St Thérèse of Lisieux St Thérèse of Lisieux, who is also known as the Little Flower has made a tremendous impact on the Church of our time. Although she lived in an isolated contemplative monastery the story of her life and faith journey, she wrote on the request of her superior, has spoken to many people, Christians and unbelievers alike. In 1898, just a year after her death, the diary was distributed in thousands copies which quickly increased to millions of copies. Although she didn’t complete any prestige university and eventually died at the age of 24 John Paul II, after having received many requests from all over the world, declared St Thérèse a Doctor of the Church There are 35 saints which have been recognized as Doctors of the Church, among them there are St Augustin, St Thomas Aquinas, St John of the Cross, St Catherine of Siena, St Bernard of Clarivaux, St Alphonsus Ligouri Their teaching is marked by such depth, universality, orthodoxy and knowledge that it can be useful to any Christian in any period of time. What JPII acknowledged on October 19, 1997 was the belief already treasured among Catholics about spiritual uniqueness and brilliance of the writings of that young Carmelite nun. John Paul announced his decision first at the end of the World Youth Day in Paris on August 24, 1997. By such timing he offered to the young people “a teacher” who was not much older than most of them but who was determined to live the teaching she discovered through her prayer, reflection and daily practice.
This youngest Doctor of the Church has been honoured not only with some title but the Church has entrusted he with significant “responsibilities.”
When in 1914, at the outset of WW1 Pope Pius X introduced her canonisation cause he already called her “the greatest Saint of the modern times.” Pope Pius XI who beatified her in 1923 and canonised her in 1925 he called her “the greatest star of his pontificate.” Then the responsibilities started being given to the young Saint. Two years after she was canonised, St Thérèse of Lisieux was declared patroness of all Catholic missions together with St Francis Xavier. St Francis was a great missionary who spent his life in foreign lands preaching the Gospel, St Thérèse spent her life for evangelisation in her Carmelite monastery where she lived, prayed and suffered for missions. When badly exhausted by tubercularises she was in constant pain she was seen taking walks in the monastery. When asked what she was doing she answered: “I am walking for the missions.” She took upon herself an additional sacrifice to support those who were toiling for salvation of souls.
St Thérèse of Lisieux learnt this profound science in the heart of the Church as she wrote one day:
"To become, through my union with you, a mother of souls - surely that ought to be enough for anybody? But somehow, not for me; I seem to have so many other vocations as well! I feel as if I were called to be a fighter, a priest, an apostle, a doctor, a martyr... Dear Jesus, how am I to reconcile these conflicting ambitions, how am I to give substance to the dreams of one insignificant soul? I decided to consult St. Paul's epistles, in the hopes of getting an answer....
St. Paul explains in I Corinthians 13 that all the gifts of heaven, even the most perfect of them, without love, are absolutely nothing: charity is the best way of all, because it leads straight to God. Now I was at peace. Charity - that was the key to my vocation. If the Church was a body compos-ed of different members, it couldn't lack the noblest of all; it must have a heart, and a heart BURNING WITH LOVE. And I realised that this love was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function the Apostles would forget to preach the Gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. LOVE, IN FACT, IS THE VOCAT-ION WHICH INCLUDES ALL OTHERS; IT'S A UNIVERSE OF ITS OWN, COMPRISING ALL TIME AND ALL SPACE - IT'S ETERNAL! Beside myself with joy, I cried out: 'Jesus my Love! I've found my vocation, and my vocation is love'. I had discovered where it is that I belong in the Church, the niche God has appointed for me. To be nothing else than love, deep down in the heart of Mother Church: that's to be everything at once - my dream wasn't a dream after all."
Probably she didn’t expect that her passionate search for her place in the Church, which is contained in the above passage, a hundred years later will be “utilised” by the same Catholic Church she loved so much in the Catechism n. 826, where it is quoted to to explain the Churches’ nature and meaning.
This youngest Doctor of the Church has been honoured not only with some title but the Church has entrusted he with significant “responsibilities.”
When in 1914, at the outset of WW1 Pope Pius X introduced her canonisation cause he already called her “the greatest Saint of the modern times.” Pope Pius XI who beatified her in 1923 and canonised her in 1925 he called her “the greatest star of his pontificate.” Then the responsibilities started being given to the young Saint. Two years after she was canonised, St Thérèse of Lisieux was declared patroness of all Catholic missions together with St Francis Xavier. St Francis was a great missionary who spent his life in foreign lands preaching the Gospel, St Thérèse spent her life for evangelisation in her Carmelite monastery where she lived, prayed and suffered for missions. When badly exhausted by tubercularises she was in constant pain she was seen taking walks in the monastery. When asked what she was doing she answered: “I am walking for the missions.” She took upon herself an additional sacrifice to support those who were toiling for salvation of souls.
St Thérèse of Lisieux learnt this profound science in the heart of the Church as she wrote one day:
"To become, through my union with you, a mother of souls - surely that ought to be enough for anybody? But somehow, not for me; I seem to have so many other vocations as well! I feel as if I were called to be a fighter, a priest, an apostle, a doctor, a martyr... Dear Jesus, how am I to reconcile these conflicting ambitions, how am I to give substance to the dreams of one insignificant soul? I decided to consult St. Paul's epistles, in the hopes of getting an answer....
St. Paul explains in I Corinthians 13 that all the gifts of heaven, even the most perfect of them, without love, are absolutely nothing: charity is the best way of all, because it leads straight to God. Now I was at peace. Charity - that was the key to my vocation. If the Church was a body compos-ed of different members, it couldn't lack the noblest of all; it must have a heart, and a heart BURNING WITH LOVE. And I realised that this love was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function the Apostles would forget to preach the Gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. LOVE, IN FACT, IS THE VOCAT-ION WHICH INCLUDES ALL OTHERS; IT'S A UNIVERSE OF ITS OWN, COMPRISING ALL TIME AND ALL SPACE - IT'S ETERNAL! Beside myself with joy, I cried out: 'Jesus my Love! I've found my vocation, and my vocation is love'. I had discovered where it is that I belong in the Church, the niche God has appointed for me. To be nothing else than love, deep down in the heart of Mother Church: that's to be everything at once - my dream wasn't a dream after all."
Probably she didn’t expect that her passionate search for her place in the Church, which is contained in the above passage, a hundred years later will be “utilised” by the same Catholic Church she loved so much in the Catechism n. 826, where it is quoted to to explain the Churches’ nature and meaning.
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