St. Therese of Lisieux (roses + cross)

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (of Lisieux)

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, also known as Thérèse of Lisieux or the “Little Thérèse”, is one of the most beloved saints of Christian tradition and one of the three Doctors of the Church, together with Teresa of Ávila and Catherine of Siena. This important title is given to religious figures who made an extraordinary contribution to the theology and spirituality of the Christian Church.

Marie-Françoise Thérèse Martin was born on January 2, 1873, in Alençon, Normandy, to Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin, both beatified in 2008. Thérèse was the youngest of nine children and grew up in a deeply Catholic family in which several of her sisters entered religious life.

The death of her mother, when Thérèse was only four years old, deeply marked her childhood. Later, her sister Pauline also entered the convent of the Discalced Carmelites in Lisieux, strengthening young Thérèse’s desire to dedicate herself completely to God.

Despite her young age and fragile health, Thérèse strongly desired to enter the Carmelite convent. After several refusals, she was finally allowed to receive the veil at the age of fifteen, taking the religious name “Thérèse of the Child Jesus”.

Shortly after entering the convent, Thérèse became ill with tuberculosis. During the nine years she spent in the monastery of Lisieux, she endured great physical and spiritual suffering, living with patience, humility and profound trust in God. She accepted misunderstandings, humiliations and moments of deep interior trial with love and sacrifice.

The spirituality of Saint Thérèse was based on the so-called “little way”, the search for holiness through small daily acts performed with love, simplicity and complete surrender to God’s will.

In the final years of her life, Thérèse experienced deep interior suffering and offered her pain for the salvation of souls. She died on September 30, 1897, in the convent of Lisieux at only twenty-four years of age.

She was beatified in 1923 and canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. Even today, thousands of pilgrims visit the Basilica of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, where her relics are preserved in a crystal sarcophagus.

Her spiritual experiences were published two years after her death in the famous book “Story of a Soul” (“L’histoire d’une âme”), one of the most widely read religious autobiographies in the world and translated into more than fifty languages.

According to tradition, Saint Thérèse promised that after her death she would let “a shower of roses” fall from heaven upon the earth, which is why she is often depicted holding roses in her hands.

Iconography: Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus is depicted as a Carmelite nun with roses and a cross.

Feast day: October 1.

Patronage: Patroness of Carmelite sisters and missions, world missions, and secondary patroness of France.