Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Thérèse Martin was born in Alençon, France, on Jan. 2, 1873. Her parents were Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin. After the death of her mother, Thérèse and her family moved to Lisieux.

On Pentecost in 1883, she was healed of a very serious illness through the intercession of Our Lady of Victories. This was a momentous moment in young Thérèse's life.

She wished to embrace the contemplative life, as her sisters had done in the Carmel of Lisieux, but was turned away due to her young age. On a visit to Italy during an audience granted by Pope Leo XIII to the pilgrims from Lisieux, she asked the Holy Father to be able to enter the Carmel at the age of 15.

Thérèse was granted her request, and on April 9, 1888, she entered the Carmel of Lisieux. She received the habit the following year and made her religious profession on Sept. 8, 1890, on the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In Carmel, she embraced the way of perfection outlined by the Foundress, Saint Teresa of Jesus, fulfilling with genuine fervour the various community responsibilities entrusted to her. Her faith was tested by the sickness of her beloved father, Louis Martin, who died on July 29, 1894. Thérèse nevertheless grew in sanctity, enlightened by the Word of God and inspired by the Gospel to place love at the center of everything. She discovered the little way of spiritual childhood and taught it to the novices entrusted to her care. Seized by the love of Christ, her only Spouse, she dove more deeply into the mystery of the Church and became increasingly aware of her apostolic and missionary vocation.

On the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity in 1895, she offered herself to the merciful Love of God. At that time, she wrote her first autobiographical manuscript. Soon after, she suffered a haemoptysis; she welcomed this event as a mysterious visitation from the Divine Spouse. From this point forward, she entered a trial of faith that would last until her death. During that time, she continued to write fervently about her vocation and love of God.

New graces led her to higher perfection, and she discovered fresh insights for the dispersal of her message in the Church. After she was transferred to the infirmary, her sisters and the other religious women collected her writings. Meanwhile, her sufferings and trials intensified. She accepted them with patience up to the moment of her death. On Sept. 30, 1897, Therese passed into eternal life at the age of 24.

“I am not dying, I am entering life,” she wrote to her missionary spiritual brother. Her final words were “My God…, I love you!”

She was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 17, 1925. The same Pope proclaimed her Universal Patron of the Missions, alongside St. Francis Xavier, on Dec. 14, 1927.

On World Mission Sunday, Oct. 19, 1997, Pope John Paul II officially proclaimed Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Universal Church.