Saint Teresa of Lisieux inspired generations of men and women with her “Story of a Soul,” her spiritual diary, which became a worldwide bestseller and in which they found a gentle, attentive, practical, approachable, authentic teacher.
But who is Teresa?
Teresa was born on January 2, 1873, in Alençon, France. She grew up in a family capable of loving her and teaching her to love. Her childhood was marked, however, by the death of her mother when she was only 4 years old and by a very serious illness from which she recovered through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. The love of her father, her “king,” and of her four sisters helped her grow in serenity and joy.
When one of her sisters enters the Carmelite convent, she understands that this is also her path. In the monastery, she will be able to fulfill her desire to love everyone through Jesus.
The Carmelite convent
Teresa enters the Carmelite convent in Lisieux after going to Rome to ask Pope Leo XIII for permission because of her young age.
She lives with humility, evangelical simplicity, and trust in God. She gives her daily life the unparalleled imprint of a smile, an expression of that joy which, in her words, “does not lie in the objects around us, but resides in the deepest part of the soul.”
When she writes in her diary: “Oh yes, everything will smile on me down here,” she is experiencing injustice and misunderstanding and, already weakened by pulmonary tuberculosis, which appeared in 1896, and exhausted, she refuses no hard work and continues “to throw the flowers of small sacrifices to Jesus.”
Spiritual childhood and the little way
The beautiful pages of her notebooks - later published under the title “Story of a Soul” - reveal the greatness of her spiritual teaching, simple and profound at the same time, drawing from the sources of the Gospel.
Teresa gives her life the highly original imprint of “spiritual childhood,” the “little way,” made up of trust and abandonment to God: “Sleeping in the arms of God our Father.”
By then exhausted by illness, she spent the final three months of her life in the monastery infirmary, always serene and smiling, surrendered like a child in her mother’s arms.
She strives to live, in the little things and in everyday life, her little way of trust and love, the path she wants to point out to the whole world as accessible to everyone.
Thérèse died on September 30, 1897, saying simply: “My God… I love you!”
A champion of holiness
It took Teresa Martin just 24 years to become “the greatest saint of modern times” (Saint Pius X), universal patroness of the Missions (Pius XI), and a Doctor of the Church (Saint John Paul II).
This small yet great woman, who had promised to make a shower of roses fall from heaven, continues to remain faithful to her purpose and make the Church’s garden bloom through her intercession.
She was convinced, in fact, that her mission was to “do good on earth until the end of the world.”
A shower of roses from heaven
Thérèse found a way, all her own, to keep her promise to make a shower of roses fall from heaven.
On December 3, 1925, a Jesuit, Father Putigan, began a novena to Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, asking for an important grace.
To find out whether the novena would bear the desired fruit, he asked for a sign: he wished to receive a fresh rose as a gift. He did not mention it to anyone. On the third day, he received the requested rose and obtained the grace. He began another novena; on the fourth day, a nun brought him a white rose, saying: “Saint Thérèse is sending you this.” Amazed, the priest asked: “Where did you get it?” “I was in the chapel,” the nun said, “and, as I was leaving, I passed in front of the altar above which hangs a beautiful photograph of Saint Thérèse. This rose fell at my feet. I wanted to put it back in the bouquet, but I felt inspired to bring it to you.” Father Putigan received the grace he had asked for and then decided to spread the novena known as the “novena of roses.” A novena that devotees of Saint Thérèse still use today to ask for her intercession.
