Who is Saint Therese of Lisieux?
Thérèse of Lisieux OCD (born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin; 2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), in religion Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, was a French Discalced Carmelite who is widely venerated in modern times. She is popularly known in English as the Little Flower of Jesus, or simply the Little Flower, and in French as la petite Thérèse ('Little Therese').
Therese has been a highly influential model of sanctity for Catholics and for others because of the simplicity and practicality of her approach to the spiritual life. She is one of the most popular saints in the history of the church, although she was obscure during her lifetime. Pope Pius X called her "the greatest saint of modern times".
Therese felt an early call to religious life and, after overcoming various obstacles, in 1888, at age 15, she became a nun and joined two of her elder sisters in the cloistered Carmelite community of Lisieux in Normandy (another sister, Céline, also later joined the order). After nine years as a Carmelite nun, having fulfilled various offices such as sacristan and assistant to the novice mistress, in her last eighteen months in Carmel she fell into a night of faith, in which she is said to have felt Jesus was absent and been tormented by doubts that God existed. Therese died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis.
After her death, Therese became known globally through her spiritual memoir, The Story of a Soul, which explains her theology of the "Little Way". As a result of her immense popularity and reputation for holiness, she was quickly beatified and canonized by Pope Pius XI, who completed the process just 28 years after her death. In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church. Her feast day in the General Roman Calendar was 3 October from 1927 until it was moved in 1969 to 1 October. She is well known throughout the world, with the Basilica of Lisieux being the second most popular place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes.
Therese of Lisieux is one of the most popular Roman Catholic saints since apostolic times. She is approachable, due in part to her historical proximity. Barbara Stewart, writing for The New York Times, once called Therese "the Emily Dickinson of Roman Catholic sainthood".
As a Doctor of the Church, she is the subject of much theological comment and study, and, as a young woman whose message has touched the lives of millions, she remains the focus of much popular devotion. She was a highly influential model of sanctity for Catholics in the first half of the twentieth century because of the simplicity and practicality of her approach to the spiritual life.
Therese was devoted to Eucharistic adoration and on 26 February 1895, shortly before she died wrote from memory and without a rough draft her poetic masterpiece To Live by Love which she had composed during Eucharistic adoration. During her life, the poem was sent to various religious communities and was included in a notebook of her poems.
Therese lived a hidden life and "wanted to be unknown", yet became popular after her death through her spiritual autobiography. She also left letters, poems, religious plays, prayers, and her last conversations were recorded by her sisters. Paintings and photographs – mostly the work of her sister Céline – further led to her becoming known.
Therese said on her death-bed, "I only love simplicity. I have a horror of pretence", and she spoke out against some of the claims made concerning the lives of saints written in her day, "We should not say improbable things, or things we do not know. We must see their real, and not their imagined lives". The depth of her spirituality, of which she said, "my way is all confidence and love", has inspired many believers up to the current day. In the face of her littleness she trusted to God her sanctity. She wanted to go to heaven by an entirely new little way. "I wanted to find an elevator that would raise me to Jesus". The elevator, she wrote, would be the arms of Jesus lifting her in all her littleness.
Therese is best known today for her spiritual memoir, Histoire d'une âme (Story of a Soul). It is a compilation of three separate manuscripts. The first, in 1895 is a memoir of her childhood, written under obedience to the Prioress, Mother Agnes of Jesus, her older sister Pauline. Mother Agnes gave the order after being prompted by their eldest sister, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart.
The second is a three-page letter, written in September 1896, at the request of her eldest sister Marie, who, aware of the seriousness of Therese's illness, asked her to set down her "little doctrine". In June 1897, Mother Agnes asked Mother Marie de Gonzague, who had succeeded her as prioress, to allow Therese to write another memoir with more details of her religious life (ostensibly as a help in the later composition of an anticipated obituary).
While on her deathbed Therese made a number of references to the book's future appeal and benefit to souls. She authorized Pauline to make any changes deemed necessary. It was heavily edited by Pauline (Mother Agnes), who made more than seven thousand revisions to Therese's manuscript and presented it as a biography of her sister. Aside from considerations of style, Mother Marie de Gonzague had ordered Pauline to alter the first two sections of the manuscript to make them appear as if they were addressed to Mother Marie as well. The book was sent out as the customary "circular" advising other Carmels of a nun's death and requesting their prayers. However, it received a much wider circulation, as copies were lent out and passed around.
Since 1973, two centenary editions of Terese's original, unedited manuscripts, including The Story of a Soul, her letters, poems, prayers and the plays she wrote for the monastery recreations have been published in French. ICS Publications has issued a complete critical edition of her writings: Story of a Soul, Last Conversations, and the two volumes of her letters were translated by John Clarke, OCD; The Poetry of Saint Thérèse by Donald Kinney, OCD; The Prayers of St. Thérèse by Alethea Kane, OCD; and The Religious Plays of St. Thérèse of Lisieux by David Dwyer and Susan Conroy.
The devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus was promoted by another Carmelite nun, Sister Marie of St Peter in Tours, France in 1844. Then by Leo Dupont, also known as the Apostle of the Holy Face who formed the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face in Tours in 1851. Therese joined this confraternity on 26 April 1885. Her parents, Louis and Zélie Martin, had also prayed at the Oratory of the Holy Face, originally established by Dupont in Tours. This devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus was based on images of the Veil of Veronica, as promoted by Dupont, rather than the Shroud of Turin, which image first appeared on a photographic negative in 1898.
On 10 January 1889, she was given the habit and received the name Therese of the Child Jesus. On 8 September 1890, Therese made her vows. The ceremony of "taking the veil" followed on the 24th, when she added to her religious name of the Holy Face, an attribute which was to become increasingly important in the development and character of her inner life. In his "A l'ecole de Therese de Lisieux: maitresse de la vie spirituelle", Bishop Guy Gaucher emphasizes that Therese saw the devotions to the Child Jesus and to the Holy Face as so completely linked that she signed herself "Thérèse de l'Enfant Jesus de la Sainte Face". In her poem My Heaven down here, composed in 1895, Therese expressed the notion that by the divine union of love, the soul takes on the semblance of Christ. By contemplating the sufferings associated with the Holy Face of Jesus, she felt she could become closer to Christ.
Therese composed a Consecration to the Holy Face, August 6, 1896 for herself and two other nuns in the Carmel: Geneviève of St Teresa (her biological sister Céline) and Sr Marie of the Trinity. The introduction to the consecration begins, "For a little of this pure Love is more beneficial to the church than all these other works put together... Thus it is of the greatest importance that our souls be exercised much in Love so that being consumed quickly we do not linger long here on earth but soon attain to the vision of Jesus, Face to Face." This consecration greatly affected these 3 nuns, who added "...and the Holy Face" to their religious names. Sister Marie Agnès changed her name to Sister Marie of the Trinity and of the Holy Face and Céline years later (on November 14, 1916) received permission (from Mother Agnes of Jesus (Pauline)) to change her name to "Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face and of Saint Teresa" and is now most commonly known as Sr Genevieve of the Holy Face.
Therese wrote several prayers expressing her draw to Christ's Holy Face in his passion, reflecting her desire to be like Jesus and suffer for the sake of love. She wrote a Canticle to the Holy Face in August 1895 (2 years before her death) saying: "Jesus, Your ineffable image is the star that guides my steps. Ah! You know, Your sweet Face is for me Heaven on earth. My love discovers the charms of Your Face adorned with tears. I smile through my own tears when I contemplate Your sorrows."
Therese emphasized God's mercy in both the birth (Child Jesus) and the passion (Holy Face) narratives in the Gospel. She wrote, "He sees it [his face] disfigured, covered with blood! … unrecognizable! … And yet the divine Child does not tremble; this is what He chooses to show His love".
She composed the Holy Face Prayer for Sinners: "Eternal Father, since Thou hast given me for my inheritance the adorable Face of Thy Divine Son, I offer that face to Thee and I beg Thee, in exchange for this coin of infinite value, to forget the ingratitude of souls dedicated to Thee and to pardon all poor sinners." Over the decades, her poems and prayers helped to spread the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.
Therese has been a highly influential model of sanctity for Catholics and for others because of the simplicity and practicality of her approach to the spiritual life. She is one of the most popular saints in the history of the church, although she was obscure during her lifetime. Pope Pius X called her "the greatest saint of modern times".
Therese felt an early call to religious life and, after overcoming various obstacles, in 1888, at age 15, she became a nun and joined two of her elder sisters in the cloistered Carmelite community of Lisieux in Normandy (another sister, Céline, also later joined the order). After nine years as a Carmelite nun, having fulfilled various offices such as sacristan and assistant to the novice mistress, in her last eighteen months in Carmel she fell into a night of faith, in which she is said to have felt Jesus was absent and been tormented by doubts that God existed. Therese died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis.
After her death, Therese became known globally through her spiritual memoir, The Story of a Soul, which explains her theology of the "Little Way". As a result of her immense popularity and reputation for holiness, she was quickly beatified and canonized by Pope Pius XI, who completed the process just 28 years after her death. In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church. Her feast day in the General Roman Calendar was 3 October from 1927 until it was moved in 1969 to 1 October. She is well known throughout the world, with the Basilica of Lisieux being the second most popular place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes.
Therese of Lisieux is one of the most popular Roman Catholic saints since apostolic times. She is approachable, due in part to her historical proximity. Barbara Stewart, writing for The New York Times, once called Therese "the Emily Dickinson of Roman Catholic sainthood".
As a Doctor of the Church, she is the subject of much theological comment and study, and, as a young woman whose message has touched the lives of millions, she remains the focus of much popular devotion. She was a highly influential model of sanctity for Catholics in the first half of the twentieth century because of the simplicity and practicality of her approach to the spiritual life.
Therese was devoted to Eucharistic adoration and on 26 February 1895, shortly before she died wrote from memory and without a rough draft her poetic masterpiece To Live by Love which she had composed during Eucharistic adoration. During her life, the poem was sent to various religious communities and was included in a notebook of her poems.
Therese lived a hidden life and "wanted to be unknown", yet became popular after her death through her spiritual autobiography. She also left letters, poems, religious plays, prayers, and her last conversations were recorded by her sisters. Paintings and photographs – mostly the work of her sister Céline – further led to her becoming known.
Therese said on her death-bed, "I only love simplicity. I have a horror of pretence", and she spoke out against some of the claims made concerning the lives of saints written in her day, "We should not say improbable things, or things we do not know. We must see their real, and not their imagined lives". The depth of her spirituality, of which she said, "my way is all confidence and love", has inspired many believers up to the current day. In the face of her littleness she trusted to God her sanctity. She wanted to go to heaven by an entirely new little way. "I wanted to find an elevator that would raise me to Jesus". The elevator, she wrote, would be the arms of Jesus lifting her in all her littleness.
Therese is best known today for her spiritual memoir, Histoire d'une âme (Story of a Soul). It is a compilation of three separate manuscripts. The first, in 1895 is a memoir of her childhood, written under obedience to the Prioress, Mother Agnes of Jesus, her older sister Pauline. Mother Agnes gave the order after being prompted by their eldest sister, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart.
The second is a three-page letter, written in September 1896, at the request of her eldest sister Marie, who, aware of the seriousness of Therese's illness, asked her to set down her "little doctrine". In June 1897, Mother Agnes asked Mother Marie de Gonzague, who had succeeded her as prioress, to allow Therese to write another memoir with more details of her religious life (ostensibly as a help in the later composition of an anticipated obituary).
While on her deathbed Therese made a number of references to the book's future appeal and benefit to souls. She authorized Pauline to make any changes deemed necessary. It was heavily edited by Pauline (Mother Agnes), who made more than seven thousand revisions to Therese's manuscript and presented it as a biography of her sister. Aside from considerations of style, Mother Marie de Gonzague had ordered Pauline to alter the first two sections of the manuscript to make them appear as if they were addressed to Mother Marie as well. The book was sent out as the customary "circular" advising other Carmels of a nun's death and requesting their prayers. However, it received a much wider circulation, as copies were lent out and passed around.
Since 1973, two centenary editions of Terese's original, unedited manuscripts, including The Story of a Soul, her letters, poems, prayers and the plays she wrote for the monastery recreations have been published in French. ICS Publications has issued a complete critical edition of her writings: Story of a Soul, Last Conversations, and the two volumes of her letters were translated by John Clarke, OCD; The Poetry of Saint Thérèse by Donald Kinney, OCD; The Prayers of St. Thérèse by Alethea Kane, OCD; and The Religious Plays of St. Thérèse of Lisieux by David Dwyer and Susan Conroy.
The devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus was promoted by another Carmelite nun, Sister Marie of St Peter in Tours, France in 1844. Then by Leo Dupont, also known as the Apostle of the Holy Face who formed the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face in Tours in 1851. Therese joined this confraternity on 26 April 1885. Her parents, Louis and Zélie Martin, had also prayed at the Oratory of the Holy Face, originally established by Dupont in Tours. This devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus was based on images of the Veil of Veronica, as promoted by Dupont, rather than the Shroud of Turin, which image first appeared on a photographic negative in 1898.
On 10 January 1889, she was given the habit and received the name Therese of the Child Jesus. On 8 September 1890, Therese made her vows. The ceremony of "taking the veil" followed on the 24th, when she added to her religious name of the Holy Face, an attribute which was to become increasingly important in the development and character of her inner life. In his "A l'ecole de Therese de Lisieux: maitresse de la vie spirituelle", Bishop Guy Gaucher emphasizes that Therese saw the devotions to the Child Jesus and to the Holy Face as so completely linked that she signed herself "Thérèse de l'Enfant Jesus de la Sainte Face". In her poem My Heaven down here, composed in 1895, Therese expressed the notion that by the divine union of love, the soul takes on the semblance of Christ. By contemplating the sufferings associated with the Holy Face of Jesus, she felt she could become closer to Christ.
Therese composed a Consecration to the Holy Face, August 6, 1896 for herself and two other nuns in the Carmel: Geneviève of St Teresa (her biological sister Céline) and Sr Marie of the Trinity. The introduction to the consecration begins, "For a little of this pure Love is more beneficial to the church than all these other works put together... Thus it is of the greatest importance that our souls be exercised much in Love so that being consumed quickly we do not linger long here on earth but soon attain to the vision of Jesus, Face to Face." This consecration greatly affected these 3 nuns, who added "...and the Holy Face" to their religious names. Sister Marie Agnès changed her name to Sister Marie of the Trinity and of the Holy Face and Céline years later (on November 14, 1916) received permission (from Mother Agnes of Jesus (Pauline)) to change her name to "Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face and of Saint Teresa" and is now most commonly known as Sr Genevieve of the Holy Face.
Therese wrote several prayers expressing her draw to Christ's Holy Face in his passion, reflecting her desire to be like Jesus and suffer for the sake of love. She wrote a Canticle to the Holy Face in August 1895 (2 years before her death) saying: "Jesus, Your ineffable image is the star that guides my steps. Ah! You know, Your sweet Face is for me Heaven on earth. My love discovers the charms of Your Face adorned with tears. I smile through my own tears when I contemplate Your sorrows."
Therese emphasized God's mercy in both the birth (Child Jesus) and the passion (Holy Face) narratives in the Gospel. She wrote, "He sees it [his face] disfigured, covered with blood! … unrecognizable! … And yet the divine Child does not tremble; this is what He chooses to show His love".
She composed the Holy Face Prayer for Sinners: "Eternal Father, since Thou hast given me for my inheritance the adorable Face of Thy Divine Son, I offer that face to Thee and I beg Thee, in exchange for this coin of infinite value, to forget the ingratitude of souls dedicated to Thee and to pardon all poor sinners." Over the decades, her poems and prayers helped to spread the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.
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