“I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.”- Saint Therese of Lisieux
Louis and Zélie, who are both saints, welcomed St. Thérèse into the world on January 2, 1873 in Alençon, France. She was raised by her father and older sisters after her mother passed away when she was four.
St. Thérèse experienced a deep and personal union with God on Christmas Day in 1886. She referred to this experience as a "complete conversion." She requested and received permission from Pope Leo XIII to enter the Carmelite Monastery at the tender age of 15 over a year later, in 1887, at a papal audience while on a pilgrimage to Rome.
Upon entering the convent, she committed herself to leading a holy life, approaching everything with love and a childlike faith in God. Despite her struggles in the convent, she decided to try to be kind to everyone, even the people she didn't like. She always made small sacrifices and charitable deeds, regardless of how insignificant they may have appeared. As a result of these deeds, she had a better understanding of her vocation.
In her memoirs, she stated that although she was a nun in a sedate cloister in France, she had always dreamed of being a missionary, an apostle, and a martyr.
On the feast day of the Most Holy Trinity, June 9, 1895, Thérèse dedicated herself as a sacrifice to the forgiving Love of God. The following year, on the eve of Good Friday, she became ill with the first signs of tuberculosis, the disease that would ultimately claim her life.
Thérèse welcomed the suffering as a response to her offering from the previous year and saw in her illness the enigmatic visitation of the divine Spouse. Additionally, she started a difficult struggle of faith that persisted for the next year and a half until her death.
Her "little way" of loving God and neighbor has inspired millions of people since her passing. Her intercession has been linked with numerous miracles.
A century after her death at the age of 24, Saint Thérèse was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1997. She is just the third woman, following Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Catherine of Siena, to receive such a title.
Other Saints of the Day
Saint Bavo
Saint Virila
Saint Ralph Crockett
Saint Romanus the Melodist
Saint Nicetius of Trier