#st therese of lisieux

[austerity-audacity-asceticism]

The atomic habits of St. Therese of Lisieux

I used to be one of those people that were like “oh I love St. Joan of Arc, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul, St. Teresa of Avila” because I thought they were Cool and Heroic and they did Big Things

And whenever someone would talk about “The Little Flower of Lisieux” I was like “mehhhhh… okay”

Not in a way that was totally disrespectful, but not totally aware of the enormity of her interior life

Because guys

Wow

You’d have to read The Story of the Soul to really appreciate just WHY she is a doctor of the Church

(She’s the Doctor of Divine Love, btw)

Because St. Therese? She was in the details

They like to say the devil is in the details, but let’s face it— God is in the details, and in his mercy and wisdom, he placed St. Therese there for us to learn from and imitate in our own ways

She had to reconcile her great desire to be a saint with the enormous legacies of the saints that came before her, especially Joan of Arc and St. Teresa of Avila

(She, along with St. Joan, are the patron saints of France. I’m sure that’s something St. Therese never dreamed of)

And she had the realization that God would not have given her a desire that she was incapable of, and that there must be a way for someone “as small as her” to become a great saint

Which lead her to meditate on Mathew 18:4 (Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven)

And she was like “oh, okay. This desire planted into my heart is an invitation to become a little child, because the Lord wants to be the one to carry me to Heaven” 

(I am heavily paraphrasing so that you guys won’t be spoiled for Story of a Soul. Go read it!!!)

All of this is to say that her writings and her life reflect a simple but profound theology 

The Little Way is one of total dependence on the providence of God, of total surrender and self-mortification— the emptying of the cup of one’s self little by little, so that the Lord can fill it with his graces and abundance, and ultimately, with His own divine self 

The Little Way is one of the smallest acts of radical love, because the only person who needs to see it is God 

The Little Way is St. Therese going out of her way to nurse the nuns that she didn’t get along well with 

The Little Way is St. Therese is doing her best to hold cheerful conversations with a particularly surly nun 

The Little Way is St. Therese relishing being splashed with dirty laundry water as a sign of the smallest of suffering that only God would see

I called this particular post her “atomic habits,” because she believed that small acts can lead to holiness when done with great love for our Lord 

Small acts of love and self mortification were the things that she sought for while in the Carmel 

St. Therese elucidated in her signature sincere and effervescent style the enduring idea that there is no suffering too small, no act of love too small, to offer the Lord— because what he wants is souls, what he wants is us

That’s not to say that her interior life was always rich 

She suffered so much from months of aridity that she grew an affection for atheists, even going so far to say, and I quote:

[God] allowed my soul to be overwhelmed with darkness, and the thought of Heaven, which had consoled me from my earliest childhood, now became a subject of conflict and torture. This trial did not last merely for days or weeks; I have been suffering for months, and I still await deliverance. I wish I could express what I feel, but it is beyond me. One must have passed through this dark tunnel to understand its blackness ... When I sing of the happiness of Heaven and the eternal possession of God, I do not feel any joy therein, for I sing only of what I wish to believe. Sometimes, I confess, a little ray of sunshine illumines my dark night, and I enjoy peace for an instant, but later, the remembrance of this ray of light, instead of consoling me, makes the blackness thicker still.

It’s thought that St. Therese experienced this interior anguish up until the end of her battle with tuberculosis, with her final words being: “My God, I love you!” 

To summarize everything, reading St. Therese is a study not only of radical love, but also radical humility 

From a spoiled child to a martyr of the Carmel, St. Therese lived an inner life that very few of her own sisters in the convent were aware of 

Her life is also a testimony to God's perfect timing; St. Therese wanted to be a missionary in Hanoi, but was prevented from doing so when she contracted tuberculosis. She was later named a patron saint to missionaries.

St. Therese's Little Way informed the spirituality of many of the saints and intellectuals that came after her: St. Josemaria, St. John Paul II, Mother Teresa, St. Teresa of the Andes, Blessed Cecilia Eusepi, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Dorothy Day

On her feast day, let’s take the time to reflect on what small things we can do today for the Lord; what small sufferings we can offer him with great love and humility 

God would never inspire me with desires which cannot be realized; so in spite of my littleness, I can hope to be a saint. — St. Thérèse of Lisieux

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us.

[thegirlintheblackdress]

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, by Edgard Maxence

[tomicscomics]

09/29/2023

Happy (almost) feast day of the most remarkably unremarkable saint!  St. Thérèse of Lisieux comics all October long!

___

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the first repost I've done for Tomics (Tomics Resurrections don't count; get a life).  It was first posted last year, but there was an error in the original.  Like dear Thérèse, I am, by nature, a proud and sensitive soul, so I suffered greatly from this humiliation.  Thus, I resolved to repost the corrected version THIS year, along with a month of St. Thérèse cartoons to make up for my failure.  I just listened to "Story of a Soul" to prepare, and I think I'm ready.  Pray for me, for if I err again, my heart may collapse. JOKE-OGRAPHY: Also known as St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, she was a stubborn, emotional little girl who led a surprisingly normal life.  Inspired by her older sisters, she entered a convent earlier than was usually allowed.  She died young of tuberculosis, but during her short life, she grew remarkably humble and wise.  Her dedication to showing love in the smallest details of everyday life has led some to say that she -- more than many lofty theologians -- rediscovered the Gospel, and in the simplest way.

[sex-death-rebirth]

St. Thérèse of Lisieux as Joan of Arc, 1895

[moethh]

St Therese doodle :]]

[myremnantarmy]

[emvidal]

[c4thol3ic]

Nobody will ever understand the transcedental bond between a religious catholic woman in her 20s and a female saint who is forever in her 20s in heaven.

[proud-spaniard]

St Therese of Lisieux

[holyfigtree]

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 my small deeds for the sake of Love.

— St.Therese of Lisieux

[inspiredbyjesuslove]

[austerity-audacity-asceticism]

You know it has ever been my desire to become a Saint, but I have always felt, in comparing myself with the Saints, that I am as far removed from them as the grain of sand, which the passer-by tramples underfoot, is remote from the mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds. Instead of being discouraged, I concluded that God would not inspire desires which could not be realised, and that I may aspire to sanctity in spite of my littleness. For me to become great is impossible. I must bear with myself and my many imperfections; but I will seek out a means of getting to Heaven by a little way— very short and very straight, a little way that is wholly new.

We live in an age of inventions; nowadays the rich need not trouble to climb the stairs, they have lifts instead. Well, I mean to try and find a lift by which I may be raised unto God, for I am too tiny to climb the steep stairway of perfection. I have sought to find in Holy Scripture some suggestion as to what this lift might be which I so much desired, and I read these words uttered by the Enlightened Wisdom Itself: “Whosoever is a little one, let him come to Me."

Then I drew near to God, feeling sure that I had discovered what I sought; but wishing to know further what He would do to the little one, I continued my search and this is what I found: "You shall be carried at the breasts and upon the knees; as one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you." Never have I been consoled by words more tender and sweet. Thine Arms, then, O Jesus, are the lift which must raise me up even unto Heaven. To get there I need not grow; on the contrary, I must remain little, I must become still less.

St. Therese of Lisieux Story of a Soul (l'Histoire d'une Ame): The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux

[fredomotophoto]

Basilique Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux

Canon EOS R / 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM Art 24.0 mm / ƒ/8.0 / 1/200 / ISO : 100 3 photos (portrait mode) stitched

Visite de la Basilique Sainte Thérèse de Lisieux

in English below

La Basilique Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux est un édifice religieux catholique situé à Lisieux, dans le département du Calvados, en Normandie (France). Elle est dédiée à Sainte Thérèse de Lisieux, une religieuse française canonisée en 1925.

La basilique a été construite entre 1929 et 1954, dans un style romano-byzantin, et mesure 107 mètres de long et 35 mètres de large. Elle est considérée comme l’une des plus grandes églises catholiques du XXe siècle.

La basilique abrite le tombeau de Sainte Thérèse de Lisieux, qui y est enterrée depuis 1925. Elle est également le centre de pèlerinage de la ville de Lisieux, qui attire chaque année plus de 150 000 pèlerins. Les visiteurs peuvent accéder au dôme de la basilique, qui offre une vue panoramique sur la ville de Lisieux et la campagne environnante. La basilique abrite également un musée consacré à la vie de Sainte Thérèse, ainsi qu’un cinéma qui diffuse un film sur sa vie.

Les visiteurs peuvent également visiter la crypte de la basilique, qui est décorée de mosaïques représentant la vie de Sainte Thérèse. La crypte est également le lieu de repos de plusieurs religieux et religieuses de l’ordre carmélite. Pour monter jusqu'en haut il nous a fallu monter 500 marches nous a-t'on dit... Je ne les ai pas compté personnellement mais mes jambes s'en sont rappelé toute la nuit...

Visit to the Basilica of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

The Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux is a Catholic religious building located in Lisieux, in the Calvados department, in Normandy (France). It is dedicated to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, a French nun canonized in 1925.

The basilica was built between 1929 and 1954, in a Roman-Byzantine style, and measures 107 meters long and 35 meters wide. It is considered one of the largest Catholic churches of the 20th century.

The basilica houses the tomb of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, who has been buried there since 1925. It is also the pilgrimage center of the city of Lisieux, which attracts more than 150,000 pilgrims each year. Visitors can access the dome of the basilica, which offers panoramic views of the city of Lisieux and the surrounding countryside. The basilica also houses a museum dedicated to the life of Saint Thérèse, as well as a cinema which shows a film about her life.

Visitors can also tour the basilica's crypt, which is decorated with mosaics depicting the life of Saint Teresa. The crypt is also the resting place of several monks and nuns of the Carmelite order.

To get to the top we had to climb 500 steps, we were told… I didn't count them personally but my legs remembered them all night…

Photo : Frédéric Poirier

[tomicscomics]

10/20/2023

Another anecdote from "Story of a Soul"!

St. Thérèse of Lisieux cartoons all October!

JOKE-OGRAPHY: 1. This cartoon is based directly on a passage from "Story of a Soul", St. Thérèse's autobiography.  In this part, she recalls late walks home from her uncle's house with her father.  The text of the cartoon is lightly paraphrased, but I feel maintains the same sentiment as in the book. 2. Some of you may already know this, but both of St. Thérèse's parents are also saints: Sts. Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin.  They were canonized fairly recently (2015), and they're the first and (so far) only couple to ever be canonized together.  Interestingly, before they met, they each tried and failed to enter religious life.  Despite that failure, they passed their religious devotion onto their five surviving daughters, who all ended up becoming nuns. 3. Not to get all mushy, but I find this stargazing anecdote especially moving.  It's a perfect metaphor for how these parents accepted their earthly devotions, freeing their children to throw their heads back and seek the divine.

[little-catholic-diva]

[thegirlintheblackdress]

Dear sister in Heaven ❤️🌹