St. Therese (BJE 01) Mother's Day COLLECTION

Affectionately known as ‘The Little Flower,’ St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), who was canonized in 1925, is one of the most beloved saints of the Catholic Church. Thérèse, the youngest of the Martin children, was born into a devout French family: Both her parents Louis (1823-1894) and Zélie Martin (1831-1877) are venerated as saints, the first spouses in the church's history to be canonized as a couple. Léonie (1863-1941), an elder sister and Visitation nun, is titled Servant of God. And, three other sisters—Louise (1860–1940), Pauline (1861-1951), and Celine (1869-1959)—all became Discalced Carmelite nuns. By special dispensation, Thérèse herself was allowed to enter the Lisieux Carmel in 1888 at the early age of 15. Thérèse's mother Zelie had wanted to be a nun herself. She had, however, been rejected by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul due to recurrent headaches and breathing difficulties. Disappointed, she implored God to let her marry and have many children which she would dedicate to Him. Her prayers were answered. In 1858, she married Louis Martin, a watchmaker, to whom she would eventually bear nine children of which only the five girls who would become nuns survived infancy or childhood. In addition to being a wife and mother, Zelie was a lacemaker, manufacturing Alençon lace, a local specialty. She died of breast cancer at the age of 45 on 28 August 1877 at Alençon leaving behind her much bereft husband and daughters. At the time, Thérèse was but 4 1/2 years old making the quote used here especially poignant. + In art, St. Thérèse is routinely depicted in her Carmelite habit holding a crucifix amid an armful of roses. A Doctor of the Church, she is patron of florists and flower growers, foreign missions and missionaries, and the ill—especially AIDS and TB patients. + Feast: October 1