St Thèrése of Lisieux
Born: 2nd Jan 1873
Died: 30th Sep 1897
“Cést la Confiance et rien que la confiance qui doit nous conduire a l’Ámour”
Pope Francis wrote an Apostolic Exhortation for the 150th anniversary of the birth of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face on these words. This a summary of his Letter.
“It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to love.”
These words taken from a letter St Thérèse wrote to her sister, Marie, Sr Marie of the Sacred Heart, sum up the genius of her spirituality. It is the sole path that leads us to the Love that grants everything. In the Story of a Soul Therese tells us how she discovered the little way: “I can aspire to holiness in spite of my imperfections by this way that is very straight, very short and totally new”. It is not by trusting in our own efforts or achievements, but she would appear before the Lord with empty hands. No one then should despair, because Jesus does not demand great actions from us but simply surrender and gratitude.
The complete confidence that becomes an abandonment in Love sets us free from obsessive calculations, constant worry about the future and fears that take away our peace. In the hands of a Father who loves us without limits, his plan of love and fullness will come to fulfillment in our lives.
Together with faith, Thérèse experienced a deep and boundless trust in God’s infinite mercy: “confidence that must lead us to love.” Even in her darkness she found the trust of a child that takes refuge, unafraid, in the embrace of its father or mother.
Her writings are a testimony to charity, in which Thérèse offers us a commentary on Jesus’ new commandment: “that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). Jesus thirsts for this response to his love. He was thirsty for love and Thérèse wished to respond and offer Him love in return for love.
She practiced charity in littleness, in the simplest things of daily life, and she did so in the company of the Virgin Mary, from whom she learned that “to love is to give everything. It is to give oneself.”
From St Teresa of Avila, Thérèse inherited a great love for the Church and was able to plumb the depths of this mystery. We see this in her discovery of the ‘heart of the Church’. In seeking her place in the Church she turned to chapters 12 and 13 of the First Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians. There the apostle employs the metaphor of the body and its members to explain that the Church embraces a great variety of charisms. Yet this description was not enough for St Thérèse. She continued her search and read the hymn to charity with the answer to her question. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. If the Church had a body composed of different members, it must have a heart, and this Heart was burning with love. It was love alone that made the members act… Love was everything, it embraced all times and places… in a word it was eternal! Then she cried out: my vocation, at last I have found it… my vocation is Love! Yes, I have found my place in the Church, and it is you, O my God, who have given me this place.”
The specific contribution that Thérèse offers us as a saint and a Doctor of the Church consists of leading us to what is central, essential and indispensable. She shows us that while all the Church’s teachings have their importance, their value, their clarity, some are more urgent and more foundational. That is where Thérèse directed her eyes and her heart.
The timely witness of St Thérèse endures in her little way.
In an age that urges us to focus on ourselves and our own interests, Thérèse shows us the beauty of making our lives a gift.
At a time when most superficial needs and desires are glorified, she testifies to the radicalism of the Gospel.
In an age of individualism, she makes us discover the value of a love that becomes intercession for others.
At a time when human beings are obsessed with grandeur and new forms of power, she points out to us the little way.
In an age that casts aside so many of our brothers and sisters, she teaches us the beauty of concern and responsibility for one another.
At a time of great complexity, she can help us rediscover the importance of simplicity, the primacy of love, trust and abandonment.
In an age of indifference and self-absorption, Thérèse inspires us to be missionary disciples, captivated by the attractiveness of Jesus and the Gospel.
—Taken from the Apostolic Exhortation “Cést La Confiance” of Pope Francis.
Given in Rome, 15 October, 2023
Books by St Therese of Lisieux and other authors are available from the Carmelite Monastery
Story of a Soul
Letters, Vol 1
Letters, Vol 2
Her Last Conversations
Story of a Soul: Study Edition by Marc Foley, OCD.
The Prayers of St Thérèse. Translated by Aletheia Kane, OCD.
The Plays of St Thérèse of Lisieux: “Pious Recreations”. Translated by Susan Conroy and David J Dwyer.
The Poetry of St Thérèse of Lisieux. Translated by Donald Kinney, OCD.
Everything is Grace: The Life and Way of Thérèse of Lisieux by Joseph, F. Schmidt, FSC.
Holiness for All: Themes from St Thérèse of Lisieux by Aloysius Rego, OCD.
Maurice and Therese: The Story of a Love by Patrick Ahern.
The Love That Keeps Us Sane: Living the Little Way of St Thérèse of Lisieux by Marc Foley, OCD.
Love in the Heart of the Church: The Mission of Thérèse of Lisieux by Christopher O’Donnell, O’Carm.
Thérèse the Little Child of God’s Mercy: Her Spiritual Itinerary in the Light of Her Autobiographical Manuscripts by Àngel de les Gavarres.
Thérèse of Lisieux & Marie of the Trinity: The transformative relationship of Saint Therese of Lisieux and her novice sister Marie of the Trinity by Pierre Descouvement.
Experiencing Thérèse Today (Carmelite Studies). Edn John Sullivan. Vol. 5 —ICS.