Saint Therese of Lisieux (1897)

This beautiful little girl of the last century was called Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face. She is now one of the best-known saints in the whole world. She became a Carmelite nun when she was fifteen years old. She died of consumption when she was only twenty-four. In nine short years as a nun, she shed the luster of her love so that all might know it by her prayers, her works and her simple and innocent writing. Her prayers were especially for priests and the foreign missions. She has been united with Saint Francis Xavier and made one of the great patrons of all missionary work done by Catholic priests. Her mother died when she was four. Her father died when she was twenty-one. She was the youngest of nine children. Four of them died in infancy and the five remaining ones became nuns: four Carmelites and one Visitandine. Saint Therese had a great admiration for Saint Cecilia, whom she called the “white dove of Rome.” Saint Therese called herself the “Little Flower of Jesus,” and by that name she is known everywhere. Her great devotions were to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Lady, who once appeared to her in a grave sickness. Even when daily Communion was not in practice, a holy priest, sensing her love of the Blessed Eucharist, for a time gave her Communion every day. It is in no small way due to Saint Therese of Lisieux that daily Communion was restored by Saint Pius X, the holy Pope who loved the Little Flower so much.

See also: Saint Therese of Lisieux: The Strong Virgin

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