Vocation to Love. Memorial of Saint Theresa of The Child Jesus, Virgin

By F. K. Bartels
10/1/2010
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

In the life of The Little Flower we find a drive to love to the end

The Little Flower of Jesus sacrificed her life for love of souls. She saw the magnitude of her Beloved's love for them. She offered herself for the building up of the Church, the People of God and the Mystical Body of Christ. That is truly a vocation of love, a love which is bound up in the Supreme Love, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. The Little Flower's life was one of beauty, joy, and wonder, a life which continues to affect members of the Church to this day. Here death did not mark the end of her vocation of love, but sparked a new reality of "beginning" in which she continues to touch souls the world over, inflaming within them her ardent desire to love to the end.

St. Theresa died on September 30, 1897. As a result of her sanctity and the many miracles which were accounted to her intercession, the cause for her canonization was introduced only seventeen years later.

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GLADE PARK, CO (Catholic Online) -- Known as the Little Flower of Jesus, St. Theresa (Therese of Lisieux) was born at Alencon in France, in 1873. She was the ninth child of Louis and Zelie Martin, both saintly parents, who had each desired to consecrate their own lives to God in the religious life. Denied that vocation, Louis and Zelie focused their energy on another lofty vocation: the married life in which parents raise children for love of God, instilling in their hearts true knowledge of purpose and destiny. Thus raised in a loving home, the "first church" in which her parents carefully nurtured all their children in the womb of Christian virtue and love, St. Theresa's vocation to the religious life manifested itself while she was yet only a young child. By God's grace, she heard the silent yet persistent call of devotion in her heart, one which drew her toward a life of love, poverty, obedience and self-sacrifice, a life in which she could give of herself completely to her Beloved.

As the whisper in her heart which urged her to commend her life to God increased, seeing no other life for herself but that of the religious life, St. Theresa sought permission to enter the Carmelite Convent at age fifteen, only to be refused by the superior, which brought her as well as her father, who was eager to give his daughter to God, no small amount of suffering. As a result, father and daughter traveled to Rome as two companions on a saintly mission in order to seek the consent of Pope Leo XIII. The Holy Father, however, preferred that the decision remain in the hands of the superior, who indeed consented only a short time later, on 9 April, 1888. The Little Flower of Jesus was only fifteen. At last the desire of her heart, one placed there by God himself, had been granted, and, St. Theresa, following in the steps of two of her older sisters, joyously entered the convent of Lisieux, a tranquil place of peaceful prayer, silent contemplation, and fervent love of neighbor.

The Little Flower lived that religious life for eleven years; the Gospel life, a life marked by humility, evangelical simplicity, poverty and all the rest; a life of constant growth in holiness, hidden in God, in which incomparable gifts of advanced prayer, contemplation, and mystical union rained from heaven. Yet what clearly stands out in her wondrous life of Christian virtue is her trust in God, a trust so great that, as we clearly see in her eagerness to enter the convent, she was able to fearlessly and joyously throw herself at our Savior's feet at such a tender age.

The Little Flower of Jesus: The Vocation of Love

So great was St. Theresa's love for Christ, so strong her desire to give totally and completely, that she longed to die a martyr's death. In her autobiography, written in obedience to her superior and published two years after her death, St. Theresa wrote, "Since my longing for martyrdom was powerful and unsettling, I turned to the epistles of Saint Paul in the hope of finally finding an answer." Yet, on her first reading, she would not find such an answer.

"I read that not everyone can be an apostle, prophet or teacher, that the Church is composed of a variety of members, and that the eye cannot be the hand. Even with such an answer revealed before me, I was not satisfied and did not find peace."

St. Theresa continued reading until she found what she termed an "encouraging theme": "Set your desires on greater gifts. And I will now show you the way which surpasses all others" (cf. 1 Cor 12:31).

The answer that the Beloved revealed to St. Theresa was love, queen of the virtues: love would be her calling, love her vocation, love her life. It was love that would bring her peace: "For the Apostle insists that the greater gifts are nothing at all without love and that this same love is surely the best path leading directly to God. At length I had found peace of mind.

"When I looked upon the mystical body of the Church, I recognized myself in none of the members which St. Paul described, and what is more, I desired to distinguish myself more favorably within the while body. Love appeared to me to be the hinge for my vocation. Indeed I knew that the Church . . . had a heart and that such a heart appeared to be aflame with love. I knew that one love drove the members of the Church to action, that if this love were extinguished, the apostles would have proclaimed the Gospel no longer, the martyrs would have shed there blood no more. I saw and realized that love sets off the bounds of all vocations, that love is everything, that this same love embraces every time and every place. In one word, that love is everlasting.

"Then, nearly ecstatic with supreme joy in my soul, I proclaimed: O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love. Certainly I have found my proper place in the Church, and you ...

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1 - 10 of 13 Comments

Savino
7 months ago
Am inspired by the love which was the answer found by St Theresah to the question of her place in the Church.
May God help each person to really find a place in heaven.
Diane
2 years ago
To C Cotton. Here is why I think St. Theresa is a Dr. of the church and a great saint. What she did first and at all times was focus on the interior life of the soul, where God dwells. There she loved and adored Him and He turned her to see all others, including herself as the objects of His love. To imitate Him she loved all others. This is not to deny His presence in the Eucharist, she loved and adored Him there.It's to be able to realize that God, Who dwells in us is the same God Who dwells outside us. One and the same. That's to experience total harmony, within and without. God used St. Theresa to show others that they can do the same thing.If you surrender to God everything you do becomes holy because you are in union with Him. Even the daily work you describe. Hope that helps. I'm a devotee of her too because her example and writings have shown that hliness is easier than many think.
LJ4789
2 years ago
becoming our best as God's creations and for Gods will, but one can only interpret this when one is free of the self. Gods love and strength often comes through others
LJ4789
2 years ago
St. Therese opened minds and (hearts) to becoming our best as God's creations and for God’s will, but one can only interpret this when one is free of the “self”. Being a Catholic, this sentiment is innate to demonstrate in our own lives. God’s love and strength often comes through others - and St. Therese was one of them! She was instrumental is proving that each of us, every one of us is loved and even in the smallest of actions on our part--it is a magnificent act. This is not based upon the magnitude or amount the charitable act is-- but from the pure, loving, non selfish giving of the person who is loving. Everything thing we do-- no matter how small it is, is huge and noted by God and the heavenly family! We are heard, understood and loved. I had hit rock bottom in my life and in a dream She came to me -- just like the statue of her in a favorite old Nogales, Sonora, AZ church - beautiful, radiant and beaming with love and grace and she led me to read her autobiography (Story of a Soul) which anyone in exile in this life, will drink this book in. It is as though she is there with you as you read it, humbled, meek and loving she fully understands our cries and desire to be the best we can in whatever predicament the Lord has chosen for us! We are NEVER alone! She did return to Earth to help and save souls, and I am one of them! Thank you Little Flower of Jesus!! I love you always. God Creates Miracles, He absolutely does!
Shilo Stigen
2 years ago
An honest question, C Cotton. I'm not a Therese expert by any stretch, but I'll try anyhow. You sound like you want concrete ACTS that Therese performed, or perhaps difficult CONDITIONS that she suffered for love of Jesus, to flesh-out all the warm fuzzies that Therese gets from by the "Flower-azzi". Here's a couple examples I verified online: A. She wrote to and befriended a seminarian-missionary named Maurice, and her letters helped him to overcome various struggles & choose his vocation to the priesthood (Google "Maurice and Therese,"). B. A "Flower-azzi" friend told me that Therese loved having her picture taken when she was doing the dishes, because she loved doing small humble things for God. C. As far as community goes, she some difficult nuns in the cloister to live with and love, and she took it upon herself to care for a crippled nun. (Google "Therese of Liseux dishes" for a Google book preview that talked a bit about B and C, and Wikipedia has a GREAT pic of her smiling while doing dishes). D. She suffered physically with TB, which eventually was the cause of her death-only 24 years old- and she suffered this alongside a serious temptation against faith ("A Saint's Dark Night" on nytimes.com mentioned her temptation briefly). Hope these examples help, C Cotton, and God bless!
Johnny
2 years ago
@ C Cotton, I would recommend one of her books "Story of a soul" written by John Clarke,O.C.D. This will clarify many things you may have.God Bless.
vance
2 years ago
This is a great article and uplifting. I bought the Time magazine edition on Mother Teresa to commemorate her hundreth birthdate. I found it fascinating that Mother Teresa chose St. Theresa as her favorite saint. She kept a picture of St. Theresa where she prayed and slept. Now both are in heaven and I pray that they pray for us.
Helen Hawkins
2 years ago
C. Cotton,

I understand your question. When I first read her autobiography "Story of a Soul" I really wondered why so many intellectual men and women - especially intellectual men, made such an important study of her.

Her life seemed so simple, so ordinary.

The question really nagged at me because it did not make sense. If her followers had only been parents who wanted a beautiful role model for their daughters, well.. that would have made sense. Her devotees are scholars and theologians. They are not sentimental individuals and they are fascinated by her.

So I kept on reading and re-reading the "Story of a Soul"
I read the letters between her and the missionary priest Maurice.
I am looking for other material as well.

And bit by bit, I am beginning to see her contribution to the world. It is hard to explain but her "little way" is one of those obvious truths that is over-looked and totally misunderstood.

I can honestly say that I love her and her struggles. Mother Teresa chose her name after Saint Therese the Little Flower.
C Cotton
2 years ago
I'm confused by this article. What was the point? St. Therese obviously loved Jesus very much, but what did she do in her life that set her apart so much? There are many who love Christ and devote themselves daily to prayer, but do not have the luxury of all kinds of "contemplation time" that a young girl, with only herself to care for, would have in a convent. Those without that luxury, such as any mother, must "sacrifice herself" for the Mystical Body of Christ in the form of caring for little children who need noses and hineys wiped, amongst a thousand other services. If that mother has an elderly parent to care for at the same time, increase the "sacrifice". This is something I have never understood about "The Little Flower": What did she actually do in her life that set her apart? This article did very little to explain and I wish someone would actually explain, rather than just state with sentimentality how "devoted" she was and how she "sacrificed her life". Or is it just culturally popular in our Catholic faith to praise St. Therese? Anyone? I would be grateful for an honest, unemotional answer.
Mervyn Dias
2 years ago
This article defenitely helped me and strengthen my faith further. God Bless !

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