Today (1 October) the mother Church celebrates the feast of St. Therese of Child Jesus, popularly known as the Little Flower. The Carmelite saint, who died at the age of 24, became the 33rd Doctor of the Church and the youngest to receive the title when it was conferred on her by Pope John Paul II on 19 October 1997. She is the Joint Principal Patroness of missions. Her book, ‘Story of a Soul’ made her known throughout the world. She also wrote two volumes of letters, some poems, prayers and eight plays.
The little way of St. Therese is an image which highlights her understanding of being a disciple of Christ. Therese firmly believed that a disciple of Jesus Christ seeks holiness in everyday and ordinary life. She being a religious was convinced of two things: Firstly, that God shows love by mercy and forgiveness and secondly, that she cannot be perfect in following the Lord. She adopted flowers as the symbol of her love for her Divine Spouse and offered all her little daily sacrifices and works as rose petals at the feet of Jesus.
St Therese who had a desire to enter the Cloistered Carmel before the age of fifteen and who joined it, four months after her fifteenth birthday, showed concern towards those people who lived in excessive fear of God’s judgment. St Therese knew from her life that God is merciful love: “How can one live in fear of a God who became a child? Therese questioned. She also knew that she would never be perfect. Therefore, she went to God as a child approaches a parent with open arms and a profound trust.
‘The little way’ of St Therese is the commitment to the tasks and to the people we meet in our everyday lives. In whatever she did in the Cloistered Carmel Convent of Lisieux, she manifested her love for God and for others. She showed love and concern to all, even to the difficult members. Her life seems so routine and ordinary – it is called a little way precisely because it was simple, direct, yet one that called for amazing fortitude and commitment.
St John Paul II, then Pope, while proclaiming her Doctor of the Church said that she was the youngest Doctors of the Church, but her ardent spiritual journey showed a great maturity, and the insights into faith expressed in her writings are so vast and profound that she deserves a place among the great spiritual masters.
Today many people are attracted to St Therese’s little way. St Therese lived within the four walls of the convent. There are Cloistered Carmelite nuns in Chicalim (Goa) and in different parts of the world, who practice the little way of the little flower. She teaches us to put holiness of life within the reach of ordinary people and helps us to recognize that each day is a gift in which our life can make a difference by the way we choose to live it.
