Feast of Saint Thérèse

As today (October 1st) is the feast day of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as Thérèse of the Child Jesus, or the Little Flower, we couldn’t let the opportunity to think about the “little way” pass us by and how it perfectly exemplifies what Fr. William preaches about the saints--those ordinary people who did ordinary things extraordinarily well.

Saint Thérèse is one of the 38 Doctors of the Catholic Church--those people who over the last 2000 years have influenced the theology of the Catholic Church so drastically that they were given a specific honorific title in addition to their title of canonized saints. Of those 38, only 4 are women (St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Hildegard of Bingen) and Saint Thérèse is the one that died the youngest at only 24.

So what does a 24 year old girl living a cloistered life in a convent have to teach us? In one word, love. And in a second word, humility.

Saint Thérèse joined a Carmelite convent in Lisieux at the age of 15, appealing even to the pope, who at the time was Leo XIII (not to confuse with our current pope, Leo XIV), to try to enter the convent even sooner. However, Carmelites are very strict and the little Thérèse struggled with her health as well as the small tasks required of her.

But she persevered, with love and humility, never showing anger when other sisters mocked her or when her superior disciplined and humiliated her. She accepted the remarks, she tried to do better, and she never lost sight of her love, Jesus Christ. She showed us that even without much of a formal education, you can become a great saint.

She had a love for small things, and particularly flowers, hence her nickname of the "Little Flower." One of the metaphors that she uses in her autobiography (The Story of a Soul) is that everyone wants to be a rose, but wouldn’t it be boring if we only had roses in the Spring? Variety is what makes spring so beautiful, even the ugly flowers contribute to the beauty of the whole. And it applies to humans too. She knew she wasn’t perfect, but she offered everything she could willingly and with love--and that’s the essence of her "little way". A path to sanctity without the need for big miracles, without the need to study for years, all in simplicity, humility and more importantly in love, even in small things.

She didn’t just describe her little way, she lived it daily. She said she wanted to “spend her heaven doing good upon the Earth”, and according to many people who received a flower after asking for her intercession, she did and continues to do so ; but what is more striking is that despite suffering and dying from tuberculosis, her last words were “My God, I love you”. Isn’t it a wonderful example of loving God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself?

So for her feast day, I invite you to think about how you are going to show love today. It can be something very small. As long as it’s done with humility, love, and simplicity, you will be heading in the right direction. If you keep walking in the right direction, you will eventually reach your destination, even if you are a little late. The important thing is to never stop, the same way Saint Thérèse never stopped loving.