St Therese of Lisieux

 

 

 

 

 

St Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897) was a French Catholic who became a Carmelite nun at an early age. She died in obscurity at the age of 26. However, after her death, her autobiography – Story of a Soul was published and became a best-seller around the world. Her books explained her spiritual path of love and selflessness, and she became one of only three females to be considered a doctor of the Catholic Church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From an early age, it was Therese’s ambition and desire to be a saint. She was born into a pious and loving Catholic family. She remembers the idyll of her early childhood, spending time with her parents and five sisters in the un-spoilt French countryside. However, this early childhood idyll was broken by the early death of her Mother (from breast cancer). Aged only four years old, she felt the pain of separation and instinctively turned to the Virgin Mary for comfort and reassurance. The next couple of years of St Therese’s’ life was a period of inner turmoil. She was unhappy at school, where her natural precociousness and piety made other school children jealous. Eventually, her father agreed for Therese to return home and be taught by her elder sister, Celine.

 

 

She enjoyed being taught at home; however, after a while, her eldest sister decided to leave home and enter the local Carmel Convent at Lisieux. This made Therese feel like she had lost her second mother. Shortly afterwards Therese experienced a painful illness, in which she suffered delusions. The doctors were at a loss as to the cause. For three weeks she suffered from a high fever. Eventually, Therese felt completely healed after her sister’s placed a statue of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the bed. Therese felt her health and mental state returned to normal very quickly. Soon after on Christmas Eve 1884, she recounts having a remarkable conversion of spirit. She says she lost her inclination to please herself with her own desires. Instead, she felt a burning desire to pray for the souls of others and forget herself. She says that on this day, she lost her childhood immaturity and felt a very strong calling to enter the convent at the unprecedented early age of fifteen.

St Therese was drawn to pray for sinners. Although her father tried to keep newspapers out of the house, she became aware of the notorious – unrepentant killer Henri Pranzini, who was due to be executed in 1887. Therese prayed for his last-minute conversion and was able to read in the newspaper of his last-minute grab for a crucifix as he approached the scaffold. He kissed the wounds of Jesus three times before being guillotined.