Spreading the Word About Saint Therese

While she was alive, Saint Therese lived in a Carmelite convent, shut off from the world. As a cloistered nun, much of her day was spent in silence and prayer. She displayed great restraint when her patience was tested, as it was even in the convent. Sometimes she'd help an elderly and very crabby sister who criticized everything she did, even when it was done in a spirit of helping.

Saint Therese also didn't complain while doing laundry, when another sister repeatedly splashed soapy water in her face. Nor did she say what was really on her mind when she was in the chapel trying to pray, and another sister made a distracting clacking noise. Even though this prevented Saint Therese from focusing on her own prayers, she didn't say a word to the sister. Instead, she offered up this small penance as a sacrifice to God.

This was Saint Therese's "Little Way," of offering everything to God with love, instead of complaint, and it's something that many Catholics try to emulate.

Catholics pray to canonized saints because we know they are in Heaven with God, and we believe they have his attention when we send up a request through them, similar to we ask our friends here on earth to pray for us. Except we believe the prayers of the saints are especially powerful because they are now so close to God.

People who request the help of Saint Therese do receive it. Sometimes, when a prayer is answered through her intercession, it's not answered exactly as we requested. However, the way it turns out is always for the best, since she has the vantage point of being in Heaven, and she knows what is best for us.

There is also a pious belief that when one of our prayers is heard, Saint Therese will send us a rose in one form or another. (It might be paper, or you might see the word "rose" written somewhere, instead of receiving a real rose.) This is based upon a statement she made before her death, in which she promised to send a shower of roses from Heaven.

Saint Therese wanted to help people know how much God loves them and for them to view Him as a kind, benevolent Father. We believe she continues to do this from Heaven. After her death, copies of her autobiography, Story of a Soul, was published shortly after her she died, and then translated into many languages. People around the world have read this book, and are trying to model their spirituality after hers.

Many people from many nations have gotten to know and love Saint Therese, even though she lived a very secluded life in a Carmelite cloister, far removed from the world. She died from tuberculosis in obscurity, at age 24. But less than 30 years after her death, in 1925, she officially became a saint in the Catholic Church. Then, in 1997, she received another distinction, when she was made Doctor of the Church. This is a title reserved only for those considered to be very spiritually and theologically advanced.