Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux

Angela McGhin Reporter - Tue, Oct 1st 2013

Today is the feast day of the widely beloved saint, Therese of Lisieux. Her religious name was Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. St. Therese has been popular in Catholic circles for over a century. A great deal is known about her short life from her autobiography, The Story of a Soul. There is also a study edition of this book for those who want to delve deeper in their understanding of St. Therese's spirituality. Beyond autobiographical works are biographies and analyses of the saints life and spirituality. She is one of just three women who are doctors of the Church.

There are numerous photographs of St. Therese, because her sister Celine was an amateur photographer and also a Carmelite nun at the same monastery. I tend to like the photos that show her with a gentle smile, like the one at the upper right. There are also photos of her childhood and adolescence that are very captivating.

Two years ago I wrote about St. Therese here.

The Society of the Little Flower promotes devotion to St. Therese. They have a Facebook page with more links related to St. Therese or to Carmelite spirituality and more.

Frank Weathers has a post about St. Therese on his blog, Why I Am Catholic. He provides an excerpt and a link to The Science of Love by John C.H. Wu.

Here is a brief You Tube summary of St. Thesese's life.
I found the video at the Catholics Online website which has a thorough summary of Therese's life including many links to other sources of information. Reading this webpage would be a good introduction or preparation for reading The Story of a Soul.

This is a video of what our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI said about St. Therese of Lisieux. She teaches us about spirituality.