sisters’ footsteps and join the Carmelite Order of nuns. When she was denied due to her young age, she traveled to Rome to boldly ask Pope Leo XIII himself. She was eventually granted permission and became a novice at the age of 15, a full six years before the customary age of admission.

Despite her enthusiasm to enter the convent, Thérèse was a rather unimpressive novice. Her fellow Carmelites described her as having pathetic housekeeping abilities and she was often caught falling asleep during long prayer meditations (Gallick 295). In fact, during her time with the Carmelites, she was never recognized as having made any noteworthy accomplishments, she did not excel at any task, and she never drew attention to herself. She remained a novice and died before advancing to the status of full nun.

Saint Thérèse likely would have gone unremembered had it not been for her sister Pauline, then prioress of the Carmelites, who asked Thérèse to write a memoir of her childhood. This memoir was later published posthumously in 1898 by Pauline, exactly one year after Thérèse’s death, and is well-known today as Story of a Soul, An Autobiography of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. It has been translated into sixty different languages, read by millions around the world, and is considered to be a great classic in religious literature (Ahern 8). Written as a journal of quickly generated and spiraling thoughts, Thérèse’s memoir reveals the remarkable inner workings of her pure and simple mind.  In this work, Thérèse guides the reader to better understand her “little way,” explaining how a seemingly ordinary person can live extraordinarily close to God. Indeed, “the little way” connected with thousands of common Catholics, heightened Thérèse’s notoriety, and elevated her stature within the Church. 

While Thérèse’s “little way” may sound refreshingly ordinary and accessible, putting this lifestyle into practice proves extremely challenging for those of us less saintly. Thérèse describes instances in the convent where she found the temperament and personal habits of certain nuns that she lived with to be particularly difficult to tolerate. Especially noteworthy was the shrill sound of one nun scraping her crucifix against her teeth during daily morning prayer, which she claims took her whole will and love of the Lord not to admonish the nun and “to refrain from turning around to give a nasty glare” (King xiii).  Instead, she realized “the more charitable act would be to pretend that the sound was music to Christ’s ears and endure the annoyance in silence” (King 72). Imagine if we were to put this pure and simple mindset into practice the next time we encounter a difficult co-worker, realize the trash wasn’t taken out (again), or we get cut off by an aggressive driver in the parking lot? St. Thérèse teaches us to accept and even cherish the ordinary inconveniences and annoyances that naturally occur in our day to day lives, as they are opportunities to grow closer to Jesus and share in a small part of his own suffering.

Also, central to Thérèse’s “little way” was the intense desire to live her life as though Christ, not herself, had the leading role. In her autobiography, Thérèse mentions the pride she felt when she realized her life-long goal of being utterly unexceptional had been accomplished: she lay on her deathbed in the convent, suffering with tuberculosis, and overheard her fellow Carmelite nuns discussing what to write in her obituary since she had never done anything remarkable (Ahern 5). Ironically, it is in maintaining her modest and rather unworldly, low-profile that Thérèse of Lisieux has gained her widespread fame and recognition as the “saint for our times,” a saint who transcends the cultural and technological changes of the modern world (Ahern 9). Her “little way” continues to inspire regular, common, and ordinary people of today to make little, unseen sacrifices in our daily lives and put God before ourselves. 

As you reflect on the life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux this month, consider praying the St. Thérèse Novena, typically started on September 22nd so as to end on October 1st, the Feast Day of Thérèse of Lisieux. You can find the novena here.