Therese of Lisieux

At age fifteen, Therese became a Carmelite nun. As a young nun, she saw a vision of the baby Jesus and believed this was a sign from God. It was a reminder that even though she was a small woman, she was great and strong through her love of God. During her nine years in the convent, she wrote down all her recollections of her childhood, resulting in the published book “The Story of the Soul.”

Therese became a saint because of the way she responded wholeheartedly to God’s love and the grace of the Holy Spirit within her. Her “little way” of trust, simplicity, and perfection in doing small things has become a model of living to many today. We believe that God embraced her upon her death and shared with her a risen life of Jesus in heaven. In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church.

She is the Patron Saint of missions, bodily ills, and florists. Her feast day is celebrated on October 1st.