I will be love in the heart of the Church

St Therese of Lisieux, Centenary of Canonisation

Legion of Mary Summer School

St Therese of Lisieux has captivated the hearts of countless millions, so many Catholics find in her an attractive inspiration to live the Christian life as she saw it. Her appeal is well beyond Catholic circles. On the occasion of the 150^th anniversary of her birth, she was recognized by UNESCO as one of the most significant figures for contemporary humanity.

The life of Saint Therese was short. She died at the age of twenty-four years. In a way her short life parallels that of Blessed Carlo Acutis who will be canonised during this Holy Year. He died at the age of 16, but like St Therese his short life revealed a profound holiness. Life does not have to be long to gain sanctity.

She understood that it was not the accumulation of good works, but who we become that counts in the eyes of God. Holiness is found as a state of being and cannot be simply measured in works accomplished. Thus she wrote, “In the evening of this life, I shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is stained in your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in your own Justice and to receive from your Love the eternal possession of yourself”.

Not only did she attain great holiness in her short life, but her deep union with God endowed her with great wisdom. She has been declared a Doctor of the Church, a Doctor of the spiritual life. Wisdom is not acquired by long life and much experience but by allowing an enlightening of the mind by the Holy Spirit. 

The other attractive aspect of the life of St Therese was its ordinariness. She lived with her family in the small village of Lisieux in Normandy in the north west of France, and entered the Carmelite convent in that town. Her life, like that of Jesus for his first thirty years, was lived in obscurity. Indeed, no one would know of her if her writings were not published. She would have lived and died in the quietness and isolation of her village and convent.

There is something very approachable in one who was content to live in obscurity, not seeking notice or attention. Their ordinariness makes us feel we can engage with them. They are not towering or distant figures. Her life reflects the circumstances of the birth of our Saviour. He chose to be born in humble circumstances, and grow up in a simple village.

Simplicity and humility are attractive virtues. St Therese appeals to us because we see these qualities in her.

More than content to live in obscurity nevertheless God had other plans. Her superiors asked her to write down her account of her spiritual life. In 1898, 2000 copies of her autobiography were printed. By 1914, Carmel in Lisieux was receiving 200 letters a day regarding St Therese and her “favours”; this number grew to 800 a day by 1923.

It was not just the publication of her writings that caught the spiritual imagination of the world, but the countless graces that flowed as a result of people seeking her intercession. They sensed one they could approach, one so simple, so loving, and one so close to God. Miracles are always an expected dimension of sanctity. Just as miracles constantly accompanied the ministry of Jesus, so too miracles are a feature of the lives of saints. Miracles are not limited to their time on earth, but are often more in evidence once they are in the presence of God.

We Catholics believe in miracles and are not surprised when they occur. They are testament not just to the power of God to heal and save, but are a witness to the compassion and mercy of God towards a sinful and wayward humanity. God has not abandoned us but is always close. St Therese knew this so well.

Writing to his sister Pauline (Mother Agnes of Jesus) she said, “I feel that I am filled with courage; I am sure that God is not go­ing to abandon me. Oh, I want to refuse Him nothing, and even though I feel sad and alone on this earth, He still remains with me. And has not St. Teresa said: ‘God alone suffices’”. St Theresa inspires us to believe that God is close to us, and in the end it is very true: God alone suffices.

Her path to formal recognition by the Church as a saint was relatively quick. She died in 1897 and was declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XV in 1921 and she was canonised on 17 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI. In 1927 she was given the title, “Patroness of the Missions”. She was declared one of the patron saints of France in 1944. In 1997 St John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church. He said that St Therese was “an expert in the scientia amoris”, the science of love.

As we commemorate the centenary of her canonisation what can we take from her life and spirituality to help and inspire us today?

Centrality of Jesus

St Therese’ full name in religion was “Sr Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face”. Her choice reflects that the focus of her faith was upon the person of Jesus. She was particularly attracted by Jesus as a child, living in Nazareth, living under governance of Joseph and Mary. Her choice of the ‘Holy Face’, suggests a deeply personal attachment to Jesus.

These days the Church speaks of having a ‘personal relationship with Jesus’. For example, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “This mystery (of faith), then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God” (CCC 2558).

Our relationship with Jesus is more than an intellectual acceptance of Jesus, more than a notion acknowledgement of him. The way we relate to Jesus is from the heart and not just from the head. As Pope Benedict said, “Christian faith is not only a matter of believing that certain things are true, but above all a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” This is clearly evident in the vision of faith that inspired St Therese. She had written, “Jesus is my one love”.

This understanding reminds us that the Christian life is more than just a theoretical knowledge about Jesus, but a living relationship with him. This is clearly what fuelled the strength and depth of the faith and prayer of St Therese. Pope Benedict rightly said, “Only in this personal relationship with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One, do we truly become Christians.” 

St Therese reveals something very important – that it is this relationship which spurs us to reach out beyond ourselves to others, indeed, to the whole world. While her life was lived within the confines of the walls of the convent in Lisieux, her heart reached out to all humanity. Her profound love of Jesus flowed into a sense of mission. She wrote, “I shall desire in heaven the same thing as I do now on earth: to love Jesus and to make him loved”. Her writings reveal constantly that Jesus was the single focus of her life and her concern was that he be everywhere known and loves.

It is this aspect of her spirituality – this consciousness of the need for the Church to be the instrument by which Jesus is known and loved – that led to her being given the title of Patroness of the Missions. It reminds us also that the mission of the Church is accomplished not just by those active in the apostolate but also by those who stand behind them immersed in prayer.

Her deep love of Jesus led her to desire that all would come to know Him as she did. She longed to be a means by which others would be drawn to Jesus. Thus, she wrote, “That is my prayer. I ask Jesus to draw me to the flames of his love, to unite me so closely to him that he live and act in me. I feel that the more the fire of love burns within my heart, the more I shall say ‘Draw me’: the more also the souls who will approach me (poor little piece of iron, useless if I withdraw from the divine furnace), the more these souls will run swiftly in the odour of the ointments of their Beloved, for a soul that is burning with love cannot remain inactive”.

The “Little Way”

One of the most important insights of St Therese for the benefit of the entire People of God is her “little way”, the path of trust and love, also known asthe ‘way of spiritual childhood’. Everyone can follow this way, whatever their age or state in life. This aspect of her spirituality has attracted people because it is within the reach of everyone. It is this teaching that has become associated with her. She offers to all of us a way to God, the little way, the way of spiritual childhood.

It is, of course, grounded soundly in Sacred Scripture. In Matthew 11:25 we read, “At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to mere children’”. St Therese, in considering herself a mere child, knew that God was revealing Himself to her in a most wonderful fashion. In her childlike trust and surrender she was indeed the beneficiary of many extraordinary graces.

In the Story of a Soul,St Therese tells how she discovered the little way. She wrote, “I can, then, in spite of my littleness, aspire to holiness. It is impossible for me to grow up, and so I must bear with myself such as I am, with all my imperfections. But I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new”.

To describe that way, she uses the image of an elevator: “the elevator which must raise me to heaven is your arms, O Jesus! And for this, I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more”. She was content to remain as a little child in her relationship with Jesus.

Here one is reminded of images given to us in the Gospels where Jesus embraced little children. He placed children before his disciples and said, “unless you learn to become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3)

St Theresa recognised her own littleness in the sight of God. She is content to remain little. She does not aspire to greatness. This is, of course, the nature of the virtue of humility. This virtue was praised by the Lord and he spoke of it as essential if one wishes to embrace true faith in God and enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

A Little Child trusts

St Therese knew that childlike dispositions of heart led her to place her trust and confidence in God and not in herself. She simply longed to be secure in the loving arms of Jesus.

In the face of tendencies that lie within all of us whereby we feel we need to prove ourselves before God by what we do, St Therese speaks of learning to surrender in loving trust into the hands of God. Within the history of the Church there has lurked the old heresy of Pelagianism which tends towards an individualistic and elitist view of being Christian, where holiness is viewed a personal achievement growing out of ascetic achievement. This is not the truly Christian way and not the way to experience Christian joy in living the way of Christ.

St Therese always stresses the primacy of God’s work, his gift of grace. As a result, she could say: “I always feel, however, the same bold confidence of becoming a great saint, because I don’t count on my merits, since I have none, but I trust in him who is Virtue and Holiness. God alone, content with my weak efforts, will raise me to himself and make me a saint, clothing me in his infinite merits”.

St Therese highlighted the primacy of God’s action and she encourages us to have complete confidence as we contemplate the love of Christ which has been poured out upon humanity. At the heart of her teaching is the realization that, since we are incapable of being certain about ourselves, we cannot be sure of our merits. Hence, it is not possible to trust in our own efforts or achievements. The Catechism of the Catholic Church quoted the words of Saint Therese: “I will appear before you with empty hands”, to bring to the fore the importance of her understanding that “the saints have always had a lively awareness that their merits were pure grace”.This conviction gives rise to an attitude of joyful and tender gratitude towards the goodness and kindness of God.

It is interesting to note that St Therese, in speaking about Holy Communion, commented she was conscious firstly of the desire of Jesus to unite himself with us and dwell within us, as coming before our desire to receive him in Holy Communion. In her Act of Oblation to Merciful Love, saddened by her inability to receive communion each day, she tells Jesus: “Remain in me as in a tabernacle”.Her gaze remained fixed not on herself and her own needs, but on Christ, who loves, seeks, desires and dwells within.

This mirrors the teaching of St John who reminds us that it is not our love for God but God’s love for us.

St Therese’s little way was the way of trust. She understood that it was not to place our trust in ourselves but in the infinite mercy of God who have given us salvation in the cross of Christ.

We all sense at times our frailty and our sinfulness and so can feel that we can never advance out of our weaknesses. St Therese saw things differently. She said, “If all weak and imperfect souls felt what the least of souls feels, that is, the soul of your little Therese, not one would despair of reaching the summit of the mount of love. Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude”. It seems too simple, but she knows that God does great things in us. We are the source of the limit to what God wants to do in us.

Her little way is in fact the way to greatness, the way to holiness, the way to sanctity.

She offers guidance as to how this could become a reality for us. She speaks of a ‘holy abandonment’. Part of this holy abandonment is letting go of calculation about our future and, indeed, fear of our future. When we try to control the outcome of our lives we deny the chance for the God of Love to shape our destiny. Thus, she says, “We who run in the way of love shouldn’t be thinking of suffering that can take place in the future; it’s a lack of confidence”.

Holy abandonment means putting ourselves and our future into the hands of the One who loves us. Here she is reflecting a line of spiritual teaching best made known in the spiritual classic by Fr Pierre de Caussade, “Abandonment to Divine Providence”.  

It is worth noting that St Therese experienced in the final months of her life what she described as a great “trial against the faith’. She wrote that Jesus allowed her soul “to be invaded by the thickest darkness”. In this experience she came to appreciate what despair and sheer emptiness is like. It gave her an experience of what it is like to be an unbeliever, an atheist.

Inspired from this experience she wrote, “I run toward my Jesus. I tell him I am ready to shed my blood to the last drop to profess faith in the existence of heaven. I tell him, too, that I am happy not to enjoy this beautiful heaven on this earth so that he will open it for all eternity to poor unbelievers”.

One of the distinguishing features of the faith of St Therese was her constant preoccupation with becoming an instrument for the saving of souls. She said, “Jesus, allow me to save very many souls; let no soul be lost today… Jesus, pardon me if I say anything I should not say. I only want to give you joy and to console you”.

In the midst of this darkness she never lost hope and confidence in God. She took refuge in him and relied upon the mercy of God. She commented, “To me he has granted his infinite mercy and through it I contemplate and adore the other divine perfections! All of these perfections appear to be resplendent with love, even his Justice (and perhaps this even more so than the others) seems to me clothed in love”.   

Here St Therese reflects a spiritual theme that will emerge in our own time – that of Divine Mercy, with its subline “Jesus I trust in you”. She completely trusted in the triumph of divine mercy.

I will be love

St Therese is known above all for her bold declaration: “I will be love”.

We know that love is the greatest of the virtues. Faith and hope, St Paul says, will pass away but love will never pass away (I Cor 13:13).

She realised that God actually thirsts for our love. She takes the example of the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well. She comments that Jesus “did not fear to beg for a little water from the Samaritan woman. He was thirsty. But when he said ‘Give me to drink’, it was the love of his poor creature that the Creator of the universe was seeking. He was thirsty for love”. St Therese wished to respond to the love of Jesus, to offer him love in return for love.

She constantly made acts of love, saying the words, “Jesus I love you”. With this consciousness she penetrates the story in the Gospel of the woman who washed the feet of Jesus. Her insight reveals much of what was in her own heart. She writes, “When I see Magdalene walking up before the many guests, washing with her tears the feet of her adored Master, whom she is touching for the first time, I feel that her heart has understood the abysses of love and mercy of the Heart of Jesus, and, sinner though she is, this Heart of love was not only disposed to pardon her, but to lavish on her the blessings of divine intimacy, to lift her to the highest summits of contemplation”.

Story of a Soul reveals that St Therese longed to show love by carrying out little acts of love on a daily basis. This is a key to her spirituality of being love. It is not in the great gestures, but in the little things, the unnoticed things that love finds its purest expression.

For St Therese, in the end, it is all about love. Thus she writes,“I care now about one thing only – to love You, my Jesus! Great deeds are forbidden me, I cannot preach the Gospel nor shed my blood – but what does it matter? My brothers toil instead of me and I, a little child, well, I keep close by the throne of God and I love for those who fight. Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Well, I will scatter flowers, perfuming the Divine throne with their fragrance, and I’ll sweetly sing my hymn of love. Yes, my Beloved, that is how I will spend my short life. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least of actions for love. I wish both to suffer and to find joy through love”.

St Therese’s last words moments before she died in Carmel were: “Oh! I love Him…My God…I love You.” She died on September 30, 1897.

Being Love in the heart of the Church

An important aspect to the vocation of any contemplative is that they embrace this life as part of the life and mission of the Church. St Teresa of Avila had a strong sense of the importance of the contemplative life for the work of the Church. This consciousness is deeply embedded in the Carmelite tradition and was readily embraced by St Therese of Lisieux.

Thus, we find her exploring this question and developing her own understanding of how it applied to herself. To do this she reflected on the writings of St Paul in chapters 11 and 12 of his First Letter to the Corinthians. There St Paul draws on the image of the human body to explain the variety of gifts and ministries that can be found within the Church.

Thus, she writes (and I will quote her at length),

Considering the mystical body of the Church I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by Saint Paul, or rather I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church had a body composed of different members, the most necessary and most noble of all could not be lacking to it, and so I understood that the Church had a Heart, and that this Heart was burning with love. I understood it was love alone that made the Church’s members act, that if Love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel and martyrs would not shed their blood. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places… in a word: that it was eternal! Then, in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love… my vocation, at last I have found it… my vocation is Love! Yes, I have found my place in the Church, and it is you, O my God, who have given me this place; in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be Love. Thus, I shall be everything, and thus my dream will be realized.

St Therese offers us some very important insights. How do we view the Church and our role in it? Perhaps we have become so focussed on its media face. We are perhaps caught up in the human face of the Church, or on its institutional expression. We can fall into seeing that we are to be engaged more at the political than spiritual level.

St Therese offers a wonderful antidote to this humanistic way of seeing things. She says it with such clarity and conviction: “my vocation is Love”.

She sees that this vocation does not end with her earthly life. She wrote in one of her last letters: “I really count on not remaining inactive in heaven. My desire is to work still for the Church and for souls”. And in those very days she said, even more directly: “My heaven will be spent on earth until the end of the world. Yes, I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth”.

Here is a wonderful invitation for us to turn to her and seek her intercession as so many have done and noted extraordinary graces flowing in their lives.

Learning from St Therese of Lisieux

The celebration of the centenary of the canonisation of St Therese of Lisieux provides us with the opportunity to revisit her life and spirituality. In particular it provides us with an opportunity to draw renewed vision for the living of our own Christian life.

What can we take from her? For each of us it will be distinctive. As you have had the opportunity at this Summer School to hear something of her spirit, what has touched you, inspired you and spoken to your heart?

St Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, pray for us.

Archbishop Julian Porteous

Monday, 17 February 2025