St. Therese of Lisieux, Virgin and Doctor
of the Church
Birth and childhood
St. Therese of Lisieux was born Marie Françoise Martin on January 2, 1873,
at Alençon, France. Therese is the youngest of nine children - with only five
of them surviving (all girls) to adulthood. Her father was Martin, a watchmaker,
and her mother was Zelie Guerin. When the mother of Therese passed away in
1877, her father moved the family to Lisieux so that Therese and her sisters
could be near an aunt who can help raise the family.
Entering the Carmelite convent at Lisieux
Therese was nearly fourteen when she insistently wanted to enter
the Carmelite convent where her sisters Pauline and Marie entered.
She was refused admission at first because of her youth, but when
she reached the age of 15 years, with a Papal dispensation, she
entered the Carmelite Monastery of Lisieux. She was professed in
1890 and took the religious name she will come to be known by:
Therese of the Child Jesus.
Life as a Carmelite
Therese became afflicted with tuberculosis. However, she bore
her illness with great patience and fortitude. She did not perform
extraordinary things, but rather, she fulfilled her daily duties
in an extraordinary way - in a spirit of love and charity. Soon,
she was appointed novice mistress of the community, in which position
she taught humility and simplicity to the new novices (both in word
and by example). When her older sisters got the idea for her to
write her autobiography, by order of the prioress, which was Pauline
(the eldest sister of Therese), she undertook to write the story
of her life. This autobiography came to be titled, "The Story of
a Soul".
The Story of a Soul
The Story of a Soul is actually composed of three manuscripts:
manuscript A - this is the one asked of Therese by her sister Pauline;
manuscript B - this tells about her "little way", for which she is
famous; and manuscript C - this compiles a memoir of Therese and
her experiences as a Carmelite (this Therese wrote in obedience to
prioress Mother Gonzague, the one who succeeded her sister Pauline).
This book, in one of its editions, is published in only 159 pages and
divided into eleven chapters. Reading the book will truly introduce
the reader not only to the "little way" of Therese, but also how she
lived this spirit in her life as a Carmelite nun in Lisieux.
Death and sainthood
Therese died of tuberculosis in September 30, 1897 at Lisieux. She
immediately attracted a tremendous following as "the Little Flower"
and "the saint of the little way". She was canonized in 1925 by
Pope Pius XI and was declared copatron of the missions (because
of her spiritually encouraging correspondence by letters with
many missionaries), with St. Francis Xavier in 1927. and copatroness
of France with St. Joan of Arc in October 1, 1944. In 1997, one
hundred years after he death, she was declared a Doctor of the Church
by Pope John Paul II. The Church celebrates her feast day every
October 1.
The Story of a Soul is actually composed of three manuscripts:
manuscript A - this is the one asked of Therese by her sister Pauline;
manuscript B - this tells about her "little way", for which she is
famous; and manuscript C - this compiles a memoir of Therese and
her experiences as a Carmelite (this Therese wrote in obedience to
prioress Mother Gonzague, the one who succeeded her sister Pauline).
This book, in one of its editions, is published in only 159 pages and
divided into eleven chapters. Reading the book will truly introduce
the reader not only to the "little way" of Therese, but also how she
lived this spirit in her life as a Carmelite nun in Lisieux.