Description

(Edited for modern English, with minor abridgement.) Pope Pius X called Thérèse of Lisieux "the greatest saint of modern times." In a life that spanned just 24 years, how did this obscure French girl become so powerfully inspirational? St. Thérèse was born at Alençon on January 2, 1873. After the death of her mother, she and her surviving family members moved to Lisieux, where she would eventually follow her two sisters into the contemplative life of the Carmel convent. Though only fifteen years of age, the spiritually precocious little postulant had already immersed herself in Christ's ocean of Divine Love. Five years earlier, on the Feast of Pentecost, she had been healed from a serious illness through the intercession of Our Lady of Victories. Then, prior to receiving her First Holy Communion, a year later, Thérèse experienced an unforgettably intimate Spiritual union with Christ. From these experiences, Thérèse began to understand her vocation to pray and sacrifice for priests and missionaries; to become "an apostle to apostles." Yet, she is most remembered for her simplicity and innocence--like spiritual childhood--that became known as "the little way." By following this path, we too find God in every task, every trial and every person. On 9 June 1895, on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, she offered herself to God, as a sacrificial victim. Within a year, she began to suffer from Tuberculosis, the ravaging disease that would soon take her life. Still, she never abandoned the heroic virtue that made her a role model for us all. She passed away on September 30, 1897, but not before writing: "I am not dying, I am entering life." Her final words were, "My God..., I love you!" No brief biography can capture, adequately, the touching story of this beautiful soul. To understand this inspiring saint, and her "little way," we must read her autobiography.