St. Therese- 150 Years
Today we begin our annual Novena to St. Therese of Lisieux (join us in prayer here). As an added bonus for all her devotees this year we also celebrate her 150th birthday. Happy Birthday to our friend in heaven, the Little Flower of Jesus, St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face!
The article below is taken from Carmelite Bulletin, Autumn 2023.
The door opened and the family physician emerged with a smile to announce that a baby girl had been born to Louis and Zelie Martin. Her name was to be Marie Francoise Therese. The date was January 2, 1873. Therese grew up in a loving and caring family but suffered the loss of her mother at the tender age of four. Her older sister Pauline took charge of the training of young Therese and her sister Celine until Pauline entered the Carmelite monastery in Lisieux, France.
Although Celine was older by four years, the two became inseparable companions. Therese was later to write in her autobiography, “Story of A Soul”, a composite of vivid memories of early childhood attesting to a firm and devout family life amidst the ordinary hurdles encountered in most households. Her clearsighted vision with unwavering determination to please God alone and to draw others to do so led her to pursue Carmelite life at the age of fifteen. Two of her older sisters, Pauline and Marie, had already preceded her.
In Carmel Therese found in her companions a garden of sorts, a whole variety of flowers and as it were, of roses amid thorns. With eyes fixed on Jesus, her beloved, Therese sought to love them as Jesus loved, the words of the gospels becoming her chief source of spiritual nourishment. In her memoir, Celine writes of her sister that devotion to the Holy Face was the crown and complement of her love for the Sacred Humanity of our Lord.
Gradually, she came to learn and appreciate her own nothingness and utter dependence on him. She saw herself as one of the little children so loved by Jesus. Therese realized that this teaching of childlike dependency was to be passed on through her to others by way of example and words. Through her own autobiography and other writings this has come to fulfillment.
Her expansive love for all of humanity unfolded as she recognized her personal call to be “love in the heart of the Church.” His great love must be repaid by love alone. Therese sought to carry out these inner promptings of the Holy Spirit by numerous acts of love unseen by others. By this means she spiritually accompanied priests and fulfilled her strong missionary aspirations. Thus today, she is called Co-Patroness of the Missions alongside of St. Francis Xavier.
As her physical health declined, her understanding and hope grew stronger while enveloped in darkness. Abandoning herself to merciful Love the veil parted for her entry to eternal glory on Sept. 30, 1897. In his apostolic letter “The Science of Divine Love” – Oct. 19, 1997, Pope St. John Paul II wrote “The reception given to the example of her life and Gospel teaching in our century was quick, universal and constant – as if in imitation of her precious spiritual maturity, her holiness was recognized by the Church in the space of a few years.” To diffuse the wealth of her wisdom, Pope St. John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church in 1997.
Today, some one hundred and fifty years later we can join with her parents, Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, to celebrate her birth which took its origin in the overflowing goodness of God. She gladly imparts favors and wisdom to all who come to know her and seek her powerful intercession.
From the garden of Carmel, our Mother St. Teresa of Jesus, who initiated the Discalced Carmelite life in Avila, Spain joins her in glory for a festive “Happy Birthday.” Here at Carmel we will keep the feasts of our two Saints, both now doctors of the Church, preceding each with a novena to include all your special intentions.
Above image: “Dream of the Child Jesus” by St. Therese of Lisieux
Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson – Classic Catholic Art
