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St. Thérèse of Lisieux

1873–1897

Read the lifeSee the miracles
German First Communion holy card printed in 1916 by the Druck der Waisen-Lehrlinge Obergriningen, showing Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus on the day of her First Communion, 8 May 1884. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kommunionbildchen_1916_Schwester_Theresia_vom_Kinde_Jesu.jpg
As a small child she rolled on the floor in fury, and at about three she took a whole basket of doll clothes, saying, "I choose everything!" At twenty-four, dying of tuberculosis in a Normandy convent, she overheard a sister wonder what anyone could write about her, since she had never done anything worth speaking about. Thérèse of Lisieux wanted to be a great saint and found she was a grain of sand. In her last eighteen months even Heaven went dark for her, and she went on loving. How did the nun who had done nothing worth speaking about become one of the most loved saints of modern times, and a Doctor of the Church?

At a glance

322Miracle accounts12chapters6teachings4approved by the Church30sources
FeastOctober 1
PatronMissions (with Francis Xavier, named by Pius XI, 14 December 1927); France (with Joan of Arc, named by Pius XII, 3 May 1944)
DiedCarmel of Lisieux, Lisieux, Normandy, France

The life

Read from the beginning
  1. Chapter 1Two Refused Vocations, One Marriage
  2. Chapter 2The Child Who Chose Everything
  3. Chapter 3A Sword and a Smile
  4. Chapter 4I Cried for Having Cried
  5. Chapter 5A Fourteen-Year-Old Before the Pope
  6. Chapter 6Now I Am Here Forever
  7. Chapter 7A Grain of Sand Lifted
  8. Chapter 8Memories in Two-Sou Notebooks
  9. Chapter 9Blood on Good Friday
  10. Chapter 10The Slow Last Summer
  11. Chapter 11My God, I Love You
  12. Chapter 12A Book Instead of an Obituary

Miracles

All 322 accounts
  1. 1Abbé Charles Anne, a seminarian with tuberculosis, Bayeux, 1906approved for beatification (decree of 11 Feb 1923).
  2. 2Sister Louise de Saint-Germain, Ustaritz, September 1916approved for beatification (decree of 11 Feb 1923).
  3. 3Maria Pellemans at the tomb, Lisieux, March 1923approved for canonization (decree of 19 Mar 1925).
  4. 4Sister Gabriella Trimusi, Parma, June 1923approved for canonization (decree of 19 Mar 1925).
  5. 5Mrs Dorans, a tumour cured in Glasgow, 27 August 1909examined by the diocesan tribunal (1911); not an approved miracle; Taylor calls it the best-proven grace.
  6. 6Gallipoli, the 500 francs left in a drawer, 16 January 1910investigated by canonical inquiry (Bishop Müller of Gallipoli; reported to Rome); not an approved miracle.

Teachings

Read the teachings
  1. 1The little way
  2. 2Confidence and love
  3. 3The Offering to Merciful Love
  4. 4The trial of faith
  5. 5Missions and prayer for priests
  6. 6Suffering

In their own words

All 29 quotes
My vocation, I’ve found it at last: my vocation is love!
I choose everything!
I feel I am going to enter into rest… But above all I feel that my mission is going to begin, my mission of making the good God loved as I love Him, of giving my little way to souls.
Oh! I love Him!… My God… I love You!
I’m made so that fear makes me back away; with love I don’t just go forward, I fly.
We live in an age of inventions… the lift that must raise me to Heaven is your arms, O Jesus!

Relics

LocationCarmel of Lisieux, Lisieux, France

Thérèse was buried in the town cemetery of Lisieux on 4 October 1897. The coffin was opened on 6 September 1910, when only bones remained, and again on 10 August 1917. Her remains were carried to the Carmel of Lisieux on 26 March 1923 and rest in the Carmel chapel, in a reliquary and an effigy (gisant). Relics have also travelled to many countries since 1994. The Carmel and the shrine at Lisieux keep the principal remains, and distributed relics are smaller.