Today, October 1, is the feast of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face.
Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church.
Patron saint of missionaries.
Thérèse was the daughter of St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azelie Guérin Martin. She had four sisters, all of whom became nuns.
Marie-Azelie died of breast cancer when Thérèse was barely four years old, afterwards the family moved to Lisieux, Normandy, France.
Thérèse tried to join the Discalced Carmelites, but since she was under-aged, she was turned down. She went on a pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee of Pope Leo XIII whom she tried to convince to allow her to enter Carmel. At age 15, she joined the Carmelites at Lisieux.
She adhered to the austerities of the Carmelite rule and was plagued with health problems resulting from her battle with tuberculosis.
She became novice mistress at age 20. Two years later, after a conversation with her blood sisters recalling their younger years, their eldest Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart suggested to the prioress, that is, their own sister Pauline/Mother Agnes of Jesus, that Thérèse should write down those memories and reflections. Mother Agnes gave Thérèse formal orders to do so. Thus begun the writing of her memoir, which the world would know as “The Story Of A Soul.”
She is fondly called the “Little Flower” by her devotees. It owes to the fact that she saw herself as a simple and hidden flower, blooming where God planted her.
Thérèse’s doctrine of holiness is known as “The Little Way,” made up of a child-like love and trust in God. Within the cloister, she exchanged letters with the priest-missionaries in French Indochina. Many times she expressed her desire to become a missionary, and promised to pray for them.
She famously said, “After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved…”
She died of tuberculosis in 1897 at the age of 24. She was beatified in 1923 and canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. She was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope Saint John Paul II.