Xt3 Podcast: Counting Down to WYD2013 - The Patron Saint Podcast on Xt3

Episode 8 - Saint Therese of Lisieux


Listen Later

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was born on the 2nd of January 1873 and died in 1897, she is also referred to as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. Therese was a French Carmelite nun and she is also referred to as the “The Little Flower of Jesus”.
As a young girl she felt an early call to religious life and overcoming various obstacles, at the early age of 15 she became a nun and joined two of her elder sisters in the cloistered Carmelite community of Lisieux, Normandy. After nine years as a Carmelite religious she died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. She is famous for her autobiographical manuscripts titled “The Story of a Soul”, which were received extremely well and she rapidly became one of the most popular saints of the twentieth century.
She was beatified in 1923, and canonized in 1925. Thérèse was declared co-patron of the missions 1927, and named co-patron of France with Joan of Arc in 1944.
She was also named a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul ll, and is the youngest person to be declared a Doctor of the Church which is a special title which is given to individuals for their contribution to theology of doctrine.
At fourteen Thérèse had understood her vocation to pray for priests, to be "an apostle to apostles." In September 1890, at her canonical examination before she professed her religious vows, she was asked why she had come to Carmel. She answered "I came to save souls, and especially to pray for priests."
Thérèse lived a hidden life and "wanted to be unknown," The depth of her spirituality, has inspired many believers. In the face of her littleness and nothingness, she trusted in God to be her sanctity. She wanted to go to heaven by an entirely new little way. Saint Therese wrote "I wanted to find an elevator that would raise me to Jesus." The elevator, she wrote, would be the arms of Jesus lifting her in all her littleness.
Prayer
Grant me your missionary spirit to bring Jesus to all the villages! Amen
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Xt3 Podcast: Counting Down to WYD2013 - The Patron Saint Podcast on Xt3By Xt3.com