CI-NEWS

SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS.

2019-09-29

No: 44

SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS.
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus was born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), also known as Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, O.C.D., was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite nun who is widely venerated in modern times. She is popularly known as "The Little Flower of Jesus", or simply "The Little Flower.”
Thérèse has been a highly influential model of sanctity for Catholics and for others because of the simplicity and practicality of
her approach to the spiritual life. Together with Saint Francis of Assisi, she is one of the most popular saints in the history of the
church. Pope Pius X called her "the greatest saint of modern times".
Thérèse felt an early call to religious life, and overcoming various obstacles, in 1888 at the early age of 15, she became a nun
and joined two of her older sisters in the cloistered Carmelite community of Lisieux, Normandy (yet another sister, Céline, also
later joined the order). After nine years as a Carmelite religious, having fulfilled various offices such as sacristan and assistant to
the novice mistress, and having spent her last eighteen months in Carmel in a night of faith (a time when she is said to have felt
Jesus was absent and when she even felt tormented by doubts about the existence of God), Thérèse died at the age of 24, following a slow and painful fight against tuberculosis.
Her feast day in the General Roman Calendar was 3 October from 1927 until it was moved in 1969 to 1 October. Thérèse is well-known throughout the
world, with the Basilica of Lisieux being the second most popular place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes.The relics of St. Thérèse have been on an
international pilgrimage since 1994. The tour included not only first-class relics, but also the saint's religious habit, her rosary, and several other items.
They were brought to Ireland in the summer of 2001. That same year they travelled to Canada. Although Cardinal Basil Hume had declined to endorse
proposals for a tour in 1997, her relics finally visited England and Wales in late September and early October 2009, including an overnight stop at
the Anglican York Minster on her feast day, 1 October. A quarter of a million people venerated them.
On 27 June 2010, the relics of Saint Thérèse went on their first visit to South Africa in conjunction with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They remained in the
country until October 5, 2010.
The writing-desk Therese used at Carmel (an artifact as opposed to a relic) toured the United States in September and October 2013, sponsored by the
Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States.
In November 2013, a new reliquary containing the relics of Saint Thérèse and of her parents, was presented to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by the
Magnificat Foundation.[127] It was first exposed for veneration at the Magnificat Day on 9 November 2013.
The National Shrine of St. Thérèse in Darien, Illinois has the largest collection of relics and personal artifacts of the saint outside of Lisieux.

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SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS.