Therese was born to a middle-class French family. Her father, Louis, was a watchmaker, her mother, who died of cancer when Therese was 4, was a lace maker, and both have been declared Venerable by the Church. She was cured from an illness at age eight when a statue of the Blessed Virgin smiled at her. She became a Carmelite nun at age 15.
Therese defined her path to God and holiness as "The Little Way," which consisted of love and trust in God. At the direction of her spiritual director, and against her wishes, she dictated her famed autobiography Story of a Soul. There are many miracles attributed to her. She was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.
"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."
"Saint Therese of Lisieux
Born: January 2, 1873 at Alcon, Normandy, France
Died: September 30, 1897 at Lisieux, France of tuberculosis
Canonized: May 17, 1925 by Pope Pius XI
Also known as: Therese of the Child Jesus, the Little Flower, the Little Flower of Jesus
Readings:
What beauty? I don't see my beauty at all; I see only the graces I've received from God. You always misunderstand me; you don't know, then, that I'm only a little seedling, a little almond.
"Saint Therese of Lisieux
You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.
"Saint Therese of Lisieux