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About Saint Therese of Lisieux
Saint Therese of lisieux, a Carmelite nun, who died at 24 years of age from
complications of tuberculosis, was unknown beyond the immediate circle
of her family and sisters in religion.
The Little Flower, as she is often called, Saint Therese of Lisieux became a
saint not by performing great miracles but by doing little things with great
love - putting up with frustrating companions, obeying superiors, finishing
the laundry. So ordinary did she appear that several of the sisters in the
convent were unaware of her remarkable prayer life until after her death.
Saint Therese is a model of those who live in obscurity, their great worth
known only to God.
Spiritual Childhood of Saint Therese
Therese saw herself as a child of god. She liked to keep things simple as a child
does. Unlike some spiritualities with emphasis on complicated practices and
extraordinary journeys of the soul. Therese's spirituality is simple. She called it her
"little way." She teaches us that God is everywhere - in every situation and person -
and in the ordinary, simple details of life.
"Everything is grace" is probably the theme song of her spirituality. Her "little way"
teaches us to do the ordinary things of life with extraordinary love. A smile, a note
of encouragement, a phone call, the positive word, a simple unnoticed task to
brighten the life of another - these are examples of her spirituality. The smallest
action, done with love, is more important than the great deeds done for personal
glory, gratification or simply out of obedience. Therese teaches us that Jesus is
everywhere and is the power for love and goodness operating within us.
In prayer, Therese teaches simplicity - talking to God in direct, personal and
heartfelt ways, she admits she didn't like long prayers. She simply prayed from from
her heart honestly and trustingly as a child to a parent.
The power, appeal and simplicity of her message is why the church declared her a
doctor of 1997.
Many HIV+ people continue to pray to Saint Therese as a "patron saint of people
who are HIV+" and many continue to credit her with showering down blessings in
their lives." Everywhere in the lives of HIV+ people her promise to spend her
heaven doing good upon earth....the shower of roses continue to fall.
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