St.Therese of Lisieux
St. Therese of Lisieux, declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul 11 through his Apostolic letter, “Divini Amoris Scientia” of Oct.19,1997, was too unscholarly to be a scholar of the types that we come across in our lives but she was considered a Doctor of the Church because of her profound spiritual reflections and her uncanny vision into the nature of Christian spirituality. What is special about her is her ordinariness and her appeal to the ordinary folks who shy away from practicing virtues of any heroic nature. Her way was the “the Little Way” that can be followed by ordinary Christians. It is through her intense love of Jesus that she has transformed her life and she wants others to follow the same path of love. She is ever young and ever modern.
She can be compared to John Keats, the great literary star of English Literature on account of the brevity of her life, the poetic beauty of her autobiography and the kind of impact she has exercised on generations of people after her time. Like Keats, whose poetic out is limited, her literary output is also very limited. But the vigor and vibrancy of the poetry of Keats who has lived for such a short span of life of 25 years are incalculable. So are the power and strength of “The Story of a Soul”, the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux.
St. Therese was born on Jan.2 ,1873 and entered the Carmelite Order at the young age of 15.She died of tuberculosis on Sept.30,1897 at the age of 24.Her last days were those of intense suffering. Every breath became hard for her in those last moments of her life. But she endured all that very cheerfully. More than that, she accepted all the indignities and humiliations that came into her life with a great sense of peace and joy. She had a great and unbelievable understanding of the mercy of God. Her autobiography is full of her love of nature. One finds there beautiful descriptions of the wonders of nature, mountains, rivers and flowers.
Her autobiography is not the scholarly work of a great mystic saint but one that is sprinkled with the thoughts and feelings of an ordinary village girl. One can read it only with tears in one’s eyes. Her description of her love for her father is very touching. Her father was the King in her life. In spite of that great love for her father, she was willing to forsake it for the love of her Father in heaven. A child-like simplicity runs through the whole book.
She was not given permission to join the convent as she was only 15 years old. She went, then, on a pilgrimage to Rome and there at an audience with Pope Leo X111, she fell at his feet asking his permission to allow her to join the convent. She had to be forcibly taken away from the feet of the Holy Father.
The major part of her autobiography was written at the request of her sister Pauline(Mother Agnes), two and a half years before her death. The rest was written at the request of her elder sister, Marie(Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart) , four months before her death.
A few months before her death, Therese told her sister, Mother Agnes: “ I feel that my mission is about to begin, my mission to make God loved as I love him, to teach souls my little way.” In response to the sister’s request as to what she meant by the little way, she replied: “It is the way of spiritual childhood , the way of trust and absolute surrender.”
She explains her Little Way in the following words:"Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love."
"Sometimes, when I read spiritual treatises, in which perfection is shown with a thousand obstacles in the way and a host of illusions round about it, my poor little mind soon grows weary, I close the learned book, which leaves my head splitting and my heart parched, and I take the Holy Scriptures. Then all seems luminous, a single word opens up infinite horizons to my soul, perfection seems easy; I see that it is enough to realise one's nothingness, and give oneself wholly, like a child, into the arms of the good God. Leaving to great souls, great minds, the fine books I cannot understand, I rejoice to be little because 'only children, and those who are like them, will be admitted to the heavenly banquet.”
The following passages are excerpts from her autobiography,” The Story of a Soul.” Her words on the various stages of her life as well people who mattered in her life are very compelling:
THE STORY OF A SOUL
On small things:
“Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature; I understand how all the flowers he has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus’ garden. He willed to create great souls comparable to lilies and roses….but He has created smaller ones…Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.
Total Surrender:
I understand that to become a saint one had to suffer much, seek out always the most perfect thing to do, and forget self…I don’t want to be a saint by halves; I am not afraid to suffer for you. I fear only one thing: to keep my own will; so take it, for “ I choose all” that you will.
Love of Nature:
Just as the flowers of spring begin to grow under the snow and to expand at the first rays of the sun, so the little flower whose memories I am writing had to pass through the winter of trial.
Her Father:
I cannot say how much I loved Papa; everything in him caused me to admire him.
Never will I forget the impression the sea made upon me; I could not take my eyes off it since its majesty, the roaring of its waves, everything spoke to my soul of God’s grandeur and power.
First Communion:
There were no demands made, no struggles, no sacrifices; for a long time now Jesus and poor little Therese looked at and understood each other…That day it was a fusion…Therese had vanished as a drop of water, is lost in the immensity of the Ocean. Jesus alone remained…
The cry of Jesus on the Cross sounded continually in my heart: “ I thirst.” These words ignited within me an unknown and very living fire…I felt myself consumed with a thirst for souls….
I wanted to love, love Jesus with a passion, giving Him a thousand proofs of my love…
With enraptured gaze we(Therese and Celine) beheld the white moon rising quietly behind the tall trees, the silvery rays it was casting upon sleeping nature, the bright stars twinkling in the deep skies….
Objections to her joining the convent:
Her uncle objected since she did not yet turn 17 : “ I was in a sad desert, or rather my soul was like a fragile boat delivered up to the mercy of the waves…I knew Jesus was sleeping in my boat.
Meeting the Holy Father:
She went to the Bishop asking for his permission to join the convent. The Bishop refused the permission as she was only 15. She went to Rome to meet Pope Leo X111. She said to him: “ Most Holy Father. I have a great favor to ask of you…permit me to enter Carmel at the age of 15.” Holy Father replied: “ Well, my child, do what the superiors tell you…..You will enter if God wills it.”
I had offered myself to the Child Jesus as his little plaything….I told him not to use me as a valuable toy….but to use me like a ball of no value…
The role of women:
Ah! Poor women, how they are misunderstood! And yet they love God in much larger numbers than men do and during the passion of the Lord, women had more courage than the apostles.
About entering Carmel:
As soon as Jesus descended into the hearts of my relatives(at the Communion during the mass) , I heard nothing around me but sobs. I was the only one who did not shed any tears…..but my heart was beating violently….I knelt down before my matchless Father for his blessing and to give it to me he placed himself on his knees and blessed me, ears flowing down his cheeks.
My desires were at last accomplished….my soul experienced a peace so sweet, so deep, it would be impossible to express it.
Yes, suffering opened wide its arms to me and I threw myself into them with love…Jesus made me understand that it was through suffering that he wanted to give me souls, and my attraction for suffering grew in proportion to its increase.
The ceremony of the reception of the veil took place on 24th Sept. and the day was viled in tears. Papa was not there to bless his Queen… everything was sadness and bitterness…and still peace , always peace reigned at the bottom of the chalice.
I feel in me the vocation of the priest. With what love, O Jesus, I would carry you in my hands…my vocation is love. Yes, I have found my place in the Church and it is You ,My God… In the heart of the Church, I shall be love. The church is the Queen…and I am the child of the Church. The little child will strew flowers, she will perfume the royal throne with their sweet scents…I have no other means of proving my love for you other than strewing flowers, that is, not allowing one little sacrifice to escape.
On her desire to be a saint:
All is well when one seeks only the will of Jesus….I have always wanted to be a saint. I have always noticed that when I compared myself to the saints, there is between them and me the same difference that exists between a mountain and the obscure grain of sand trampled under foot by the passers by. I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new.
On Suffering:
Is there a joy greater than that of suffering out of love for you? The more interior the suffering is, the more it rejoices.
The most beautiful thoughts are nothing without good works….If a piece of canvas painted upon by an artist could think and speak , it certainly would not complain at being constantly touched…by the brush. The brush too would not be able to boast…I am the little brush Jesus has chosen to paint His image in the souls entrusted to my care.
Love is nourished only by sacrifices, and the more a soul refuses natural satisfactions, the stronger and more interested becomes her tenderness.
On Prayer:
It is prayer, it is sacrifice which gives me all my strength. They can touch souls much better than words….For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart; it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy…..It is not because God , in his anticipating mercy, has preserved my soul from mortal sin that I go to Him with confidence and love…
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