“Greatest saint of modern times” -Pope Saint Pius X

How does this “Little Flower” become a Doctor of the Church, Patroness of France, and Patroness of the Missions all from her little town of Lisieux and its cloistered convent? Saint Therese focused on all the seemingly insignificant details with great care. She did the little things with love and this was significant. We can learn how to live out the details of our life by considering her writings in “The Story of a Soul”, her autobiography, and in her letters. There are five specific subjects that I have chosen that may apply to you. There is much to learn from Saint Therese’s thoughts on each of these.

Simplicity
The first is simplicity. While her life was filled with turbulence, she was able to keep her heart and mind simple through it all. Saint Therese’s has the simplicity of a child. To be little is to be simple.
Saint Therese’s thoughts
“To remain little is to recognize our nothingness, to expect everything from the good God, not to be too much afflicted by our faults, for little children fall often but are too small to hurt themselves much.”
A novice in time of temptation said, “This time I cannot rise above it – it is impossible.” To which Saint Therese replied, “Why do you try to rise above it? Pass beneath it quite simply. It is very well for great souls to soar high above the clouds when the storm is raging, but for us, we have merely to bear the showers with patience. If we do get rather wet – no matter! We shall dry ourselves afterwards in the sunshine of Love.”

Suffering
The second is suffering. The “Little Flower” had a life of much suffering. In her lifetime she wrote so much of suffering that it was quite hard to choose what to put here for you to read. In her little way, this great saint can give us her experiences and show us how we can push through our suffering.
Saint Therese’s thoughts
“In my soul’s intercourse with Jesus – nothing…dryness! sleep! Since my Beloved wills to sleep I shall not hinder Him; I am too happy in seeing that He does not treat me like a stranger, that He is not constrained with me. He pierces His little ball through and through with pin-pricks sore indeed… When this tender Friend Himself who pierces his ball, the pain is naught but sweetness – so gentle is his hand. How different when creatures pierce it!”
“Life is often irksome and bitter, it is hard to begin a laborious day, above all when Jesus hides Himself from us. What is this tender Friend doing? Does He not see our anguish, that load that oppresses us; where is He? Why does He not come to console us? Ah fear not…He is there, quite near! He is watching us; He, it is, who begs for these our labors and our tears…He has need for them for souls, our soul; He wants to give us glorious recompense. Ah! Truly it costs Him to make us drink of this bitter cup”

Humility
The third is humility. Pride is always creeping over our shoulder, the root of all sin. When we believe we are not in need of God’s mercy we are prideful. When we believe we are too sinful to be saved by God’s mercy we are also prideful. We all can take Saint Therese’s writing to heart. She embodied great humility in her short life.
Saint Therese’s thoughts
“What pleases the good God in my little soul is to see me love my littleness and my poverty, it is seeing the blind trust that I have in His Mercy.”
“When we commit a fault we must not think it due to physical cause, such as illness or the weather, we must attribute this fall to our imperfection, but without ever growing discouraged.”
“Since Jesus has gone back to Heaven, I can follow Him only by the path He has traced.”

Obedience
The fourth is obedience. While this can be something quite hard to do, Saint Therese assures the importance and joy of it within her writings.
Saint Therese’s thoughts
“As I had self-love as well of love of what is right it was sufficient but once to tell me, such a thing should not be done, and I would have no desire to do it again.”
“From what anxieties we free ourselves by making the vow of obedience! How happy are single-minded religious! When one ceases to consult the sure compass, the soul forthwith loses her way in arid paths where the waters of grace soon fail her.

Gratitude
The fifth is gratitude. What an important thing it is to have gratitude for it transforms our entire outlook on our life. Saint Therese’s heart was so abundantly filled with gratitude despite all she went through.
Saint Therese’s thoughts
“Oh how happy God makes me! How easy and sweet it is to serve Him upon earth.”
“Oh how good God is! Yes, He must indeed be good to give me the strength to endure all that I suffer!

The simple and yet so greatly in-depth writings of Saint Therese offer so much to its reader. This article has not even scratched the surface. Saint Therese, as she said she would, spends her life in Heaven doing good on earth. Let her do good for you; she is a loyal friend. You too can do little things with great love no matter your age or place in life.
“This Little Flower, when looked at closely, has petals of steel.” -Sr. Marie Therese of the Divine Child of Jesus
Source: Saint Therese of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul. Saint Benedict Press, LLC. 2012