Born in 1873 in France, Therese was only 15 years when she entered the Carmelite monastery in Lisieux as a postulant. She died of tuberculosis on September 30, 1897 at the age of 24. She was unknown to most of the world during her lifetime. At the time of her death, she stated: “I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me." Her last words were: "My God, I love you.” She became known to the world after her death by the publication of her spiritual memoir, Story of a soul, which is the compilation of three different manuscripts that she wrote during her lifetime. She was canonized a saint in 1925 by Pope Pius XI and named a doctor of the church by Pope John Paul II, only one of four women to have that distinction. Her spirituality remains popular to this day, probably because her little way of lifting up our everyday moments to God is very simple to understand and resonates with the Catholic faithful.
In our Gospel today, someone tells Jesus that he will follow Jesus wherever he goes. Sometimes we do not know where our journey of faith will take us. Therese had a heart for the missions, but her journey of faith led her to her vocation as a cloistered Carmelite nun, dying at a very young age after struggling her whole life with her health. She is now one of the patron saints where her missionary spirit still inspires people today. We unite our prayers with the prayers of St Therese of Lisieux.
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