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Friends of the Rosary,
Today, October 1, the Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), Virgin and Doctor of the Church, more popularly known as “the Little Flower.”
Born in Alençon, France, to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, this nineteenth-century cloistered Carmelite reminds us that holiness can be lived through small acts done with great love — her “Little Way” of confidence and love.
Thérèse’s mother died when she was four, and at age fifteen she followed her two older sisters into the Carmel at Lisieux, France. For the next nine years she lived a very ordinary religious life. There are no miracles, exploits, or austerities recorded of her.
Enduring extreme penances, Thérèse declared, “It is sufficient to acknowledge one’s nothingness and to abandon oneself like a child to God’s arms.”
She attained a very high degree of holiness by carrying out her ordinary daily duties with perfect fidelity, having a childlike confidence in God’s providence and merciful love, and being ready to serve others at all times.
She also had a great love of the Church and a zeal for the conversion of souls. She prayed especially for priests.
She died of consumption on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24, and was canonized in 1925.
She has never ceased to fulfill her promise: “I will pass my heaven in doing good on earth.”
“My God, I love you!” was her final prayer.
Her inner life is known through her autobiography, Story of a Soul.
Ave Maria!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
To Jesus through Mary!
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Please give us the grace to respond with joy!
+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New York
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