Kids’ Clarion spotlights St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Story and photos by Kids' Clarion staff; photo of St. Thérèse courtesy of the Society of the Little Flower.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Feast Day: Oct. 1

Born the youngest of nine children in Lisieux, France (in Normandy), St. Thérèse was only 4 years old when her mother died of breast cancer. When two of her older sisters became nuns, St. Thérèse followed their example and entered the Carmelite convent at age 15.

Thérèse learned that sometimes the best way to serve God and follow Jesus was to joyfully do the simple little tasks of life – even boring things such as household chores and difficult ones such as forgiving those who were mean to her. St. Thérèse called this “the little way” to God. 

Like everyone, St. Thérèse was far from perfect. She admitted to a tendency toward impatience and moodiness. Although disappointed when her dreams of becoming a foreign missionary didn’t pan out, she happily lived out her vocation as a cloistered Carmelite nun dedicated to prayer and performing small works with great love.

Even when St. Thérèse was struggling with sadness and illness, she always managed to lift herself up by reminding herself that she was God’s beloved child.

(Also, see a Clarion Herald video on her life:)https://youtu.be/n08RBIFT3b0

On her deathbed suffering from tuberculosis at age 24, St. Thérèse would continue to state, “I am a child of God,” and looked forward to being with God in heaven.

St. Thérèse wrote an autobiography entitled “The Story of a Soul.” She is the patron saint of missionaries, those who suffer from HIV-AIDS, florists and the sick. Her nicknames are “The Little Flower” and “St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.” She is often depicted by artists in her Carmelite habit, holding roses and a crucifix. 

St. Thérèse was canonized in 1925 and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997. Pope Francis canonized her parents, Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, in 2015.

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Pictured below: Doris Caravella, the art teacher at St. Thérèse Academy in Metairie, made a shirt depicting her school's namesake to wear to last year's school Mass marking the Oct. 1 feast day of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Caravella also wore matching shoes, right.