St. Therese of Lisieux
Doctor of the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood 1873 - 1897
Some were surprised when Pope John Paul II declared St. Therese of Lisieux a Doctor of the Church. Ironically, it was primarily because of charism as Doctor of the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood that it took many Catholics by surprise. Although St. Therese of Lisieux’s works have always been very popular among the faithful, St. Therese is a different kind of Doctor for the Catholic Church. It is a way imbued with humility and simplicity, and her rise to the position of Doctor of the Church is a model to Catholics that following the Gospel does not require great scholarship or learning, but rather, profound love.
St. Therese’s Unprecented Following
Born to two very devout Catholics in 1873, Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin, St. Therese was born with the name Marie Francoise Martin. Her father was a watchmaker by trade and both parents had entertained thoughts of being religious themselves but were unable due to health concerns. As could be expected, St. Therese’s mother died from cancer when St. Therese was only four leaving her older sisters, all of whom also became nuns, to care for her.
St. Therese of Lisieux lived a very short life, having died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis, but retains a huge following in part because of her autobiography The Story of a Soul but also her famous saying that she would do much greater work on earth once she was in heaven.
The Connection Between St. Therese of Lisieux and Mother Teresa of Calcutta
A fascinating irony exists in between these two saints. St. Therese of Lisieux entered a Carmelite convent at the age of 16 after pleading with the pope to allow her to enter early. She was initially refused, but granted entrance later. She took her name from the great Doctor of the Church, St. Teresa of Avila.
Because her wish in life was to be a missionary, being struck by illness at such a young age must have been a huge blow to St. Therese. But according to the sisters who lived with her, she bore her sufferings with great grace and was known to have visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary from time to time.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta took her name from St. Therese of Lisieux and in a way that only heaven could predict fulfilled St. Therese’s desires of being a missionary in a way that she could possibly never have imagined.
St. Therese of Lisieux was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II in the late 20th century because of the humble way to God described in her writings known as ‘The Little Way.’
St. Therese of Lisieux’s Written Works
The Story of a Soul, The Life of the Little Flower, The Living Sisters of the Little Flower, Our Sister is in Heaven, The Little Flower’s mother, An Hour With the Little Flower, Last Conversations, The Little Way
The Thirty Second Doctor of the Catholic Church
The First Doctor of the Catholic Church
Sources: The 33 Doctors of the Church – By Fr. Christopher Rengers, A Catholic Dictionary – By William Addis, The Writings of the Early Church Fathers (Thirty Eight Volumes): Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post Nicene – Hendrickson Publishers, Dictionary of Saints – By John J. Delaney, Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heretics – By Chas S. Clifton, A Scholastic Miscellany: Anselm to Ockham – Edited by Eugene R. Fairweather, A Short History of Christian Doctrine: From the First Century to the Present – By Bernhard Lohse
St. Therese of Lisieux
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