Need a bit more courage? October’s saint is for you

St. Thérèse of Lisieux is one of those saints who is famous for being very personally involved in the lives of those who love her. There are other saints known for that: Padre Pio, St. Joseph, St. Anthony, and St. Jude come to mind as saints who time and again are called upon by their devotees, and who show their influence in direct ways -- such as helping someone grow in the faith, sell a home, find a lost object, or find an answer to a seemingly hopeless case.

St. Thérèse, the Carmelite nun from Lisieux, is one of those saints who comes through for her spiritual children with signs of love, such that those who seek her intercession find her help unmistakable and life-changing.

It has been that way in my life. That is why I took “Thérèse” as part of my new Carmelite name when I became a professed Third Order Carmelite this year. 

St. Thérèse was the youngest child of Sts. Zelie and Louis Martin. Having endured life-threatening illnesses when she was an infant and a child, and the heartbreaking loss of her mother when she was only four, Thérèse overcame this crushing adversity with powerful faith and determination. She sought to enter Carmel while still a young teenager, and achieved this goal at 15. She died in 1897 at 24 years old.

Shortly before St. Thérèse died, she said, “My mission — to make God loved — will begin after my death ... I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses.”

St. Thérèse, the Little Flower, sends fragrant gifts of love to those who seek her intercession -- from actual roses appearing in the lives of those who finish praying her “rose novena” to spiritual roses of deepened faith for those who regularly entrust themselves to her in prayer.

After her death, her autobiography, Story of a Soul, became a best-selling book and remains to this day a classic Catholic work that is a necessary addition to any good theological library.

St. Thérèse is the youngest Doctor of the Church. Her feast day is October 1.

This saint, known as the “Little Flower,” is as strong as she is sweet. In the following quotes by St. Thérèse of Lisieux offering words of wisdom to live by, her courage is evident. This is one formidable little flower! Her courage was shown in the face of her suffering for the love of God: facing bitter chalices and storms alike with full-hearted patience and resolve to offer everything up to God. 

1) “My God, I choose everything. I will not be a saint by halves. I am not afraid of suffering for Thee.”

This quote, spoken by the saint in childhood, reminds of another story of St. Thérèse when she was only a toddler. Her big sister, Leonie, offered the contents of her doll dress-making kit to her little sisters Celine, then six years old and Thérèse, only two at the time. Celine gratefully took a ball of wool from the basket. Little Thérèse said, “I choose all,” and took the entire basket. This endearing story of a child’s fancy is also a metaphor for Thérèse's zesty approach to sainthood -- her resolution to not “be a saint by halves.”

A question to ponder: What are you giving God halfway right now that you could choose instead to give Him totally? For example: Is there a prayer you can pray every day, zealously, instead of just praying it now and then?  

2) “I have always found His bitter chalice full of sweetness … Your lot is indeed a beautiful one, since Our Lord has chosen it for you, and has first touched with His own Lips the cup which He holds out to yours.”

Have you ever thought of the very thing that you’re suffering now as a share in Christ’s bitter cup, and therefore an honor, if offered up with a loving heart? What can you offer up to Christ?

3) “And so it is in the world of souls … Jesus’ garden. He willed to create great souls comparable to lilies and roses, but he created small ones as well … and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God’s glances, when he looks down at His feet. Perfection consists in doing God’s will … in being what He would have us be.”

She may write effusively of flowers, but this great saint is no shrinking violet. Her humility was an act of courage. She had been a strong-willed and stubborn little girl and she was fiercely intelligent, choosing to spend free afternoons as a child deeply contemplating God, life, and eternity. When touring Italy as a young teenager, Thérèse and her sister snuck away from a tour group into the ruins of the Coliseum to pray where the early Christian martyrs had lost their lives. Later that trip, she was present at a papal audience with Pope Leo XIII and although all there had been forbidden to speak, Thérèse ran to the feet of the Pope and begged him to let her enter Carmel at the age of 15, to which the Pope replied, “You will enter if God wills it.” God did will it, and the saint continued following that will like a lodestar on the rest of her brief, but bright, life’s journey.

4) “I will sing even when I must pick my flowers amid thorns. The longer and sharper the thorns are, the sweeter my song will sound … Now, like a flower after the storm, I can raise my head and see that the words of the Psalm are realized in me: ‘The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall want nothing. He has set me in a place of pasture.’”

Carmel means “Garden land.” Thérèse, as a Carmelite, understood souls as flowers in God’s garden. Life’s thorns did not intimidate her. 

May her intercession assist us all, that we may grow in her courage. To celebrate St. Thérèse this month, why not make a list of things we usually grumble or complain about, and resolve instead to offer up cheerfully, with the Little Flower as a guide.

Here are some other ways to celebrate: Bring roses to someone who needs cheering up and include a St. Thérèse prayer card as part of the gift; make or buy eclairs (St. Thérèse's favorite treat) and share with family or friends; and pray a guided St. Thérèse-themed Holy Hour here.