St. Theresa of the Child Jesus
(1873-1897)
"I
prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a
pin for love can convert a soul." These are the words of Theresa of the
Child Jesus, a Carmelite nun called the "Little Flower," who lived a
cloistered life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux, France. [In
French-speaking areas, she is known as Thérèse of Lisieux.] And her
preference for hidden sacrifice did indeed convert souls. Few saints of
God are more popular than this young nun. Her autobiography, The Story of a Soul,
is read and loved throughout the world. Thérèse Martin entered the
convent at the age of 15 and died in 1897 at the age of 24.
Life in a Carmelite convent is indeed uneventful and consists mainly
of prayer and hard domestic work. But Theresa possessed that holy
insight that redeems the time, however dull that time may be. She saw in
quiet suffering redemptive suffering, suffering that was indeed her
apostolate. Theresa said she came to the Carmel convent "to save souls
and pray for priests." And shortly before she died, she wrote: "I want
to spend my heaven doing good on earth."
[On October 19, 1997,
Pope John Paul II proclaimed her a Doctor of the Church, the third woman
to be so recognized in light of her holiness and the influence of her
teaching on spirituality in the Church.]
Her parents, Louis and Zélie, were bgeatified in 2008.
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