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Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
by Bernadette Vesco
"Whosoever therefore, shall humble himself as this
little child,
he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt.
18:4)
Saint Thérèse of
Lisieux’s short life was not distinguished by extraordinary
accomplishments, at least not the kind that are equated to greatness from the
standard of the modern world.
She led a hidden life, modeled
after that of the Holy Family at Nazareth, who lived unnoticed in their simple
surroundings. Imitating the Blessed Virgin Mary, Thérèse’s
"eminent virtues and graces were likewise hidden under the simplicity of her
actions".1
Born in 1873,
Thérèse Martin was only fifteen years old when she entered the
Carmelite Convent of Lisieux. She was 24 when she died of tuberculosis. Yet
within her short life this little flower of God reached the great heights of
sanctity, composing a "Little Way" to Heaven that would prove a sure path to
holiness, and the spiritual childhood outlined by Our Lord in the Gospel.
Her life, which she described
in her autobiography The Story of a Soul, was filled with humiliations
and sacrifices which advanced her swiftly in sanctity. Maintaining that she was
a "very little soul", she alleged that even the smallest and most flawed souls
could follow her Way through love, sacrifice and perseverance, and surely
attain the gardens of Heaven.
Thérèse often
pondered the fact that there is such a disparity between souls, some of whom
are blessed to live their whole lives as great saints, while others are deeply
flawed and continuously fall along their journey.
She wondered how the smaller,
flawed souls could be assured of Heaven, since they were much weaker than the
greater souls. This saint, who believed herself to be one of the deeply flawed
souls, prayed fervently to be enlightened on the subject, and described her
enlightenment in her autobiography:
"[Jesus] opened the book of
nature before me, and I saw that every flower He has created has a beauty of
its own, that the splendor of the rose and the lily’s whiteness do not
deprive the violet of its scent nor make less ravishing the daisy’s charm.
I saw that if every little flower wished to be a rose, Nature would lose her
spring adornments, and the fields would no longer be enameled with their varied
flowers.
"So it is in the world of
souls, the living garden of the Lord. It pleases Him to create great saints,
who may be compared with the lilies or the rose, but He has also created little
ones, who must be content to be daisies or violets, nestling at His feet to
delight His eyes when He should choose to look at them. The happier they are to
be as He wills, the more perfect they are.
"I saw something further: that
Our Lord’s love shines out just as much through a little soul who yields
completely to His Grace as it does through the greatest. True love is shown in
self-abasement, and if everyone were like the saintly doctors who adorn the
Church, it would seem that God had not far enough to stoop when He came to them
… What delights Him is the simplicity of these flowers of the field, and
by stooping so low to them, He shows how infinitely great He is. Just as the
sun shines equally on the cedar and the little flower, so the Divine Sun shines
equally on everyone, great and small."2
Thus, though Saint
Thérèse of Lisieux is one of the roses of Our Lord’s garden,
her encouragement for all souls, especially the least, is of the greatest value
to those of us who despair that we will never rise above our own lowliness. On
the contrary, St. Thérèse teaches us that we should not dwell on
our faults and imperfections, but instead recognize and rejoice in our
smallness, for this condition will surely get us to Heaven if we persevere.
St. Thérèse’s Little
Way
St. Thérèse,
believing herself incapable of reaching the lofty heights of a sanctity
consisting in great acts and perfection, sought to become a saint and reach
Heaven through a different means: her "Little Way".
 The
Little Way of St. Thérèse is a "simplifying" of our spiritual
life in an assured union with God. It consists in love, perseverance and
childlike trust. Neither fear nor discouragement can daunt a simple child of
God who lives this Way, who is always dependant on God’s strength and
acknowledges his own smallness.
In her autobiography, Saint
Thérèse explained her Little Way. First picture yourself as the
smallest of children. Then she says:
"By the practice of all the
virtues, raise your little foot in an attempt to mount the stairway of
sanctity, but do not imagine that you will be able to go up even the first
step. God only asks for your good intentions. At the top of the stairway, He
watches you lovingly. Soon, His love will be conquered by your vain efforts and
He will come down Himself to carry you up in His arms ... ‘Remaining
little’ means that we recognize our own nothingness, that we await
everything from the goodness of God, as a little child expects everything
from its father, that we are not solicitous about anything, and that we do
not think about amassing spiritual riches. Even amongst the poor, a child
receives what is necessary while he is still small; once he is grown up, his
father will no longer keep him, but tells him to work and support himself. It
was to avoid hearing this that I have never wished to grow up, for I feel
incapable of earning my livelihood, which is Eternal Life. That is why I have
remained little; my only care has been to gather flowers of love and sacrifice
and to offer them to God for His good pleasure."
She further explained: "To be
little means that we do not attribute to ourselves the virtues we practice, as
if we were capable of any good; we recognize that God has placed this treasure
in the hand of His little child and that the treasure is always His ... To be
little means that we are never discouraged at our faults, for, although
children often fall, they are too small to hurt themselves seriously."
In the Little Way of St.
Thérèse, the flowers of small, everyday sacrifices are the
greatest proofs of our love for God: they are how we "win Him". Examples from
this Carmelite nun’s life exemplify this perfectly: through her sacrifices
in every possible situation, from suffering in silence for God’s love to
withholding a harsh comment and instead offering a smile, she conquered her own
strong will and human self-love.
Once, when
Thérèse was washing dirty laundry, another Sister kept
unknowingly splashing her with dirty water. Sister Thérèse
described how she was tempted to step back and wipe the water from her face as
a signal to that Sister that she was being splashed, but instead remembered to
offer this mortification as a sacrifice to God.
She said, "why be foolish
enough to refuse treasures offered so generously? I took care to hide my
exasperation. I tried hard to enjoy being splashed with dirty water, and by the
end of half an hour, I had acquired a real taste for this novel form of
aspersion. How fortunate to find this spot where such treasures were being
given away! I would come back as often as I could."
Perpetual mortifications in
daily acts and duties are perhaps harder than any other form of penance for
poor human nature, so inclined to impatience.3 Fighting our own
self-will relentlessly in everything we do, day after day, is certainly no
small matter. Thus we see that small, everyday sacrifices are not trivial. On
the contrary, they are "treasures", and the means by which
Thérèse flew so quickly to the lofts of sanctity.
Thérèse’s Love for
Souls
Before her entrance into the
Carmel of Lisieux, Thérèse pondered her specific vocation and,
"for a while, she hesitated in her choice between the active vocation of a
missionary and the contemplative life of Carmel; she felt a very strong
attraction for the distant missions, but the voice of Jesus called her to a
more hidden and more intimate life with Himself".4
Thérèse’s
sister Céline, with whom she often discussed the decision, described
Thérèse’s vocation in this way: "The religious life seemed
to Thérèse above all a means of saving souls. For that reason,
she thought of joining the foreign missions, but the hope of saving a greater
number of souls by mortification and self-sacrifice made her decide to become a
Carmelite. She considered that it is harder for our nature to work without ever
seeing the fruit of its labor, without encouragement, and without any kind of
diversion, and that the most trying work of all is self-conquest; she chose
'this living death’ because it is the surest way of gaining
souls".5
In addition to the strong pull
she felt coming from Carmel, another grace was given to Thérèse
to understand the mystical form of her great apostolic calling. One Sunday, as
she closed her book after Mass, a picture of Our Lord on the cross slipped
partly out, exposing just one of His Sacred Hands:
An unutterable feeling of
sorrow, such as she had never previously experienced, penetrated her heart at
the sight of this adorable Hand, pierced and bleeding, which seemed to plead
for love that should be given to the abandoned Savior. Instantly came her
loving response, for she tells us: "I resolved to remain ever at the foot of
the cross, in order that I might receive His Precious Blood and pour it down
upon souls."
This zeal for the salvation
of souls grew ever more intense, and, in her mind, there echoed the words of
the dying Savior: "I thirst", enkindling "a hitherto-unknown and very
ardent fire" of love in her heart. She longed to quench the thirst for souls,
and her apostolic zeal counted on miracles such as were accorded to the
Apostles after Pentecost.
A hard-hearted bandit,
seducer, and murderer, named Pranzini, was the first to benefit by her
consuming zeal. All the newspapers of the time recounted a threefold shocking
murder committed by this miserable criminal, who had been condemned to the
scaffold and deserved it on many counts. The news penetrated even to
Thérèse’s quiet home circle. Thérèse, who now
became an ardent "fisher of souls", at once determined to "cast her net to
capture this enormous fish." In other words, she was bent on converting that
most depraved and impenitent of men, and for that purpose employed all the
spiritual means in her power, deciding at once on the surest means of gaining
the victory, as she herself tells us: "Knowing that of myself I could do
nothing, I offered for his ransom the infinite merits of our Redeemer and the
treasures of holy Church." Her faith did not falter, but, in order to gain
courage in her quest for souls, she turned to Heaven and prayed in her
characteristically simple and confident way: "My God, I am quite sure Thou wilt
pardon this miserable Pranzini; I should believe this even if he did not
confess his sins nor give any sign of contrition, because I have confidence in
Thy unbounded Mercy. But as he is my first sinner, I beg for a sign of
repentance for my own consolation."
Although she did not usually
read the newspapers, Thérèse now eagerly scanned the pages of
La Croix, just to learn about Pranzini. The day after his execution, she
hastily opened the paper to get final news of the unhappy murderer, and this is
what she read: "On the threshold of the prison, the assassin looked deadly
pale. The chaplain went before him, to hide the hideous guillotine from view;
others were helping him along. He pushed aside the priest and the executioners.
When he came to the block, Diebler pushed him down. But before that, his
conscience was evidently touched by sudden repentance, for he asked the
chaplain for his crucifix, which he kissed three times." And the Catholic paper
commented: "If human justice was satisfied by his death, perhaps this last kiss
of the crucifix satisfied Divine Justice, which asks only for
repentance".6
This sign confirmed
Thérèse in her unique role as "fisher of souls", as it was in
looking at the Wounds of Jesus the thirst for souls took possession of her, and
now the final act of her "first sinner" was "to place his confidence in these
Sacred Wounds by kissing the crucifix three times".7
Thérèse,
devoting herself to the hardest of sinners, was already setting an example for
responding to the sad plea Our Lady of Fatima would make only thirty years
later: "Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls
go to hell because they have no one to make sacrifices and pray for them."
Thérèse understood that by "fishing for souls" through her Little
Way of love and sacrifice, she could be assured of a most abundant catch.
Pope Pius XI, who canonized
Thérèse in 1925, proclaimed her the co-patron of foreign
missions, placing her alongside the great missionary St. Francis Xavier. The
reason Pius XI gave for this special role was the fervent love
Thérèse had for souls and for the missions "that were so dear to
her and the inspiration of her most burning accents".8 From her
convent she had been the spiritual Sister of two missionary priests, with whom
she kept a correspondence and for whom she especially prayed.
It was
Thérèse’s love for God that reflected so clearly in her
dedication to souls: in the silence of her cloister, the flame of love in
Thérèse’s heart inspired her with an ever-increasing zeal
for souls. She yearned to save souls. Her zeal, however, was always in
accordance with her Little Way. She knew that "the most ordinary sacrifices, if
made for love of God, delight His Divine Heart." Her aim was the salvation of
souls; and for this end she offered her most ordinary actions — even the
picking up of a pin — as acts of love to God’s most Merciful Love.
Her smallest actions were laden with eternal life.9
Even through the intense agony
of her fatal illness, her heart remained inflamed with the love for souls,
saying "I would never have believed that it was possible to suffer to such an
extent; I can only understand it through my intense desire to save souls."
Thérèse’s Mission
—
Her Shower of Roses
Throughout her life
Thérèse had the premonition that she would not live long in this
world. She understood that her life’s mission, loving God and saving
souls, would only be fully realized after death. As she lay dying she said, "I
believe that my mission is about to begin — my mission to make others love
God as I love Him — to teach souls my Little Way. I wish to spend
Heaven doing good upon earth ... I count on not being idle in Heaven, for
it is my wish to work for the Church and souls. I ask this grace of God, and
I am certain that He will grant it ... You will see. After my death, I
shall let fall a shower of roses."
Is it any wonder that God
could not refuse the ardent desires of His dear flower Thérèse?
She promised to return to earth and do good after her death, and the saint has
truly kept her word. Immediately after her death Thérèse began
showering souls with the blossoms of God’s love, and her answers to the
prayers of souls still on earth were so striking, prompt and numerous that, for
her Canonization, the Church shortened the delays customary in the Canonization
of Saints.
There are numerous documented
miracles, conversions and answered petitions attributed to the intercession of
the Little Flower; and there are certainly a great many more that are recorded
only in the hearts of those who have been aided by her. Clearly, St.
Thérèse of Lisieux is one of those saints to whom anyone can turn
in time of need, sure of being answered.
She lovingly helps the poorest
and lowest of creatures, in both spiritual and temporal needs. Very often the
answer to a petition to St. Thérèse will be accompanied by a
rose, in one form or another, sent to the petitioner. This sign of heavenly
favors is the literal fulfillment of her dying promise to "let fall a shower of
roses." She has converted the most hardened of sinners, cured "incurable"
diseases, and interceded in the most dire circumstances.
Roses are
Thérèse’s special signature. They are her way of "whispering
to those who need a sign that she has heard, and God is responding. Thousands
of people have given witness to the way Thérèse responds to their
petitions and prayers with grace and roses." Many miracles have occurred
through St. Thérèse’s intercession without the appearance of
a visible rose: "usually the deep inner peace of accepting God’s will and
seeing His loving plan and presence is the 'rose’
experienced".10
It is impossible to even begin
to describe the assistance that Thérèse has provided to the
living since her death. "The succinct accounts of marvels of help, healing,
conversion, forewarning, and vision fill seven volumes, entitled Showers of
Roses, and they form only a drop in the torrent of testimonies that
ceaselessly flows into the convent at Lisieux. Sister Thérèse is
everywhere and her solicitude passes nobody by: ... a young priest is
instantaneously cured of advanced tuberculosis and henceforward has perfect
health; a blind girl sees Thérèse and at once recovers normal
sight; the prioress of an Italian convent, unable to meet her bills, finds
sufficient money in an empty desk; a Presbyterian minister in Edinburgh is led
by her into the Church; ... a motor-car is held back on the edge of a cliff by
people calling on Thérèse; one of the petals from her crucifix
banishes a cancer of the tongue ... There is scarcely a country which has not
seen her benefactions or where her name is not invoked: her holiness is clear,
her miracles undeniable".11
Saint Thérèse of
Lisieux’s Little Way of spiritual childhood is the path to holiness that
Christ commanded of us in the Gospel when He said, "Whosoever, therefore, shall
humble Himself as this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of
Heaven." (Matt. 18:4).
Recognizing the efficacy of
her Little Way and the supernatural wisdom of St. Thérèse, in
1997 Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church, stating:
"Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face is the youngest of
all the 'Doctors of the Church’, but her ardent spiritual journey shows
such maturity, and the insights of faith expressed in her writings are so vast
and profound that they deserve a place among the great spiritual
masters".12
The Little Way of St.
Thérèse should encourage us in our daily fight to attain our
salvation, for it does not overwhelm us with unattainable demands, but inspires
us with confidence and diligence. For, as St. Thérèse said,
"Sanctity does not consist in the practice of certain exercises of piety, but
in a disposition of the heart which makes us humble and little in the arms of
God, conscious of our weakness, but confiding — unhesitatingly — in
His Fatherly Goodness." Let us therefore strive to humble ourselves as the
smallest children of God and, by means of the everyday sacrifices of the Little
Way of St. Thérèse, earn our rewards as flowers in the heavenly
garden.
Footnotes:
1. Morteveille, Blanche. The Rose Unpetaled: St.
Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Translated by Mother Paula O.S.B.
The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee: 1942, p. 209.
2. The Story of a Soul.
3. The Rose Unpetaled: St. Thérèse of
the Child Jesus, p. 147.
4. Ibid, p. 77.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid, pp. 89-90.
7. Ibid, p. 90.
8. Ibid, p. 240.
9. Ibid, p. 190.
10. Society of the Little Flower website.
11. Gheon, Henri. Secret of the Little Flower, St.
Thérèse of Lisieux.
12. Homily of Pope John Paul II as he proclaimed St.
Thérèse a Doctor of the Church (October 19, 1997).
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