Name: St Therese of Lisieux

Lived: 1873 - 1897

Patron Saint of missions and florists

Feast Day: 1^st October

Bio: Therese was born in France in 1873, the pampered daughter of a mother who had wanted to be a saint and a father who had wanted to be monk. Her parents had nine children, five of which were girls who were all very close.

Tragedy and loss came quickly to Therese when her mother died of breast cancer when she was four and a half years old. Her sixteen-year-old sister Pauline became her second mother -- which made the second loss even worse when Pauline entered the Carmelite convent five years later. A few months later, Therese became so ill with a fever that people thought she was dying.

The worst part of it for Therese was all the people sitting around her bed staring at her like, she said, "a string of onions." When Therese saw her sisters praying to statue of Mary in her room, Therese also prayed. She saw Mary smile at her and suddenly she was cured. She tried to keep the grace of the cure secret, but people found out and badgered her with questions about what Mary was wearing, what she looked like. When she refused to give in to their curiosity, they passed the story that she had made the whole thing up.

Without realising it, by the time she was eleven years old she had developed the habit of mental prayer. She would find a place between her bed and the wall and in that solitude think about God, life, eternity.

Therese would often have emotional outbursts and would cry at the tiniest things. She really wanted to join the Carmelite convent but was worried that others would think she would be able to handle the rigour of a Carmelite life. So she prayed to Jesus for the inner strength to handle life’s emotions.

After her conversion at Christmas, where her emotional fortitude was tested and she succeeded through prayer, Therese joined the Carmelite convent where her sisters were. However, the Mother superior refused to take her because she was so young. Therese decided to go to the Bishop to ask for his approval. She was refused again! This time she went to the Vicar General, who was so impressed by her courage, gave his blessing to join the Carmelite convent where her sisters were.

Not long after this, Therese’s father suffered a series of strokes that affected him physically and mentally. He was taken to an insane asylum and as a cloistered nun, Therese was unable to visit him. This upset her greatly and affected her ability to pray. It was during this time that she began showing her love through small deeds. The small deed was to spread flowers, which she considered a small sacrifice. Therese was also known as the “little flower".

Quote:

“Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.”