Today is the feast day of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Last year, I was blessed to lead forty-four pilgrims to France to learn about women saints, including St. Thérèse, also known as The Little Flower. This past month, I was again blessed to lead a group of thirty-five pilgrims to the National Shrine of St. Thérèse in Darien, Illinois. I read her memoir, The Story of a Soul, in preparation for the France pilgrimage but failed to appreciate her story until we visited Lisieux.
Good Soil
Thérèse was raised on good soil. Her parents were both saints, the first married couple to be canonized. All five of Saints Louis and Zelle Martins’s daughters became nuns. That’s quite a track record! What struck me most about the saints was their quiet but powerful faith. They didn’t push their daughters to become religious sisters or flaunt their religiosity. They lived as humble servants of God and greatly influenced their children. Though Thérèse’s mother died when Thérèse was only four, the child’s memories of her mother were of true love and commitment to God and family.
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