St. Therese of Lisieux:
To Love God and to Make Him Loved

By Duy Duc

t is extremely appropriate that the Young Catholic page should be devoted to St. Therese of Lisieux because no one represents better the true potential of what young Catholics can and are called to do. By far St. Therese is one of the most popular saints of modern day and who appeals to both the young and the old alike. Last year when her relics were transported to the United States for a tour, I had a chance to be present at one of the gatherings. To my amazement, the large church was crowded with thousands of people both inside and outside. There were many old people braving the heat and waiting in line for several hours to get a chance to touch the glass structure that encased her relics. But to my surprise, there were also hundreds of young people like myself who came out to get a chance to get a glimpse of St. Therese and feel her presence.

I think one of the reasons for St. Therese's popularity with everyone is because of her simplicity. We all can relate to her on a personal level because she shows her struggles just like the rest of us, and she searches for her faith just like the rest of us. We can also relate to St. Therese because she helps us find God where He is, in the seemingly ordinary routine of every day life. She finds God in the present moment, close to us. God is there to love us because God is Love.

As we know, St. Therese (born Therese Martin) came into the world in 1873 in Alencon, France. She was the youngest of nine children, five of whom survived infancy. Since adolescence, Therese held a deep desire to enter the convent to follow one of her older sisters. Through many attempts to enter at a younger age than normal, she was accepted to Lisieux Carmel in April 1888, when she was 15 years old. Her life in the convent would, however, not be a long one since she died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

Though her life was short, we are fortunate enough to learn much about Therese through her writings, especially her own memoirs "Story of a Soul". This autobiography was published only a year after her death and now, dozens of millions of copies have been read in over 50 languages.

When we read about Therese through her own writings, whether we are old or young, we are powerfully drawn to her because of her childlike simplicity. We can relate to her own religious experiences which are not related to visions or revelations. Her life is ordinary in that there is nothing high-minded about her. Yet, at the same time, we know that the things she is telling us are profound and can surely lead us to God. As Therese writes, "I have found Him, and I know the way that leads to him, here is this modern world. I can show you the way, the little way of confidence and love. I have experienced your desperation and the way that I discovered was the only one for me. I know it is the only one for you. Let me teach it to you."

Yes, even deep in the Carmelite convent, Therese was very aware of the world going on outside of the convent walls. She understood the pains of war, of poverty, the struggles of everyday life. She understood the difficulties of young people like ourselves and the sometimes unhappy search for God. And she offered us a way to Him, and if we are willing and patient, we can find God through the way that Therese found Him.

What is this way? It is as simple as it is profound. Therese writes,

I've always wished that I could be a saint. But whenever I compared myself to the Saints there was always this unfortunate difference--they were like great mountains, hiding their heads in the clouds, and I was only an insignificant grain of sand, trodden down by all who passed by. However, I wasn't going to be discouraged; I said to myself: "God wouldn't inspire us with ambitions that can't be realized. Obviously there's nothing great to be made of me, so it must be possible for me to aspire to sanctity in spite of my insignificance. I've got to take myself just as I am, with all my imperfections; but somehow I shall have to find out a little way, all of my own, which will be a direct shortcut to heaven. Can't I find a life which will take me up to Jesus, since I'm not big enough to climb the steep stairway of perfection?" So I looked in the Bible for some hint about the lift I wanted, and I came across the passage where Eternal Wisdom says: "Is anyone simple as a little child? Then let him come to me." To that Wisdom I went; it seemed as if I was on the right track; what did God undertake to do for the child like souls that responded to his invitation? I read on, and this is what I found: "I will console you like a mother caressing her son; you shall be like children carried at the breast, fondled on a mother's lap." Never were words so touching: never was such music to rejoice the heart--I could, after all, be lifted up to heaven, in the arms of Jesus! And if that was to happen, there was no need for me to grow bigger; on the contrary, I must be as small as ever, smaller than ever.

A small person acts in small ways and Therese set out to do just that. She was determined to miss no single opportunity for making some small sacrifice with some smiling looks to people who displeased her or with some kind words to others. As she says, "always doing the tiniest things right, and doing it for love."

In the old days, religious people were often taught to believe that they must make physical sacrifices, including self-beating in order to atone for the sins of the world. Therese did not find this a helpful way for as she admits, "That's a thing I'm afraid, I've never done - What I did try to do by way of mortification was to thwart my self-will, which always seemed determined to get its own way; to repress the rejoinder which sometimes came to my lips; to do little acts of kindness without attaching any importance to them."

Though she was determined, it was not always an easy thing to do. Therese recounts of a fellow sister who would "rub me up the wrong way at every turn; her tricks of manner, her tricks of speech, her character, just strike me as unlovable." However, Therese reflected on her situation and began to see the sister not as how she saw her, but how God saw her and thus, set out love her as God would love her. She writes, "Every time I met her, I used to pray for her, offering to God all her virtues and her merits. I felt certain that Jesus would like me to do that, because all artists like to hear their work praised, and Jesus, who fashions men's souls so skillfully, doesn't want us to stand about admiring the façade -- he wants us to make our way in, till we reach the inmost sanctuary which is his chosen dwelling, and admire the beauty of that." But beside praying for her, Therese also attempted to be kind to her, to put on her best smile when she most did not want to. She was so accomplished at loving the sister for her soul that even her own blood sisters in the convent thought that this nun was Therese's best friend.

It took Therese a long time, but she eventually would realize that perfect love meant putting up with other people's shortcomings, feeling no surprise at their weaknesses, finding encouragement even in the slightest evidence of good qualities in them. But, as Therese writes, "The point that came home to me most of all was that it was no good leaving charity locked up in the depths of your heart. 'A lamp,' Jesus says, 'is not lighted to be put away under a bushel measure; it is put on the lamp stand, to give light to all the people of the house.' The lamp, I suppose, stands for charity; and the cheerful light it gives isn't meant simply for the people we are fond of; it is meant for everybody in the house, without exception."

As we can see, though Therese' spirituality may be simple, it is extremely profound in its message to us, no matter what age we are. Her simple words give us enough food for thought to last us a life time. This is because Therese teaches us the science of God's love, that is "To love God and to make Him loved."

Though Therese was young and she was a woman, the church has honored her with the title "Doctor" of the church. And Pope Pius X called her "the greatest saint of modern times." There are other doctors in the church, but only St. Therese gives us a message filled with so much admirable simplicity. And she can speak to our hearts because she showed herself to be a living example of the message that she taught.

Therefore, it is not surprising that everywhere the relics of St. Therese go, thousands would flock just to be near to her for a brief moment. I think that in their hearts, they can truly feel her presence. For after all, Therese did promise that "I will come down! I will spend my heaven doing good on earth."

It is my hope that this reflection on St. Therese will be an inspiration for us as young Catholics. We are living in a modern, complicated world. But there are things that don't change. We still try to survive our problems. We still try to find faith. And we still try to find God. St. Therese reminds us that we can do all these things if we are deep in love with Jesus. With this love, we will have the wings that soar not to some heights of riches and achievements, but to the kingdom of God within us. God does not demand what we are not capable. He does not ask us to be great, but to remain little, to stay a child with childlike trust in the Father's love. And though we can be young and small, our potential remains great.