Saints

St. Therese of Lisieux

"The Little Flower"

Therese was born into  a Catholic French family in 1873 in the small town of Lisieux. She was named after St. Teresa of Avila (Chapter 4) She had four older sisters, Pauline, Marie, Leonie, and Celine, who loved her as much as they loved life. Therese's mother died when she was only four and a half so her older sisters raised her and became her second moms. She was pampered but only because she was extremely loved. 

Pauline, the oldest sister, entered a Carmelite convent five years after her mom's death which broke Therese's heart as she was her teacher since Therese's classmates had bullied her. The next sister, Marie,  took over and continued to teach Therese. 

A few months afterwards, Therese became sick with a  fever and everyone thought she was dying because of how severe it was. Therese's sisters brought a statue of Mary into her room and Therese saw Our Lady (Chapter 3) smile at her, instantly being cured.

Marie and Leonie joined the Carmelites and Poor Clares and Therese was left alone with Celine and her father.  Therese wouldn't do housework because of how spoiled she was and thought she was doing a great job if she made a bed. 

When Therese was fourteen, on Christmas Eve, she noticed there wasn't anything in her stocking when she came back from mass and heard her Papa telling Celine that Therese was too old for these games. Therese flew into a fit and ran upstairs but saw a crucifix in her room, realizing that Jesus was all she needed for Christmas.

 Therese wanted to become a Carmelite at the age of 15 but the orders wouldn't accept her because of how young she was. She had to go all the way to the pope and get dragged away from him by two guards to gain permission to enter the convent. 

There was a nun who always gave Therese a hard time but whenever Therese saw her, she'd smile and ask how her day was going as well as compliment her. Eventually, the nun asked, "Why do you always smile when you see me? Why are you so good to me?" and Therese responded," Because I see God in you." Another time, Therese had to clean a room and found a broken vase. She was blamed for it by a different nun and was scolded for it. Instead of trying to defend herself, Therese offered it up to God and accepted the unfairness of not even being asked if she had knocked it over. Therese taught that not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love (~Mother Teresa; original quote "Not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love."). Therese physically couldn't do anything huge, but she tried her best to change someone's life by simply being kind. 

Her convent put on a play of St. Joan of Arc (Chapter 15) and Therese was picked to be Joan. It can be argued that Therese looked up to St. Joan of Arc and that she grew up wanting to be like her. Therese was held back by always being sick and so she had to figure out other ways to please God. 

St. Therese died at age 23 because of tuberculosis. She told everyone that when she got to Heaven, she'd send Earth a shower of roses. Her final words were," My Jesus, I love you." Her sisters were able to be there for her and never forgot their little flower. 

Her family I believe now is all canonized. Her parents were just recently beatified but I personally think that they're on the way to canonization. 

St. Therese is my confirmation saint. Comment down below who yours is! If you haven't made your confirmation yet, feel free to comment who as of right now you want yours to be! If you have any questions about confirmation, you can also ask about that in the comments as well :) 

Feast Day: October 1

Patron Saint of: Florists, Missionaries, Pilots, Priests