THERESA OF LISIEUX,
Little Jesus Flower
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun known as the Little Flower of Jesus, lived in nineteenth-century France. Since childhood, she wanted to become a saint and find perfection in God. Teresa's deep desire to be faithful to the will of God, His wisdom and love led her to a life of self-sacrifice and self-denial, with all the thoughts of her loving heart directed toward winning souls into the Light of Jesus Christ. She ascended at the end of her short life.
Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin was born on January 2, 1873 in Alençon, France. At the age of fourteen, Teresa had such a burning desire
to become a nun, that during a pilgrimage with her father to Rome, while at an official audience, she boldly asked Pope Leo XIII to allow her to enter Carmel - the Carmelite monastery - at the age of fifteen. He replied that she would take monastic vows “if it pleases God.” The following year, the bishop of Bayeux granted Thérèse's request, and on April 9, 1888, she entered the Carmel of Lisieux, taking the name Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.
In 1893, she became a mentor to novices, believing that her mission was to teach souls their “little path.” Her path was the path of love, and she wrote: “It is love and only love that makes us acceptable in the eyes of God.” Teresa's favorite books were the works of St. John de la Cruz, the Gospels and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a à Kempis. The only thing she wanted was “to encourage people to love God the way I love Him, to teach souls their little path* - the path of “spiritual childhood, the path of faith and absolute dedication.”
With the fire of constancy and apostolic zeal, she intended to exemplify the path of simplicity in modern times. complex world. In April 1896, Teresa was deemed worthy to receive the dedication of the crucifixion. She suffered from tuberculosis and for a year endured the “torment of the cross,” like Jesus, who bore the cross for the sins of mankind. Teresa bore her burden with the same devotion and faith in God that had been evident from the very beginning of her mission. In July 1897, already overwhelmed by the delight of the resurrection fires, she was sent to the infirmary. Day and night she repeated the words: “My God, I love You!” Until September 30, 1897, at the age of twenty-four, she returned to the Heart of her greatest Love.
Two years before her death, Teresa was asked to write an autobiography - memories of her childhood and religious life. A year after her death, the manuscript was published in the book “The Story of a Soul,” which quickly became one of the most widely read spiritual books.
Teresa is best remembered for these two sayings: “I want to live in Heaven doing good on Earth” and “When I die I will make it rain roses,” for she foresaw that after death her mission was “to make people love God in a way that how I love Him” will continue. The statues depict this saint holding a bouquet of roses.
After the transition to another world, Teresa, without wasting any time, set about fulfilling the promised good deeds on Earth. The monastery received thousands of testimonies of intercessions, healings and conversions attributed to Teresa. One touching story Teresa appeared to the abbess of an impoverished convent in Italy to give her the five hundred francs needed to pay the community's debt. During the First World War, many soldiers who read Teresa's autobiography carried pieces of her relics and decorated the dirty walls of the trenches with her face. One French soldier talks about an extraordinary incident that happened to him on the front line. It was like this: he and the other soldiers were saying the Rosary, and he called out to Sister Teresa. When the battle was in full swing, he suddenly saw her standing near one of the guns. Smiling, she told him: “Don’t be afraid, I came to protect you.” Not one of the soldiers [reading the Rosary] died, and soon they all returned from the battlefield healthy and unharmed.
Teresa was canonized on May 17, 1925, less than twenty-eight years after her death, and in 1927 she was proclaimed the patroness of all missions and missionaries on Earth, as well as all causes for the good of Russia. Teresa is credited with many miracles. Her memorial day is October 1. We sometimes like to think that saints are born. Teresa's life shows that this is not the case. It is often remembered that Teresa was kind, loving and obedient. However, these qualities did not arise on their own. In fact, when Teresa was a child, Mrs. Marten described her daughter as “inflexibly stubborn.”
Teresa learned to transform stubbornness into iron will. She told how she won one “great victory” in “a certain battle.” She writes: “There is a sister in our community who has the gift of making me angry, no matter what she does: with her demeanor, words, character - everything seems very unpleasant to me. And yet, she is very religious, which must be very pleasing to God. Not wanting to give in to the natural antipathy I felt towards her, I told myself that love should be expressed in actions, not words. And then I began to treat this sister as the closest person... I was not content with just frequent prayers for my sister, who caused such confusion in me, I also took care of providing her with all kinds of services; and when I was tempted to turn my back on her in an unfriendly manner, I smiled at her in the most friendly way and changed the topic of conversation...
Often, when... I happened to work with this sister, and I felt that the struggles within me were reaching a critical point, I would run away every time, like a deserter from the battlefield. She never had any suspicions as to the [true] motives of my behavior, and her conviction that I liked her character very much remained unchanged."
Ascended Lady Thérèse of Lisieux gave us some revelations about her experiences in heavenly world: “After ascension, I was given the grace to devote part of my heavenly life to work on Earth. But for another part, the Father instructed me to undergo training under the guidance of three Masters: El Morya, Kuthumi and Jwal Kul. These three wise men, adepts of the East, who came to witness the birth of the Lord Christ, now watched over the birth and full manifestation of this Christ in my being, speeding up this process many times over with their presence.
Through their hearts I studied the mysteries of the East, comprehended the depth of the messages of the Buddha and his unity with our Lord. Step by step they helped me weave a complete robe of light that includes the complete teaching of God for this age.
Thus, beloved, I had a wonderful opportunity to receive instructions capable of supplying all those [missing] sacred mysteries that were not revealed in the established church. Therefore, you understand that many of the teachings that are given to you today were received by me on the inner levels after ascension.
As I said before, there are many souls in the church who have achieved holiness, righteousness and purity [necessary to achieve holiness], but since the powers that be in this world have seized leadership positions in the church hierarchy and do not consider it necessary to communicate the Everlasting Gospel to the people, those who are ready to ascension and holiness, cannot obtain this knowledge and therefore reincarnate.
Blessed Ones, I do not wish to give you any cause for personal or spiritual pride. I am here to tell you that some of those present here were among those who had to be reincarnated, because the church with its traditions, as you would put it, “did not give” them.
Therefore, beloved, I have come to say that you can view the path of discipleship as a thousand steps on a golden thousand-level spiral in which you move step by step, subject to order and discipline. The Ascended Masters who patronize your Messenger and this movement and who assisted Jesus in establishing the true Church Universal and Triumphant on Earth through these Messengers, also found it necessary to establish an orderly ritual, for they are fully aware of what is required to ascend to one of these steps.
The image of the nun who suffers from cancer, but hides the disease from everyone else and does the humble job of scraping the stairs in the monastery grounds, should be seen as the archetype of the soul that carries its karma, aware of the need to remove dirt from every level of consciousness, cleansing it with the violet flame until until this level writing and thinking will not be completely and completely cleared. In the process of work, it may rise one step. In past centuries, the soul sometimes needed a whole life to rise to this one level, for the only way to purify karma, the record and oneself, as well as the manifestation of this karma in the form of illness in the body, was prayer and the performance of penance.
Thus, beloved, in order to comprehend “how great art thou, O God, my Father, my Mother, how great is the gift of the violet flame!”, you must develop in yourself a sense of proportionality and realism that helps you understand that the gift of the violet flame is given in the form of an experiment. This flame is a dispensation - an opportunity provided by the Ascended Beings of the Seventh Ray, not the least of whom is your beloved Saint Germain. And at the end of certain cycles they will have to give an account to the Lords of Karma and the Twenty-Four Elders standing around the great white throne, and they will decide whether people have taken this flame to use solely for liberation from personal problems, or to achieve a more worthy goal - as an accelerator for advancement along the path of initiations, helping the soul to reunite with God.
Therefore, you must understand that you are watchmen in the night, standing watch in your own time and place just as many others have done who have gone before you. On this dark night of the age of Kali Yuga, you, together with your beloved Mother - [Goddess] of Freedom, carry torches of violet flame and torches of illumination. So, beloved, understand that all holy orders had their own rituals, orders and rules.
Those who choose to serve by keeping the flame in their country or city must come into a state of spiritual attunement to realize the need to fulfill both the spirit and the letter of the Law, the need for dedication and obedience in service. It is this approach that will most quickly lead [you] to the desired goal of filling the seven chakras with light, balanced in the greatest blessing of the Father-Mother God.”
"The Lords and Their Abodes" E.K. Prophet and Mark Prophet
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF ST. THERESA OF LISIEUX
1873 Born on January 2, in the town of Alencon in France, she was the last of nine children in the family.
1876 She wrote: “From the age of three I began to do everything that God asked me to do.”
1877
Her mother dies.
Teresa chooses her older sister Paolina as her second mother.
Their family moves to Lisieux to live under the care of Uncle Guerin.
1879 Receives a prophetic vision of his father's mental illness in recent years
his life.
1881 Enters Benedict Abbey as a half-boarder.
1883
The beginning of her spiritual trials.
Her sister Paolina goes to the Carmelite monastery, which plunges Teresa into agony.
She begins to experience continuous severe headaches, nervous disorders and hallucinations.
She receives healing through seeing the face smiling at her on the statue of Mother Mary in her room.
1884
First Communion at the Abbey.
Her internal trials subside for one year.
From this moment onwards, she has two desires left - 1) to accept God and 2) not to have any other joy besides Him.
During the period of preparation for Conformation, he gains the strength to endure suffering before accepting the martyrdom of his soul.
1885 Prepares himself for the second reception of Communion.
She is experiencing the beginning of a “crisis of doubt” that lasted two and a half years in her life.
1886 Falls ill again and begins studying with private teachers.
1887&
Receives bishop's permission to enter Carmel at age 15.
Teresa writes: “I want to be a saint.”
She never wavered from this goal.
April 9 enters Carmel.
1889
Dressed in robes.
On this day, Jesus showers Teresa with gifts of fulfillment of her desires.
Her father is hospitalized.
She receives special favor from the blessed Virgin, after which she remains in her presence for a week.
Decides to practice the “little virtues” by learning the lessons sent to her by her “Leader” Jesus.
1890& Ordained as a nun.
1894
Her father dies.
Begins to suffer from a sore throat.
1895
At the direction of his mentor Mother Agnes, he begins to write childhood memories.
(Manuscript A).
Spontaneously writes the poem “To Live with Love.”
During Mass, he is inspired to sacrifice himself to “Merciful Love.”
Experiences an intense state of God’s Love, the “wound of Love.”
Becomes the spiritual sister of Father Belier, a seminarian and future missionary.
1896
Finishes his book of memories.
She is confirmed in the role of mentor to the novice sisters.
Due to tuberculosis, Teresa begins to cough up blood when she coughs.
Enters the "Dark Night of the Soul" period, which will last until her death.
Reads the novela to the martyr Saint Theophanes Venar in order to receive his patronage for participation in the mission.
Teresa's tuberculosis worsens again.
1897
On September 30, at the age of 24, he completes his life's journey.
He falls into a very serious painful state and remains in agony for two days.
Her last words: “0, I love Him! My God, I love You!
The most important works
The story of her life is described in three autobiographical essays, the first of which was published under the title “The Story of a Soul.”
The mentioned Manuscript A, written at the direction of Sister Agnes of the name of Jesus, later abbess of the monastery, describes the steps of her spiritual experience: early years of childhood (especially the period when she took her first Communion and Conformation), adolescence, entering Carmel and taking her first vows.
Manuscript B, written in 1985 at the urging of Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart, contains some of the most beautiful, most famous and meaningful events from her life, revealing in its entirety the maturity of this Saint as she speaks of her own vocation in Church, and about myself as the Bride of Christ and Mother of Souls.
Manuscript C, compiled by her during June and early July 1897 - just a few months before her death, and dedicated to the abbess of the monastery, Maria De Gonzac (who insisted on its writing) - complements Teresa's memories of life in Carmel, described in the Manuscript A. Its pages reveal the extraordinary wisdom of the author.
Two hundred and sixty-six “Letters” addressed to members of her family, women believers and missionary brothers, in which Teresa shares her wisdom and expounds teaching that is the transmission of deep spiritual experience to souls in their guidance on the path.
54 poems; some of them have the deepest spiritual meaning and are inspired Holy Scripture. Among them: “Live by love!” and “Why I love you, O Mary!” - true story journey of the Virgin Mary, based on its description in the Gospel.
Eight "Pious Recreations", representing poetic and theatrical compositions especially conceived for members of her community and performed by them during certain holidays in accordance with the traditions of Carmel, which included a series of "Twenty-one Prayers".
A collection of sayings by Teresa in the last month of her life, known as “Novissima verba” and “Last Conversations”.
Basic character traits
The life of Saint Teresa is for us one of the greatest inspirations we have on the Path of Ascension.
The story of her life is a story about a simple and humble person who did not possess any special talents or spiritual qualities. And yet, she became the chosen one because, like a little child, she placed herself in the hands of God, making herself His instrument.
Teresa was convinced of her own weakness and infirmity, recognizing which she allowed the Power of God to overwhelm her. Such recognition is open door to unity with the Creator.
She was grateful for every lesson she learned.
One of Teresa’s most unforgettable trials was her relationship with her incredibly annoying sister nun, whom she constantly smiled and tried to please in everything.
One day, overcome with ecstasy of joy, she exclaimed: “Jesus, my love! I finally found my calling! My calling is Love!”
Teresa felt that happiness lay in “self-deprecation.”
She found spiritual support in the writings about Love of St. John of the Cross.
Her path was the “little path of spiritual childhood,” which she felt was the shortest to reach heaven; that path when the Lord Jesus carries you in His arms.
Two of Teresa's most memorable sayings are: “I want to bring my heaven to earth” and “When I die, I will rain roses on the earth.” She foresaw that her posthumous activities would be much broader and that her mission “to teach people to love God the way I love Him” would continue. The statue of this Saint depicts Teresa holding a bouquet of roses.
Other information
Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, and also known as the Little Flower of Jesus, was canonized on May 17, 1925.
On October 19, 1997, she was awarded the title of Doctor of the Church.
In 1927, she was recognized as a patroness of foreign missions and a prayer book for Russia.
On October 25, 1981, Thérèse of Lisieux gave her first dictation through Messenger Elizabeth Clare Prophet.
In the history of the Christian world, several nuns with this name are known: the greatest missionary Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 of the last century, one of the best writers of the Spanish golden age, Carmelite Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), as well as little Teresa of Lisieux, whose history and work not as grandiose or famous, but no less important.
Little Jesus Flower
This is the name given to Therese of Lisieux, a French nun who became a saint by the power of her faith in God. She is also called Teresa the Little, Teresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, although before her tonsure she was simply called Teresa Martin.
Having lived only 24 years, this girl, with her love for God, proved that you can live forever in the hearts of people, even if few people knew you during your lifetime.
About family
The biography of Therese from Lisieux (a small town in northern France) does not shine with special feats or impressive deeds, but despite this, the young girl managed to attract the attention of many people to God. She was born in 1873 into a simple family in which her father Louis ran a small watch business: a shop and a workshop, and her mother Zelie was a lacemaker who made stunning Alençon lace. It is noteworthy that before the marriage, both parents seriously thought about taking monastic vows, but, apparently, fate decreed otherwise.
Little Thérèse of Lisieux had four more sisters, who later (like her) took monasticism. Moreover, four more children (two sons and two girls) died in infancy, so the future saint had a fairly large family, which was an example of Christian love for one’s neighbor. The whole family actively helped the disadvantaged, visited lonely dying people in hospitals and clinics, trying to instill love for people in everyone. Before the first significant event in her life, Therese and her family lived in Alençon, but when the baby was four years old, her mother died of cancer, and the family had to move to Lisieux.
Brief biography
From this moment on, the mischievous and cheerful, but at the same time categorical and headstrong Marie-Françoise-Therese completely changes: she becomes too vulnerable, sensitive and takes everything to heart. They often say about such people: they make mountains out of molehills. The slightest word or sidelong glance could turn little Teresa for a long time, turning her into a timid little lump who sought to be invisible to the world. This state will last about nine years, torturing the child’s psyche, but at the same time strengthening the spirit. Her sister Polina (Paolina) takes upon herself the upbringing of the girl, who has less and less contact with outside world, but suddenly decides to go to a monastery. Therese from Lisieux turns ten years old at this time, for her this is a new blow and a new test of faith. But very soon it dawns on her: she, too, must become a Carmelite, like her beloved Polina.
At the same time, she is struck down by an unprecedented illness that doctors cannot characterize: she experiences strange hallucinations, panic attacks and inexplicable hysterics. The family tries to help by ordering hours-long prayer services and making generous donations, but all is in vain: the child is on the verge of death. At her request, a statue is brought into the room Holy Mother of God so that she could pray, because Teresa no longer had the strength to get up. During one of the attacks, the girl began to pray earnestly, asking for help and protection. And according to Teresa herself, at some point she saw the Holy Face of the Virgin Mary come to life and her angelic smile, assuring that everything would be fine. A feeling of delight and unearthly happiness pierced the soul of Teresa from Livier, from that moment she miraculously recovered.
The path of true and unbreakable faith
It was this moment that strengthened the girl’s faith, and she firmly decided to become a Carmelite nun. So strong was her desire that she decided to travel to Rome, to Pope Leo the Thirteenth himself, in order to ask for permission. At first she was refused due to her young age, but literally next year When she was fifteen years old, the clergy, seeing her unquenchable craving for the rank, agreed: Therese of Lisieux became a novice of the monastery. At the same time, her father suffers a stroke, as a result of which he partially loses his mind, which is why Teresa and her sisters are called “daughters of a madman” behind their backs. This plunges her even more into anxiety, which she cures with prayers and service to the church. A year later, she became a nun, choosing for herself the name Sister Teresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.
Already at this time, lofty thoughts comprehend her: she wants to become a great saint and shares these thoughts with her confessor, who warns her about pride, which has no place in the heart of a nun. But Teresa knows for sure that this is not pride at all, but a great desire to convey to humanity the power of divine love, which can manifest itself in anything. She begins to write poems and plays in which she expresses her exceptional love for God. Her words: “I realized that love contains all callings, all times and spaces, and that it is eternal” - become her further motto in life. At 23 years old, a girl who has been suffering from chest pain and cough for several years is given a disappointing diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis by doctors. After just seven years of staying in the monastery of St. Thérèse of Lisieux dies in agony. This happened on September 30, 1897.
"The Story of a Soul"
Therese of Lisieux, in the last years of her life, at the firm encouragement of the abbess of the monastery, Mother Agnes, writes an autobiographical story in which lion's share given over to thoughts about God, faith, as well as thoughts from childhood. By and large, this is the diary of a young girl, with whom she shares her most intimate things. This work was called “The History of a Soul” by the abbess and was published a year after the author’s death in a circulation of only two thousand copies. It was a kind of posthumous gift, which unexpectedly gained stunning success immediately among the clergy, but soon also among ordinary people. Circulations multiplied, spread, and at the beginning of the twentieth century the book was translated into all the leading languages of the world. Only a few years later it was revealed to the world that Mother Agnes and Polina, Teresa’s sister, were one person. Initially, only the monastery employees knew about this.
Canonization
Pope Pius Tenth in 1907 expressed the first desire to canonize Teresa, which was later completed by Pius Eleventh in 1925, just 28 years after the death of the girl. Only a few received this honor.
Moreover, in 1997, Pope John II awarded Saint Therese of Lisieux the title of Doctor of the Church, which besides her is held by only three women and 35 people in total around the world.
Little way
This is exactly what Little Teresa called her ministry, explaining that it is not necessary to prove love for God with great heroism or epic actions - you can just generate love for people every minute, every second in the most varied manifestations and the most insignificant-looking actions. She served and smiled obediently at the nastiest of the nuns, who fed her only scraps, polished the floors and stairs of the monastery, while suffering from bouts of tuberculosis, and gave attention to the most flawed and disadvantaged, praying for their health. The spiritual violet flame of Thérèse of Lisieux never faded for a second, fueled by the selfless and sacrificial love of God, which she expressed in such a simple, yet complex way. Love and only love, she argued, is capable of elevating the human soul and granting it the kingdom of heaven.
She continues to help even after leaving this world
One of the most famous quotes Teresa: “My heaven will be on Earth.” Thus, she made it clear that she would never stop helping those suffering, even after her spirit left physical body. Many believers claim that this is indeed the case, feeling its invisible presence.
There are many stories telling about the miraculous apparitions of Saint Teresa in different places and its protection, assistance and support. Her written works are still the most important pillars of faith for many people:
- Manuscripts A, B, C tell about her childhood, the formation of faith and the acquisition of spiritual experience, showing the reader all the subtlety of her soul.
- Letters: 266 written addresses to believers, parishioners, and relatives convey the depth of her faith.
- 54 four poems about the love of God, the most significant of which are “Why I Love You, Mary” and “Live by Love.”
- Pious Recreations theatrical compositions of a religious nature for certain holidays, as well as a collection of sayings and quotes “Last Conversations”.
Legacy of Saint Teresa
In the small town, which became a place of pilgrimage for millions of believers every year, the Basilica of St. Teresa was built. In Lisieux, where parishioners flock to honor the memory of the great saint and gain her strength of faith, the church began to be built back in 1929, four years after her canonization. Construction continued until 1954, as pilgrims to Teresa’s grave came in an inexhaustible stream, which somewhat complicated construction work.
As a result, it turned out that the interior of the temple was designed by three generations of architects: Cordonier’s father, son and grandson. The basilica is ninety meters high and more than a hundred meters long, all its walls are lavishly decorated with mosaics, it is the second most important holy place in all of France.
A few facts about Saint Teresa
- On December 25, 1886 (as the saint herself claimed) she achieved unity with God, what is now called the state of enlightenment. This happened when the girl saw her father secretly putting gifts in a Christmas stocking (one of the symbols of Christmas among Catholics).
- The world-famous Mother Teresa of Calcutta took the monastic name Teresa in honor of the little flower from Lisieux, inspired by her faith and the power of love for her neighbor.
- In 2011, the tomb with the relics of Teresa Minor was exhibited in Israel and remained there for about two months.
- Her last, dying words were: “Oh my God, I love you so much!”
Thérèse of Lisieux died at the end of the last century, in 1897, and was canonized in 1925, so quickly that even the due dates were not met. Pius X, who began the process of canonization, foresaw that she would be recognized as “the greatest saint of the New Age.” Pius XI, who canonized her, called her “the star of his pontificate” and called the worldwide movement “a hurricane of glory” that surrounded the young Carmelite with love and veneration, who died at 24 and was declared blessed when, if she had survived, she would have been only 50 years.
In addition - and this may seem like a paradox - he proclaimed Teresa, who was a recluse nun, the main patroness of all missions and all missionaries on earth.
In 1937, Pacelli, as papal legate, consecrated the church dedicated to her in Lisieux and called Teresa “a small tabernacle of the living God,” which became “a huge temple of the humanity she conquered.” Subsequently, becoming Pope, he proclaimed her the patroness of France along with St. Joan of Arc.
On the fiftieth anniversary of her death, immediately after the Second World War, the urn containing the body of the one who was henceforth called “Thérèse of France” was carried all over the country and everywhere she met with an enthusiastic reception.
Hundreds of thousands of copies of the autobiography written by little Thérèse Martin were sold around the world, and her image was printed in four million copies in just one year - from 1915 to 1916.
During the years of two world wars, many people resorted to her for help and consolation on the battlefields and in concentration camps.
She was called "the most beloved girl on earth."
Even before her canonization, 4,000 miracles were attributed to her. She herself promised: “If my wishes are fulfilled, my heaven will turn to earth until the end of the world. I want to do good on earth from heaven.” And with amazing simplicity she predicted: “I know that the whole world will love me.”
What happened? Some modern theologians and scientists are at a loss. They ask themselves whether Teresa owes her fame to a misunderstanding: it seems that she unexpectedly showed too easy, smiling, homely the path to holiness; it seems that she knocked over with one blow ancient building heroic holiness, impossible for ordinary believers, for the sake of everyday holiness, consisting of trifles and rose petals scattered over the Crucifixion or before the Most Holy Sacrament, as children once scattered them during the procession of the Corpus Christi.
And it seemed to many that with her arrival, holiness became a children’s fairy tale that could be told to adults, and the story turned out to be convincing and touching, like her image with a crucifix covered with a bouquet of roses.
Then, little by little, some began to express the opinion that the image of this saint was too popular and embellished to be believed, and decided to reveal the “true face of Teresa” by subjecting her life, her character and her preaching to merciless sociological and psychological analysis . Best results achieved by those who set themselves the goal of reconstructing with the greatest possible accuracy all the events of her life and her spiritual heritage, based on the spiritual writings written by the young Carmelite.
But all this did not at all affect the instinctive love for Teresa of the entire Christian people, although it helped to better and more deeply understand her life experience and teaching.
Be that as it may, Teresa touched something so deep and intimate in the heart of humanity that only this can explain why she became such a “universal” saint: along with St. Francis, this is the only Western saint venerated in the Eastern Churches and even outside the Christian world.
Writers and thinkers turned to her image - for them she became a symbol and the key to reading their works: let us remember, for example, the novels of Bernanos or the philosophy of the late Bergson.
“The message that this saint brought to the world,” wrote Bernanos, “is one of the most mysterious and urgent messages that it has ever received. The world is dying because it lacks childhood, and it is against it that the demigods of totalitarianism have aimed their guns and tanks."
And these days, two films have recently been made testifying to positive attitude agnostic intellectuals to the image of Therese of Lisieux: Olmi’s film “The Legend of the Holy Drunkard” was based on the story of the same name by Joseph Roth, written in 1939 and testifying to a deep insight into the essence of Therese’s teachings, which is not always accessible to theologians. In the film "Teresa", shot by an unbelieving director (A. Cavalier), the image of Teresa is interpreted as the image of a biblical girl in love from the Song of Songs.
Let's start with a simple story about the life of Therese Martin, in which, as it seemed to many who closely observed her, there was nothing surprising.
She came from a wealthy bourgeois family, and her childhood was happy: the first four and a half years were filled with joy: “she laughs and has fun from morning to evening,” her mother wrote.
She was the fourth of five daughters of the Martin family and was a sensitive and welcoming girl, impatient, but at the same time very gentle and cheerful. However, if she knew how to be gentle, then she knew how to insist on her own, if the arguments of others did not convince her: “When she says no,” her mother said, “nothing will force her to give in. You can put her in the cellar for the whole day and that’s all.” I still can’t get her to say yes; she’ll rather spend the night in it!”
However, she always behaved sincerely and honestly (“she would not lie for all the gold in the world”) and, when she was wrong, she always passionately desired to be forgiven immediately.
But the main thing is that the baby had a deep, trusting relationship with God. This is the gift of all children raised in a truly Christian home, but Teresa experienced this relationship in a very special way: later, as an adult, she said that she had never consciously said “no” to a good God since the age of three.
A happy childhood suddenly ended with the death of her mother (she died of breast cancer). All the details of this illness were indelibly imprinted on the soul of the impressionable girl, especially that day when she stood “for a long time” (in her own words) in front of the coffin: “I had never seen a coffin before, but nevertheless I understood!”
Since then, her existence has been shrouded in sadness, despite the fact that family life was still full of tenderness, faith and peace: Teresa was raised by her sisters (she especially chose one of them as her “second mother”), and she was very attached to her father, the kindest man (“My husband is a holy man,” her mother wrote , - I would wish this for all women"), already elderly (when Teresa was born, he was fifty years old), filled with paternal and at the same time maternal tenderness.
After the death of his wife, he lived with the family, managing his property, devoting much time to reading and thinking, and pursuing his favorite pastimes - fishing and gardening.
His beard was already gray, and his daughters affectionately called him “patriarch”: their father was for them on earth the image of God the Father. “I cannot express how much I loved dad,” says Teresa, “everything about him aroused my admiration”: it was thanks to him that the girl learned to love nature; Watching him pray in church, she began to understand what prayer is, and from him she learned to love the poor and help them.
Nevertheless, Teresa lost her former liveliness, became shy, withdrawn, too vulnerable and often cried. This sad period (she says that this is “the most sorrowful time of her life”) lasted almost nine years: on the one hand, she remained a child, everyone spoiled her too much and protected her from unpleasant impressions, on the other hand, she was already a mature person, prone to reflection beyond her age.
When she was barely nine years old, the sister whom she had chosen as her “second mother” left her, entering the strictly reclusive Carmelite monastery in the same city.
Teresa again experienced deep spiritual grief (in addition, her family made a mistake by deciding to hide preparations for her departure from her), but she gained an unshakable confidence that she too was called to enter Carmel: it was enough for her to know that this is a secluded place where people retire those who want to seek God with all their hearts:
“I felt that Carmel was a desert, where, by the will of the good God, I should also hide. I felt this with such strength that there was no doubt left in my heart.”
And it must be clarified that this calling was not only completely obvious, but also devoid of any psychological ambiguity.
Teresa warns:
“It was not the dream of an impressionable girl, but confidence in a Divine calling: I wanted to go to Carmel not because of Polina (sister), not in order to find my late mother again, but (only for the sake of Christ). I changed my mind about a lot of things. cannot be expressed in words."
She reproaches her sister-mother not for choosing Carmel, but for the fact that “she did not wait for her.”
This is Teresa’s secret: she is a child who is hurt by everything that hurts children, but already in childhood she selflessly surrenders to God.
Be that as it may, she suffered so much from the separation that she fell ill with a strange illness during which she felt attacks of inexplicable terror for many weeks. She looked “like an idiot” and moaned endlessly. One day, when she was moaning, calling: “Mary, Mary!”, and the sisters, aware of their helplessness, were praying to the Mother of God, she saw that the statue of the Mother of God, which stood in her room, came to life and smiled at her. Suddenly she recovered, as if awakening from a long nightmare.
The sisters realized that something had happened, and everyone began to ask her so many questions and ask her about such small details (especially when she went to the monastery) that Teresa was seized with fear, whether she had been deceived, whether she had imagined all this, did she not lie, and grace turned into torment for her?
She was also a vulnerable child because her mind and heart seemed to develop too quickly, while her perceptions remained childish. There was a secret in Teresa’s soul that had already made itself felt many times, but had not yet broken through the shell of overly heightened sensitivity.
The good secret of her childhood - which would later become her deep spiritual experience, and then the essence of her teaching - can be defined as follows: this girl was unusually consistent in what she affirmed and believed in, and in her choice of life path, both in the sphere worldly truths and spiritual truths.
Here are some examples of this.
When very little Teresa was told about heavenly bliss, caressing her mother, she wished her to die: “How I wish you would die!” When they scolded her, she apologized with surprise, saying: “But this is so that you can go to heaven, since you say that you need to die to get there!” And she also wished for her father to die when she was overcome by an attack of “especially tender love.” When she was told to choose from a basket the ribbons she liked to play with, it seemed quite natural for her to answer that she "chooses all."
When her dad is with ladder told her: “Move away, baby, because if I fall, I will crush you,” she pressed her whole body against the stairs, thinking that “if daddy dies, she won’t have to suffer seeing him die, because she will die with him ".
When her dad, during an evening walk, showed her a constellation that formed the letter T in the firmament, she decided that God had written her name in the sky.
When, preparing her for confession at the age of seven, they explained to her that she would tell about her sins not to man, but to the good God, she asked in all seriousness, “should she tell Don Ducellier that she loves him with all her heart, if in his face speaks to the Lord." When she was told that in hell all the damned hated God, she decided that existing in a place where no one loved Him was too sad, and she wished to go there so that even there at least someone would love God.
We recall these episodes from her early childhood precisely in order to show her maturity even in the years of childhood and early adolescence, despite the difficult and painful periods of growing up, and to show the initial experience that Teresa later, as an adult, based on her conscious preaching and life behavior.
In a sense, everything that Teresa subsequently taught, as if in a small parable, was contained in an episode that happened to her in childhood, at the age of three.
Her mother talks about him in a letter written to her eldest daughter, who was in college at the time:
“One day the other day little Teresa asked me if she would go to heaven. “Yes, if you’re smart,” I answered her. “Oh, Mom!” she answered then: “and if I’m not smart, will I go to hell? But I know what I will do then: I will fly away with you, and you will be in heaven; you will hold me tightly in your arms..." In her gaze I read the confidence that God could not do anything with her if she hid in her mother's arms."
So, you just need to wait until Teresa, growing up, overcomes some distance that in the eyes of the little girl still exists between her mother and God Himself; she only needs to know by experience that God “loves us more than our own mother”: in essence, this is the message that she brought to the world.
But let us return for now to the difficult period of early youth. In general, Teresa was already a mature person: when she took her first communion at the age of 11, the sequence we were talking about had already reached incredible mystical perfection:
“It was a kiss of love: I felt that I was loved, and, in turn, I said: I love You and offer myself as a gift to You forever... For a long time now, Jesus and little Teresa looked at each other and understood each other... That day it was no longer a glance, but a fusion; there were no longer two of them: Teresa disappeared like a drop of water in the ocean, only Jesus remained."
She was immediately anointed, and since it was explained to her that the Holy Spirit would give her the grace to bear witness to Jesus, she asked for the grace to suffer much for the sake of love for Him: in this too an extraordinary consistency was manifested, if we're talking about about bearing witness to the One who suffered and died for us.
When Teresa was told that she should prepare for her First Communion by bringing many love flowers to Jesus and counting them every day, in just over a month she counted “one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine”: the mathematical precision that was in vogue at the time, may be controversial from a theological point of view, but what is undeniable is the seriousness with which Teresa looked forward to her first meeting with Jesus, wanting to be well prepared for this meeting and testifying to this with deeds of love.
Meanwhile, her second sister also entered Carmel (and thus another of her “mothers” left), and thirteen-year-old Teresa could not free herself from her childhood shortcomings. In addition, she happened to listen to several erroneous sermons (Jansenism was very widespread in France at that time), and the girl’s soul was overcome by painful suspiciousness and fear.
Finally, on Christmas night 1886, a “small miracle” happened to her (this was the same night when P. Claudel was converted by entering Notre Dame Cathedral): the girl Teresa was given a saving and cleansing revelation about the childhood of Jesus, which completely healed her: Teresa again became the same as she was nine years earlier: serene, trusting, impatient, cheerful and adventurous: “From that blessed night I no longer knew defeat in any battle, but went from victory to victory... Jesus transformed me so that I no longer recognized myself."
The time from 13 to 15 years was “the best years of her life,” when the two Martin sisters, Teresa and Sedina, experienced “all the happiness possible on earth”:
“My spirit expanded... I have always loved everything beautiful and great... At that time, a boundless thirst for knowledge prevailed in me.”
These were desires that had a very definite direction, according to a precise plan, that “sequence” that we have talked about more than once.
One day Teresa saw among the pages of her prayer book part of the image of the Crucified - a hand nailed to the cross, from which drops of blood fell to the ground:
“I was struck by the sight of blood flowing from the Divine hand, and I experienced great sorrow at the thought that it was falling to the ground, but no one was collecting it!”
So she understood where her place in life was: she must stand at the foot of the cross to collect the blood of the Redeemer and distribute it to everyone whom this blood can cleanse:
“I felt that love and the need to forget about myself entered my heart,” for the one who distributes the blood of Christ must, in turn, sacrifice all of himself.
She immediately got down to business.
Two women and a girl were brutally murdered in Paris. A certain Enrico Pranzini, a thirty-year-old Italian: tall, handsome, arrogant adventurer, was arrested on charges of murder. During the entire trial, he brazenly denied his guilt, and in the newspapers he was called a “ferocious scoundrel,” a “monster,” “a vile beast.” After his death sentence, he refused to repent and rejected all spiritual consolation.
Having learned about this, Teresa chose him as “her sinner”, prayed tirelessly for him, made sacrifices, ordered Liturgies, hoping to convert him.
“Deep down in my soul,” she wrote, “I was sure that I would be heard. But in order to encourage myself in further zeal for the salvation of souls, I turned to God with such a naive prayer: “Lord, I am sure that You will forgive the unfortunate Pranzini. I will believe this even if he does not want to confess and does not show any repentance, so much do I trust Your mercy. But this is my first sinner. Therefore, I ask You: just give me a sign to understand that he repented, just like that, for my consolation!”
The next day she read in the newspaper that Pranzini ascended the scaffold, arrogantly refusing confession, but at the last moment he suddenly grabbed the crucifix that the priest handed him and kissed it three times.
Fifteen-year-old Teresa called him “her first son” and from then on decided to “love Jesus, love Him passionately”: love and suffering were now inextricably linked for her.
Her decision to enter Carmel to devote her entire life to praying for sinners was now final, but she was only fifteen years old and the obstacles seemed almost insurmountable.
But, she said, "The divine call was so urgent that even if she had to walk through the fire, she would do it."
First, she convinced her father of her calling. Although his heart was breaking, he told her that “God was doing him great honor in demanding his daughters from him”; then she tried to convince the local abbot of the order, then the bishop himself, who had to make a decision.
Having failed to achieve her goal, she decided to go to the Pope and go with the pilgrims from her diocese to Rome. There were about two hundred pilgrims and they were led by the vicar general of the diocese: for that time it was a whole event that attracted the attention of both the French and Italian press: a special train on which the pilgrims were traveling, waited and met in all the main cities of Italy (in addition , it was a tourist trip organized at the highest level).
So, Teresa visited Paris, Milan, Venice, Padua, Bologna (in Bologna, a crowd of university students cheerfully surrounded the train at the station, and one of them tried to take the most beautiful French woman with him on his arm, but Teresa gave him such a look that he immediately left her and walked away embarrassed). Finally, the train arrived in Loreto, and then on to Rome (the pilgrims visited Florence, Pisa and Genoa on the way back).
In the Eternal City, the culmination of the journey was an audience, during which all pilgrims had to pass before the Pope and each of them received his blessing. They were strongly warned not to tire the old and sick Pope and to pass before him in silence. The last to approach him was Teresa, who decisively violated the ban. Subsequently she wrote: “Good Pope is so old that he could be called dead. He is almost unable to say anything...”
The vicar of Bishop Bayeux, surprised and dissatisfied, immediately intervened: “Holy Father, this child longs to be received into Carmel, but the abbots in given time are considering this issue."
Dad could give only one answer: “Well, my child, do as the abbots decide.”
Teresa did last try: “Oh, Holy Father, if you said yes, everyone would agree!”
Dad looked at her intently and said clearly and soulfully: “Okay... Okay... You will enter the monastery, if it pleases God.” Teresa wrote that he looked at her with a steady, piercing gaze, which was forever imprinted in her soul. She tried to continue the conversation, but two bodyguards asked her to stand up; Seeing that this was not enough, they took her by the hands, lifted her up and, all in tears, forcibly took her away. As they lifted her up, the Pope let her kiss his hand and blessed her.
This event seemed so unusual to everyone that echoes of it can be found in the French press, which followed the pilgrimage from afar.
But no formal permission was given, and the long journey seemed in vain. However, it was of decisive importance in Teresa’s life: before him, she had only seen priests in or in the confessional, but here she had the opportunity to meet many of them and observe their behavior in everyday life (there were 75 clergy among the pilgrims).
We do not know exactly what happened (we only know that a young French priest - the vicar of St. Peter's Cathedral - attracted the attention of all the pilgrims with his "tender cares" for the young Martin sisters), but Teresa returned to her homeland in the conviction that praying for the souls of priests is - one of the most urgent duties of all who love the Church. “I realized my calling in Italy,” she would later say. And at the interview that preceded the taking of vows, she explained her calling in Carmel: “I came to save souls and, above all, to pray for priests.”
Contrary to what might have been expected, as an exception, a fifteen-year-old girl was allowed to be admitted to the monastery. The local abbot of the order, annoyed by such a request, against his will, said prophetic words to the nuns: “One might think that almost the salvation of this community depends on a fifteen-year-old child!” ", at last you can sing the Te Deum. In the name of the bishop, I present to you this fifteen-year-old child whose admission you have desired. I hope that he will not disappoint your expectations, but I remind you that otherwise the responsibility will fall only on you!"
As if on purpose, when the bishop arrived at the entrance ceremony, he mistakenly began to sing the hymn of thanksgiving Te Deum, to the great delight of the community, instead of singing the hymn invoking the help of the Holy Spirit. So the “child” ended up in a monastery - a monastery of strict life, burdened, in addition, with important problems.
In Lisieux, the mystical beauty and generosity that should have reigned in Carmel lost some of their luster: in the spiritual education of the sisters there was a tendency towards exaggerated moralism and asceticism with a Jansenist tint and an erroneous idea of God as a Judge, Who must be appeased by tireless prayers and victims.
To this we must add that the monastery community was poor in human and intellectual talents (the Martin sisters were the black sheep in it); in addition, the abbess was an intelligent but self-willed woman, ready to impose her every whim and her changeable moods as the will of God. Finally, there was no shortage of abuses and struggles for power, especially when the time of elections for monastic positions was approaching. In the city they said that in this monastery Teresa would become a talisman for the community and that this was why she was taken, despite her young age. If this was really the case, Teresa was well aware of it.
She didn’t find anything unexpected for herself in the monastery: while still in the world, she guessed a lot:
“Illusions of the first days... God gave me mercy: I didn’t have them. I found life in the monastery exactly as I imagined it: not a single sacrifice surprised me...” However, only God knows how many hardships befell her.
This allowed her to fully experience grace, feeling that she was accepted where God wanted to take her: “With what deep joy I repeated these words: “forever, I am here forever!”
Her first duty was to her sisters by blood: she loved them with all her heart, but did not want to be treated like a little sister, surrounding her with special care and giving her concessions: “We are no longer at home,” she repeated she did not make a single move to them, nor spoke a word beyond what was allowed to everyone according to the Charter. If she had to remain a child, she wanted to remain one only for God, not to express her affection for creatures. The abbess, despite all her shortcomings, is quite insightful, and said of her that “her maturity matches that of a thirty-year-old nun.”
God, for His part, especially looked after little Teresa, who trusted Him: the first time of her monastery life was indelibly marked by grief, which purified her beyond all measure - the serious illness of her father, a humiliating illness, humiliating, as it seemed, even his daughters. Teresa looked at him through the bars with eyes full of sorrow during her now rare visits to the visiting room: due to a severe form of arteriosclerosis and severe attacks of uremia, he looked like a poor madman, making strange gestures, similar to vague prophecies. Finally they had to put him in a madhouse: a sad seclusion began for him, and the Martin sisters began to be called “daughters of a madman”: they heard such whispers even in the monastery, and these words were much more cruel than it seemed to those who uttered them.
Teresa wrote: “As the venerable countenance of Christ was darkened during the Passion, so the countenance of His servant was to be darkened in the days of his tribulation.”
Sometimes her father covered his face, as if conscious of his humiliation, and Teresa contemplated in him the mystery of the Holy Face of Christ, in Which, in the words of Isaiah, “there was neither form nor majesty.”
One day she said to her sick father: “I will try to be your glory by becoming a great saint,” and to her amazed sisters: “In heaven, a single hair from his gray hair will illuminate us!”
All the property of his father’s house, where from now on there was no one left, was sold: the most precious memories also disappeared. Only two things made it to Carmel: the house clock, which from now on chimed the beginning of long meditations in the choir, and a chair on wheels that belonged to her sick father and served Teresa in recent months her life.
So, in Carmel, “little” Teresa lived with two mysteries: the childhood of Jesus (requiring obedience and simple, trusting surrender to God) and His passion (requiring participation and sacrifice). Therefore, she asked permission to be called Sister Teresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. First of all, Childhood. It was about “reading the Gospel with the discerning eyes of a child,” until Teresa herself became a “living teaching,” the “word of God,” for our time.
So, first of all, Teresa took seriously the mystery of Jesus' childhood: Jesus is the Word of God incarnate, but in Latin, "child" etymologically means "not able to speak."
Therefore, at the beginning of our faith lies a great mystery: God became a child who could not speak, entrusting us adults with the responsibility of caring for Him, so we all must learn from His Mother Mary.
As all mothers know well, when a child appears in the house, this places new responsibilities on those around him: the child is sleeping, and silence must be maintained; the child plays, and his play is serious work that needs to be made easier for him and which needs to be protected; the child cries and needs consolation; A child needs all the attention of an adult.
G. W. von Balthasar wrote: “Sleeping and playing are the two activities of the Word (that is, the Word of God who has become a child) that fascinate Therese of Lisieux. Like a true mother, she was invariably amazed at the Child and perceived her relationship with Him very naturally and concretely ". Teresa resolved all the problems that arise for us, adults, when we think about God Almighty (and demand a lot from Him and pretend that He would accept us, listen to us, fulfill our requests, help us) - so Teresa resolved all problems in a radical way, contemplating the mystery of Jesus' childhood: she offered herself to Him as a toy, not a precious toy that children are almost afraid to touch, but as an ordinary, beloved toy that they can pick up and throw away, press to their hearts or push away foot, and then anxiously search. So when Teresa suffers, she suffers because the Child Jesus forgets about His toy, or suddenly throws it away, or breaks it to see what is inside it, and who can tell him: “Why are you doing this?” The toy belongs to Him. Baby Jesus, to whom Teresa dedicated herself, plays with a ball (and often throws it far), plays with a top (and often fastens the top with a rope so that it spins faster), plays with skittles (aims at them and knocks them down), but then, Having finished the game, he collects all his toys and presses them to his heart.
Often the Baby Jesus “sleeps,” and then one must remain silent so as not to disturb Him: “When Jesus falls asleep, many here on earth cease to serve Him and believe in Him,” explains the saint.
The images she uses when talking about her life are taken from the fabulous, familiar and serene world of childhood; but those who have to deal with children (especially mothers) know well how serious and demanding this world is at the same time.
Adoring the holy childhood of Jesus, Teresa carries out the daily labor of trying to remain a child.
She once explained her spiritual program as follows:
“To remain children before God means to recognize one’s own insignificance, to expect everything from the good God, as a child expects everything from his father. Not to strive to change one’s condition as one grows up... means never to attribute one’s good deeds to oneself... and never despair over their sins, because children often fall, but they are too small to hurt themselves badly.”
Apart from the images, we can say that we are talking about a refusal to perceive the Christian life as a series of important duties and dramatic situations (which leads to disappointment if we feel that we have not been appreciated, or, conversely, to an inferiority complex if we they themselves were not up to par); it is about joyfully and voluntarily “surrendering to God, like a child who falls asleep without fear in his father’s arms.”
To surrender without fear means to recognize that everything is based on the consciousness of our belonging to God, on the confidence that He is our Father.
Thus people learn not to count on their own works, their own abilities, their own efforts, their own merits. “The sleeping child” is a key image for Christian life: it should deprive us of all hope of achieving salvation alone, of all confidence in our abilities, of all pharisaism, of all spiritual calculation and narcissism.
The positive, "active" aspect of this image, on the contrary, is that only the love with which a person surrenders himself to God matters, but if this love is genuine, everything can be used to express love, and from this point of view everything is infinitely important.
In order to express his love for his mother, a child can give her one of his toys. Of course, the mother doesn’t need the toy, and besides, she bought it for him herself, but she is still touched and takes it seriously.
We have a thousand different ways to do the same thing towards God: by giving Him a thousand small gifts, we can return to Him what He has given us, and He accepts our gifts, giving them new value - this is how a relationship of mutuality is established. love that lasts a lifetime.
Therefore, in Teresa's life, everything became unusually serious and full of tenderness when love was at stake: patiently enduring the annoying noise made by one of the sisters during prayer without her noticing; don't complain when an inattentive neighbor splashes her in the face dirty water during washing; to submissively eat the leftover food that is served to her because no one else wants to eat it; never show that you are freezing, because you cannot be cowardly in front of the One you love; obey faithfully and joyfully, even when you instinctively want to object; treat an extremely unpleasant sister so kindly that it seems to her that she is especially loved; to fold the robes forgotten by other sisters - in short, “not to miss a single little sacrifice, glance, word, taking advantage of every little thing and doing it with love.”
Countless little things - everyday and throughout life - destroy a person when they cause rage and blind obedience, and warm the hearts of even those who do not notice it, if they are done for the sake of love and with love. This way you can even atone for your own weaknesses, inconsistencies, and minor sins.
Teresa even accepts them, not because she does not care about them (on the contrary, they upset her, just as a child is upset by his own helplessness), but because she invariably feels small, in need of help, of forgiveness, of grace.
It was this message brought by Teresa that cured the Church of her time from the last symptoms of Jansenism: in order to make people virtuous, one cannot only teach them to fear the punishment of God, on the contrary, they must be amazed at a love that exceeds all their merits.
In the time of Teresa, some heroic souls were in the habit of sacrificing themselves to “Divine Righteousness in order to incur all the punishments reserved for sinners.” Moreover, this initiation was considered the pinnacle of spirituality in Carmel.
At the age of 22, Teresa asked her abbess for permission to sacrifice herself to the Merciful Love of God - a love, in her words, “a thousand times more demanding than righteousness.”
She herself composed the dedication formula:
“My God! I want to love You and inspire love for You..., but I feel my powerlessness and ask You to be my holiness.
As a sign of perfect love, I offer myself as a burnt offering to Your merciful love and I pray to You to burn me to the end... so that I may become a martyr of Your love, O my God!”
Teresa is convinced that when God finds souls who have opened themselves to His love. He quickly burns them with scorching fire.
Paradoxically, all this, however, does not mean that Teresa experienced bright and joyful experiences. Moreover, her usual state was one of spiritual dryness: she was happy, but only because she loved God and knew that she was loved, although she did not experience any joy.
Meanwhile, life in the monastery continued as before, internally beautiful and externally miserable: the abbess sought to retain her post at any cost and was annoyed when Teresa’s sister was elected to it (whom she had once called her mother), but Teresa remained an eternal novice, although she was assigned to instruct novices who had just entered the monastery. One old nun whom she helped in the sacristy called her Sister “So be it,” because she always agreed with everything. However, everyone knew that she knew how to be firm when necessary.
At the age of 23, Teresa fell ill with consumption: when on the night from Holy Thursday to Friday a wave of blood rose to her lips, she wiped her lips, realizing that this was news of death, but made a sacrifice to God, deciding not to light the lamp to see what was wrong with her It happened. She waited until dawn, and on Good Friday she sacrificed herself, deciding to share His passion with Christ. So she entered the darkness of the Garden of Gethsemane, where her struggle began:
“Jesus allowed my soul to be engulfed in the deepest darkness and for the thought of heaven, so sweet to me, to be only a source of struggle and torment...
"It seemed to her that she was among sinners, unbelievers, especially among those who had lost faith through their own fault, having used the grace of God for evil, and that she heard a chorus of mocking voices announcing to her that nothingness and emptiness reigned over everything. It seemed to her that she was sitting “at the table of sinners,” where she should remain: “Lord, Your little daughter asks You for forgiveness for her brothers; she agrees to eat the bread of sorrow as long as it pleases You, and she really does not want to get up from this table at which sinners are sitting before the day You have indicated comes... Lord! Send us away justified...
"Her agreement to sit "at the table of dishonor" so that there would be someone who loves God there is closely connected with the events that took place in France at that time. Today we know that Therese's feeling that she was with sinners and atheists, had a very real basis: due to a strange combination of circumstances, which would take too long to describe here, in the last months of her life, Teresa, to her deep sorrow and horror, was personally involved in a loud scandal caused by some anti-clericals and freemasons in those years against the Church. They even used one of her photographs. In addition, she suffered because the provincial of the Carmelite Order, Father Hyacinthe Loison, the greatest preacher of his time, became defrocked: he was defrocked, married, became the founder of a Christian sect and was excommunicated, and Teresa took her last Communion for him.
She was clearly aware of what was happening in a world in which scientism was waging a violent attack on faith, and she felt its devilish charm. She told her sister:
“If you only knew what terrible thoughts are tormenting me! Pray for me tirelessly, so that I do not listen to the devil, who wants me to believe his false slander. The judgments of the most notorious materialists penetrate into my mind: the thought that in the future, thanks to gradual progress, science will find a natural explanation for everything and we will know the final cause of everything that exists, but for now it is a mystery only because there is still much new to be discovered... Oh, mommy, how can you harbor such thoughts when you love the good God so much! I sacrifice these cruel sufferings so that poor unbelievers may believe, for the sake of all who have withdrawn from church teaching.”
So, Teresa agreed to plunge into the darkness that descended on the whole earth on Good Friday:
"I see a wall rising to the sky... Everything has disappeared... I believe because I want to believe."
And she bore on her heart the Creed, written on a piece of paper in her own blood.
Meanwhile, obeying the orders of her abbess, she was finishing writing - it’s hard to believe! - his autobiography, telling about his spiritual journey to a full understanding of what true merciful love is. In her book, she tells us how she finally discovered the meaning of her calling at Carmel.
She tells of the great and varied desires that always stirred her soul, right up to the day when she realized that the Church is a Body in which all the members - and each of them has its own role - act for the good of the whole, but together With that, she understood with inexpressible joy that the Church must also have a heart and that her calling is to be in this heart, which feeds and supports “all vocations”: “In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be love.”
Meanwhile, the illness progressed irreversibly: the sisters caring for Teresa began to treat her like a child (although the first recognized her spiritual maturity and superiority), and she humbly accepted their care, knowing that she would face the last, most difficult test: to bear witness to the truth of his teaching about the “path of little souls”, having gone through the difficult path of suffering and death.
A child does not need to learn to be born, but an adult who wants to remain a child before God must learn to die as if being born again.
Sometimes Teresa was overcome with anxiety: “What will it be like for me to die?”, “I will never learn to die!” She felt that the test would be terrible: her body was exhausted by illness, she was tormented by unbearable pain, but the abbess decided that it was not necessary to give the Carmelite morphine. Her lungs were completely destroyed and her breathing was very difficult ( oxygen cushion did not exist then). Her body even physically became smaller (when they laid it in the coffin, the nurses said that it seemed like the body of a twelve-year-old girl), and she breathed with difficulty, like a child who had just been born. She was overcome with fear:
“If you only knew what agony it is when you can’t breathe!” “If I’m out of breath,” she says, “the good God will give me strength.” “Every breath is a strong pain, but still not so much that I scream.”
Looking at the image of the Virgin Mary, she exclaimed:
“Holy Virgin, you know that I am suffocating!”; “I no longer have enough earthly air. When will I breathe in heavenly air?”
In the last months of her life, her suffering increased, like a sea flooding her from all sides, and demanded that she trustingly and completely, like a sick child, surrender to those around her:
I forgot about myself, I don’t look for myself in anything.”
"I live only in suffering at the moment."
"- Children cannot be cursed. Little ones will be judged unusually mildly. And it is quite possible to remain children, even while occupying high positions, even living for a very long time. If I lived to be 80, I clearly feel that I would remain very small, as I am now."
To those who asked her whether her suffering was unbearable, she answered:
“No, I can still tell the good God that I love Him, and I find that this is enough.”
“Tonight my strength ran out: I asked the Blessed Virgin to take my head in her hands in order to endure the pain.”
She said about her suffering: “I love everything that the good God sends me.” When someone praised her patience, she objected, as if they did not understand her:
“I haven’t had patience for a minute yet. It’s not about my patience... People always make mistakes!”
The children's world with its images of bygone times remained close to her, although she suffered unspeakably. She told her sisters:
“The first time they gave me some grapes in the infirmary, I said to Baby Jesus: “How sweet the grapes are!” You know, I don’t understand why You hesitate to come for me. Look - I’m also a bunch of grapes, and everyone says I’m so ripe!”
One day the sister who was caring for Teresa said to another sister, thinking that she was sleeping: “She is very tired.” Teresa heard these words, and then said:
“I thought to myself: this is the pure truth! it is so. Yes, I am like a tired, exhausted traveler who, having reached the goal of his journey, throws himself on the ground. But I throw myself into the arms of the good God.”
That's exactly what happened to her. Her agony was long and painful. Her sister said: “A terrible wheezing tore through her chest. Her face was filled with blood, her hands turned blue, her legs were cold as ice; she was shaking all over.”
This went on for several hours. In the evening she turned to the abbess and said to her:
“Mother, this is already agony?... After all, I’m already dying?”
The abbess answered her that this was already agony, but that the good God could still prolong it.
She replied: “Then... let... let... Oh! I wouldn’t want the time of suffering to be shortened...”.
Then, looking at her crucifix, she said: “I love Him! My God, I love You!”
Her head fell back, her gaze, filled with inexpressible happiness, stopped slightly above the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This look lasted about as long as it took to read one I Believe. Then her soul flew to heaven. The world received its “little saint.”
In June 1980, when he made a pilgrimage to Lisieux, he said:
“Let us give thanks to St. Therese of Lisieux. Let us thank her for the simple and pure beauty that she revealed to the Church and the world. This beauty enchants us, even if we know that the path to it was difficult and full of suffering... But beauty exists because "that fascinates us with work. The most important work, thanks to which a person learns the secret of his human nature."
Antonio Sicari. Portraits of Saints
She posted a photo of herself and asked who this saint was. I also became interested and approached the village of Małgorzata with this question. Cathedral Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The sister explained that this was Saint Therese of Lisieux, or as she is also called, the Little One. By the way, the relics of her parents are kept in our Cathedral. Below I will give a story about her by the author Liliya Shelomanova.
Photo by silver_slider
Teresa died at the age of 24, having lived in solitude for about 10 years in a Carmelite monastery. She never engaged in missionary activity, did not found any religious order, and did not perform great deeds. After her death, only a single book was published, entitled “The Story of a Soul,” which is a short, edited version of Teresa’s diary. Despite this, 28 years after her death, interest in her had grown so much that Teresa was canonized in response to the persistent demands of the faithful.
What made the Roman Catholic Church canonize this girl?
St. Therese of Lisieux, in the world Therese Martin, was born on January 2, 1873 in France in the family of watchmaker Louis Martin. The family was very religious, and from childhood Teresa and her sisters absorbed the sincere faith of their parents.
Teresa's mother died when the girl was four years old, five years later her older sister Polina, who replaced her mother, went to the Carmelite monastery, and a few months later Teresa became seriously ill. No one hoped that she would recover, but Teresa believed that God would save her and constantly prayed before the face of the Virgin Mary. One day Teresa suddenly saw the Virgin Mary smile at her, and at that very moment she was healed.
After her unexpected healing, Teresa Martin decided to devote her life to serving God, but how could she convince everyone that she was able to endure the difficulties of monastic life if she could not even cope with her emotional outbursts? No matter how hard she tried to control her violent emotions, every time someone judged her or made the slightest remark, Teresa burst into tears. She prayed for Jesus to help her, but there was no sign in response.
Teresa's father did not want the girl to grow up, and until the age of fourteen, according to tradition, he continued to put Christmas gifts in her shoe. On Christmas Day 1886, fourteen-year-old Teresa and her sister walked into the house and saw their father putting gifts in shoes. Everyone expected Teresa to burst into tears, but there was no explosion of emotions. Something incredible happened to Teresa. Jesus came into her heart and did what she could not do herself. He made her feel her father's feelings more than her own. In her autobiography, she calls this Christmas the day of her “conversion.”
Teresa was called a “little flower,” but she had a will of steel. In 1889, at the age of 15, Teresa made her first attempt to enter the monastery, but the abbess of the monastery refused to give her consent, citing her young age. However, the girl went to the bishop. When the bishop said no, she decided to go higher. Soon the bishop, convinced that Teresa’s desire was not a momentary whim, changed his decision, and Teresa was able to realize her dream. Jesus tested Teresa's will three times and tested how strong her desire was to devote herself to his service.
Teresa understood that, being a Carmelite nun, she would never be able to accomplish great deeds. “Love can be proven by actions; how should I show my love? I cannot do great deeds. The only way to prove my love is to scatter flowers, and these flowers will be small donations, like my every look, word and all my seemingly unremarkable actions that I will do for the sake of love.” She took every opportunity to make a sacrifice, no matter how small it seemed. She smiled at the sisters she didn't like. She ate everything she was given without complaining - so she was often given the worst leftovers. One day Teresa was accused of breaking a vase. Even though it was not her fault, Teresa did not argue, but fell to her knees and begged for forgiveness.
When Pauline was elected abbess of the monastery, many sisters feared that the Martin family would take over the monastery, so she asked Teresa for the great sacrifice of remaining a novice. This meant that Teresa would never become a real nun, that she would never take monastic vows, that she would always be forced to ask permission for everything she did.
Teresa constantly thought about how she could achieve holiness in her life. She didn't want to be just good, she wanted to be a saint. She thought there must be a way for people who lived out their little ones, invisible lives, similar to the one she led. “But I told myself: God does not force me to desire something impossible and therefore, despite my smallness, I can strive for holiness. I will look for some opportunity to get to heaven by finding my own path, albeit very short and straight, but completely new.”
The main concept in Saint Teresa’s thoughts was the “little way.” This is what she called the path to achieving holiness, which does not imply performing heroic actions or deeds in the name of faith.
Teresa turned to the Holy Scriptures to learn how to achieve the life she wanted, and read these words: “Whoever you are, come to me.” “Your hands, Lord Jesus, will lift me to heaven. And that’s why I don’t have to grow any more: I have to stay small and become smaller and smaller,” Teresa wrote.
She reflected on her destiny, she felt within herself the calling of a priest and an Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of her youth, and this dream grew with her. Love for her neighbor gave the key to her calling. Teresa realized that the Church has a heart, and this heart burns with love. She realized that love contains all callings, it is all-encompassing, it is eternal. Then, filled with insane joy, Teresa exclaimed: “Oh Lord, my Love... my calling, I have finally found it! My calling is Love!”
In the monastery, Teresa lived by two mysteries: the childhood of Jesus (requiring obedience and simple, trusting surrender to God) and His passion (requiring participation and sacrifice). Therefore, she asked permission to be called Sister Teresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.
In 1896, Teresa began to develop tuberculosis, despite this she continued to work, not telling anyone about her illness, but a year later everyone knew about it. The pain was so severe that Teresa wrote that if it were not for her faith, she would have given her life without hesitation. She felt that she would die young and leave nothing behind. Yet she tried to appear smiling and cheerful - and she did it so well that some thought she was just pretending to be sick.
Teresa dreamed of the work she would do after death, helping everyone who lives on earth. “I'll be back,” she said. "My heaven will be on earth." Teresa died on September 30, 1897, aged 24. She knew that with the blessing of the Lord she would die at this age. After all, she felt the calling of a priest within herself, and the Lord allowed her to die at the age when she would have been ordained if she had been a man, so she did not have to suffer. Last years She dedicated her life to an autobiographical book, where she described her life and reflected on theological issues.
A year after Teresa's death, Pauline published Teresa's diary under the title "The Story of a Soul" with a circulation of only 2,000 copies, but to everyone's surprise the book was a stunning success - bishops and leading theologians of France expressed their admiration along with ordinary readers. At the beginning of the twentieth century, “The Story of a Soul” was translated into all leading European languages.
Saint Therese of Lisieux was canonized on May 17, 1925. In 1929, given the increasing scale of pilgrimage to the saint’s grave, the magnificent Basilica of St. Therese was built in Lisieux. In 1997, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Teresa a Doctor of the Church.
Teresa sought to develop an approach to the spiritual life that would be understandable and replicable to all who wished to follow it, regardless of their level of education. The “little way” of faith in the Lord that Teresa found to achieve holiness was to perform small daily duties, not great deeds. Generations of Catholics have worshiped this young saint, called the “Little Flower,” and her short life has inspired people much more than the volumes written by learned theologians.
Thérèse of Lisieux is one of the patron saints of missionaries, not because she ever engaged in missionary work, but because of her special love for the missionary movement and the prayers and letters with which Thérèse supported the missions. Her life is a reminder to all of us who feel that nothing can be done - it is precisely the “little” things that Teresa did that build the Kingdom of God.
IN Catholic Church Today is the feast day of Saint Therese of Lisieux.
Generations of Catholics have worshiped this young saint, called the “Little Flower,” and her short life has inspired us much more than the volumes written by learned theologians. Teresa died at the age of 24, having lived in solitude for about 10 years in a Carmelite monastery. She never engaged in missionary activities, founded any religious order, or performed great deeds. After her death, only a single book was published, entitled “The Story of a Soul,” which is a short, edited version of Teresa’s diary (Collections of her letters and the original version of the diary were recently published). Despite this, 28 years after her death, interest in her had grown so much that Teresa was canonized in response to the persistent demands of the faithful. As time has passed, some modern Catholics have turned away from her because for them Teresa's name is associated with an overly idealized piety, but nevertheless, her message to us is still as modern and true as it was a century ago. Teresa was born in 1873 in France. The parents tenderly loved and spoiled the girl. Teresa's mother wanted so much to be righteous, and her father to become a monk, that after getting married, they remained chaste until the priest explained to them what exactly God meant by marriage! Teresa's parents followed the priest's advice so diligently that they had nine children. Only five girls survived, who were very close all their lives. When Teresa was four and a half years old, she learned what grief and loss of loved ones were - Teresa's mother died of breast cancer. Polina, Teresa's sixteen-year-old sister, became her second mother. Five years later, Teresa suffered an even more bitter loss when Pauline went to the Carmelite monastery. A few months later, Teresa became so seriously ill that they thought she would not survive. The worst thing for Teresa at that time were those people who sat around her bed, staring at her annoyingly, in Teresa’s own words, they were always in the room like “a bunch of onions.” When she saw her sisters praying near the statue of the Virgin Mary, she also began to pray. Suddenly Teresa saw that the Virgin Mary smiled at her, and at that very moment she recovered. Teresa tried to keep the story of her miraculous healing a secret, but people found out and began to pester her with questions about how Mary was dressed and who she looked like. When Teresa refused to satisfy their idle curiosity, they spread the rumor that the girl had invented everything. By the age of eleven, Teresa had developed the ability to pray spiritually (praying in the mind) without realizing it at all. She usually found a place between her bed and the wall and there, in solitude, she thought about God, about life and eternity. When two other sisters, Maria and Leonia, entered the religious orders (Carmelites and Clarisses), Teresa remained with her sister Selina and her father. Teresa tells us that she wanted to be good, but she chose a rather strange way to do this. This little princess, spoiled by her father, usually did not do any housework. She believed that when she made the bed, she was doing a big favor! Whenever Teresa felt like someone was judging her or not caring about her, she would burst into tears. And then she cried because she had just cried and she felt sorry for herself! All her efforts to restrain her violent emotions failed as soon as the slightest remark was made to her. Teresa wanted to join a Carmelite convent and be with Sisters Pauline and Maria, but how could she convince everyone that she could endure the hardships of monastic life if she could not cope with her emotional outbursts? Teresa prayed for Jesus to help her, but there was no sign in response. On Christmas Day 1886, fourteen-year-old Teresa was hurrying home from church. In France, small children left their shoes near the hearth, and their parents put gifts there for them. However, by the age of fourteen, most children had grown up and understood where gifts actually came from. Selina didn't want Teresa to grow up. Therefore, for “baby” Teresa, gifts continued to be placed in the shoe. As Selina and Teresa hurried up the stairs to take off their hats, they heard their father's voice from the living room below. Standing near the shoes, he said with relief: “Thank God we’re doing this in last time !" Teresa froze, and her sister looked at her helplessly. Selina knew that after hearing her father's words, Teresa would burst into tears in a couple of minutes. However, there was no explosion of emotions. Something incredible happened to Teresa. Jesus descended into her heart and did something she couldn't do herself. He made her feel her father's feelings stronger than her own. She swallowed back her tears, went downstairs and expressed surprise at the gifts she found in the shoe as if she had not heard what her father said. A year later Teresa entered a convent. In her autobiography, she refers to this Christmas as the day of her “conversion”. Teresa was called a “little flower”, but she had a will of steel. When the abbess of the Carmelite convent refused Teresa because she was too young, usually a very shy girl went to the bishop. When the bishop said no, she decided to turn higher. Her father and sister took Teresa on a pilgrimage to Rome, believing that the pilgrimage would help her forget this strange desire to go to a monastery. Teresa really enjoyed the pilgrimage. This time her age gave her an advantage! Young and little Teresa could run anywhere, touch shrines and tombstones without fear of being yelled at. Finally, they got to the Pope's audience. They were forbidden to talk to the Pope, but this did not stop Teresa. As soon as she came closer to him, she immediately began to beg him for permission to enter the Carmelite monastery. It took two guards to get her out! The little girl’s bravery impressed the Vicar General, and Teresa was soon accepted into the Carmelite monastery, where her sisters Pauline and Maria had previously joined. Teresa's romantic ideas about monastic life and suffering suddenly collided with the realities of life in the monastery, which she never expected to see. Teresa's father suffered several strokes, which took a serious toll on his physical and mental health. When one day he had hallucinations and, grabbing a pistol, was about to go fight, he was taken to a mental asylum. Teresa was horrified to learn about the humiliation of the father she idolized and admired, as well as the gossip and regrets of their “so-called” friends. Since Teresa was in the monastery, she could not even visit her father. There came a terrible time of suffering for Teresa when she found no support in prayer; she said that “Jesus doesn’t try very hard to engage in our dialogue.” Teresa was so heartbroken that she often fell asleep while praying. She consoled herself by saying that mothers love their children who fall asleep in their arms, so God must love her who falls asleep during prayer. Teresa understood that, being a Carmelite nun, she would never be able to accomplish great deeds. “Love can be proven by actions; how should I show my love? I cannot do great deeds. The only way to prove my love is to scatter flowers, and these flowers will be small donations, like my every look, word and all my seemingly unremarkable actions that I will do for the sake of love.” She took every opportunity to make a sacrifice, no matter how small it seemed. She smiled at the sisters she didn't like. She ate everything she was given without complaining - so she was often given the worst leftovers. One day Teresa was accused of breaking a vase. Even though it was not her fault, Teresa did not argue, but fell to her knees and begged for forgiveness. These small sacrifices cost her much more than any big ones, since no one knew about them or recognized them as sacrifices. No one ever told her how wonderful she was because she endured these little secret humiliations and did good things. When Pauline was elected abbess of the monastery, she asked Teresa for a great sacrifice. Given the current situation in the monastery, many sisters feared that the Martin family would take over the monastery. Therefore, Polina asked Teresa to remain a novice in order to dispel fears that the three sisters would bully the rest of the nuns. This meant that Teresa would never become a real nun, that she would never take monastic vows, that she would always be forced to ask permission for everything she did. Selina helped Teresa bear this sacrifice more easily when she came to the monastery after her father’s death. All four sisters were together again. Teresa constantly thought about how she could achieve holiness in her life. She didn't want to be just good, she wanted to be a saint. She thought that there must be a way for people who lived their little, unnoticed lives like the one she led. “I always wanted to become a saint. Unfortunately, when I compared myself with the saints, I saw that there was such a difference between us as between a mountain whose peak is lost in the clouds and a tiny grain of sand under the feet of a passerby. But I did not lose heart, I told myself: God does not force me to desire something impossible and therefore, despite my smallness, I can strive for holiness. I can’t grow higher, become more than I am now, which means I have to come to terms with this and accept myself as I am with all my countless shortcomings. But I will look for some opportunities to get to heaven by finding my own path, albeit very short and straight, but completely new. "We live in an age of progress. We no longer need to pant up the stairs, overcoming flight after flight, because wealthy houses have elevators. And I intend to find an elevator that will take me to the Lord Jesus, because I am too small , to overcome the steep steps of perfection. I turned to the Holy Scriptures to learn from it how to achieve the life that I would like to have, and read these words: “Whoever you are, come to me.” Your hands, Lord Jesus is the elevator that will take me to heaven. And that's why I don't have to grow any more: I have to stay small and become smaller and smaller." She reflected on her destiny: "I feel the calling of a priest. I have the calling of an Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth, and this dream grew with me. Considering mystical body Church, I wanted to recognize myself in all its members. Love for one's neighbor gave the key to my calling. I realized that the Church has a heart, and this heart burns with love. I realized that love contains all callings. That love is everything, and it covers all times and spaces... in a word, it is eternal! Then, filled with insane joy, I exclaimed: “Oh Lord, my Love... my calling, I finally found it! My calling is Love!” When a new abbess of the monastery was elected, suspicions and rumors arose again. The fear about the Martin sisters may not have been in vain. In the small monastery, the sisters made up a fifth of all the inhabitants. Despite this and the fact that Teresa was a permanent novice/disciple, she was assigned the care of all the other students. Later, in 1896, Teresa fell ill with consumption (she began to cough up blood). She continued to work, not telling anyone about her illness, but a year later everyone knew about it. The worst thing is that she stopped being joyful and lost confidence; she felt that she would die young and leave nothing behind. Pauline had previously given her the obedience to write down her thoughts in a diary, and now she wanted Teresa to continue the entries - in this case they would have something to tell about Teresa after her death. The pain was so severe that Teresa said that if it were not for her faith, she would have given her life without hesitation. Still, Teresa tried to appear smiling and cheerful - and she succeeded so well that some thought she was just pretending to be sick. She dreamed of the work that she would do after death, helping everyone who lives on earth. “I'll be back,” she said. "My heaven will be on earth." Teresa died on September 30, 1897, aged 24. Teresa knew that with the blessing of the Lord she would die at this age. After all, she felt the calling of a priest within herself, and the Lord allowed her to die at the age when she would have been ordained if she had been a man, so she did not have to suffer. After her death, everything in the monastery returned to normal. One nun commented on this: there is nothing to say about Teresa. But Polina collected everything Teresa wrote (unfortunately, heavily edited) and sent 2,000 copies to other monasteries. The “little way” of faith in the Lord that Teresa found to achieve holiness was to perform small daily duties, not great deeds. This path inspired thousands of Catholics and others who tried to become saints by leading ordinary life. Two years later, the Martin family had to move - Teresa’s fame was so great, and in 1925 she was canonized. Thérèse of Lisieux is one of the patron saints of missionaries, not because she ever engaged in missionary work, but because of her special love for the missionary movement and the prayers and letters with which Thérèse supported the missions. Her life is a reminder to all of us who feel that nothing can be done - it is precisely the “little” things that Teresa did that build the Kingdom of God. Memorial Day: October 1 Patroness of missionaries.
"I wanna spend my Heaven,
Doing, doing work on Earth.
Heaven on Earth..."
The story of one soul
Memoirs of Therese Martin of Lisieux (little Therese), a girl who introduced many new and revolutionary thoughts into Catholic theology, recently canonized.
From translators
Preface.
"The Lord's Work is Hard"
Manuscript "A"
Manuscript "B"
Manuscript "C"
“I’m entering life” - last conversations
Prayer for sacrificing oneself to merciful Love
From the poems of St. Teresa
Lord, to be Your bride, to be a Carmelite, to be, by virtue of union with You, the mother of souls - all this should be enough for me. But this is not so. Of course, these three gifts are my calling: Carmelite, bride and mother. And yet I feel in myself other callings: warrior, priest, apostle, teacher of the Church, martyr - finally, I feel the need, the desire to perform for You, Lord, all the most heroic deeds. In my soul I feel the courage of a crusader, I would like to die on the battlefield defending the Church.
I feel the calling of a priest within me! With what love, Lord, I would hold You in my hands, when at my voice You would descend from Heaven. But, alas! Desiring to be a priest, I admire and adore the humility of St. Francis of Assisi and feel called to imitate him by renouncing the high office of the priesthood.
Oh my God! My love and my life... How to combine these contradictory aspirations? How can I fulfill the desires of my poor little soul?
Yes, despite all my smallness, I would like to enlighten souls like the prophets and teachers of the Church. My calling is to be an apostle... I would like to go around the whole earth, preach Your name and plant Your glorious Cross on the land of the pagans. But, my Beloved, the mission alone would not be enough for me. I would like to proclaim the Gospel simultaneously in five parts of the world, even to the most distant islands... I would like to be a missionary not just for a few years, but from the creation of the world until the end of time. But most of all I would like, O my beloved Savior, I would like to shed my blood for You, all, to the last drop...
Martyrdom was the dream of my youth. Under the arches of Carmel she grew up with me. But here again I feel all the madness of my dream, for I would not be able to limit myself to the desire for only one kind of torment. To satisfy me, I would need everyone... Like You, my desired Bridegroom, I want to be scourged and crucified. I want to die flayed like St. Bartholomew. Like St. John, I desire to be immersed in boiling oil; I wish to endure all the tortures reserved for martyrs. Together with Saint Agnes and Saint Cecilia, I wish to put my neck to the sword and, like my beloved sister Joan of Arc, I wish to whisper at the stake Your name, O Lord Jesus... Thinking about the torment that will be the lot of Christians during the time of the Antichrist, I feel my heart trembling, and I would like these torments to be prepared for me too. Lord, Lord, if I wanted to write down all my desires, I should ask You for the book of life, where the deeds of all the saints are set out, and I would want to perform these deeds for Your sake...
Oh Lord Jesus! What will You answer to all my madness? Is there a soul even smaller, even weaker than mine! It was because of my weakness that You, Lord, were pleased to fulfill my little childhood desires, and now You want to fulfill others that surpass the universe itself...
During prayer, I suffered painfully from these desires and opened the letters of the Apostle Paul to look for some answer. Chapters 12 and 13 of First Corinthians caught my eye. There, in the first of them, I read that everyone cannot be apostles, prophets, teachers of the Church, and that the Church is made up of various members, and that the eye cannot be at the same time a hand.
The answer was clear, but it did not fulfill my desires and did not bring peace... Like Mary Magdalene, who, continuing to bow towards the empty tomb, nevertheless found what she was looking for (see John 20:11-18), I too , having sunk to the very depths of her insignificance, rose so high that she was able to achieve her goal. Without despair, I continued reading, and here is a phrase that brought me relief: “Be zealous for great gifts, and I will show you an even more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31). The Apostle explains that all these great gifts are nothing without love... That love for one's neighbor is that most excellent path that certainly leads to God. I finally found peace. Looking at the mystical body of the Church, I did not recognize myself in any of the members described by the Apostle Paul, or rather, I wanted to recognize myself in all of them. Love for one's neighbor provided the key to my calling. I realized that if the Church has a body composed of different members, this means that the most necessary, the noblest of all members is also present. I realized that the Church has a heart, and this heart burns with love. I realized that only love motivates its members to action, and if love grows cold, the apostles will no longer proclaim the Gospel, and the martyrs will refuse to shed blood. I realized that love contains all callings. That love is everything, and it covers all times and spaces... in a word, it is eternal!
Then, filled with insane joy, I exclaimed: “Oh Lord, my Love... my calling, I finally found it! My calling is Love!”
Yes, I found my place in the Church. This place, my God, You gave it to me... in the heart of my Mother Church I will be love... then I will be everything... and my dream will come true!
Poor women, how they are despised! Although there are many more of them who love the Lord God than men, and during the Passion on the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, women turned out to be bolder than the apostles: they were not afraid of the insults of the soldiers and dared to wipe the blessed Face of Jesus... Of course, only for this sake did He allow their fate on earth was contempt, for it was precisely this that He chose for Himself... In Heaven He will be able to show that His thoughts are not the thoughts of men (see Isa. 55:8) and then “the last will be first” (Matt. 20, 16).
The publication was prepared on the basis of French editions:
SAINTE THERESE DE L"ENFANT-JESUS ET DE LA SAINTE-FACE HISTOIRE D"UNE AME
Manuscrits autobiographiquesEditions du Cerf et Desclee De Brouwer, Paris, 1992
OEUVRES COMPLETES (TEXTES ET DERNIERES PAROLES)
Editions du Cerf et Desclee De Brouwer, Paris, 1992
The prologue and epilogue to The Story of a Soul were written by Monseigneur Guy Gaucher.
(Editions du Cerf et Desclee De Brouwer, Paris, 1994)
Translation from French by Andrey and Olga Dyachkov.
Theological consultant of the Russian text of the priest. Georgy Chistyakov.
Photos used from the archives of the Carmelite monastery in Lisieux
From translators
We bring to your attention new translation“The Stories of One Soul,” and the question immediately arises: “What is all this for? After all, there already exists “The Tale of a Soul” translated by Deacon Vasily von Burman!” Let's try to explain.
It was December 1894. One evening, after the service, four Carmelite sisters Teresa, Selina, Maria and Polina gathered together to warm themselves: even in winter, the cells here were not heated and there was only one in the entire monastery warm room. When the youngest of them, Teresa, began to remember her childhood, Maria thought it would be nice to write it down. However, in the monastery everything is done according to obedience, and Maria turned to Polina, who at that time was the abbess of Carmel, with a proposal for such unusual obedience. - “You will see that this angel will not stay on earth for long and then we will lose all these little things that are of such interest to us!” At first, Polina resisted, but eventually yielding to her sisters’ requests, she asked Teresa to write her a story about her childhood for Angel’s Day. This was the beginning of manuscript “A”.
Teresa, faithful to obedience, wrote exclusively in her free time. She wrote without drafts and practically without erasing, interrupting whenever the time ran out. A little over a year has passed. And so, on the appointed day, January 20, 1896, Teresa approached Polina and, kneeling down, handed her a notebook. She nodded silently and, without opening it, put it on her shelf. Days passed. The abbess did not have time to read, and Teresa never reminded her of her notes. Pauline read the manuscript only after a new abbess, Mother Maria de Gonzaga, was chosen in March.
September 1896. Teresa is twenty-three years old and has another year of life ahead of her. From 7 to 18 she holds her last “retreat” - an annual prayer retreat. Shortly before this, Maria asked Teresa to write about the “little path” she had discovered. On September 8, on the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, she writes a letter to her sister. This letter will go down in history as manuscript “B”.
The summer of 1897 arrived. Teresa is seriously ill, and all obediences have been removed from her. She has four months to live. Late in the evening of June 2, the former abbess comes to the newly elected one: “Mother, I cannot sleep without trusting you with one secret! While I was abbess, Sister Teresa, out of obedience and to please me, described several episodes from her childhood. I recently re-read them. All very nice, but you are unlikely to be able to use this for a posthumous circular (1): there is almost nothing there about her monastic life. If you entrusted her, she could write something more serious, and I have no doubt that what I wrote for you would be much more significant than what I have.” The next day, Teresa began her last obedience - the “C” manuscript.
Teresa knows that these notes are needed for the posthumous circular. Her attitude towards the publication of manuscripts is also changing. On her deathbed, she tells Polina: “After my death, the manuscript must be published immediately. If you delay in doing this or carelessly talk about it with anyone except the Mother Superior, Satan will place thousands of obstacles in the way of this publication, which is so necessary!” She continued: “Mother, whatever you consider necessary to remove or add in my notebooks, consider that I did it. Remember this and have no doubts about this.”
“The Tale of a Soul” first appeared in a circulation of 2,000 copies a year after the death of Sister Teresa. This publication was prepared by Mother Maria de Gonzaga together with Mother Agnes (Polina). The manuscripts were collected together, divided into chapters, and significant portions were omitted or rewritten. The book sold out very quickly. A year later - a new edition with a circulation of four thousand. By 1915, the story was translated into nine languages and sold in huge numbers. That same year, the Carmel of Lisieux received an average of 500 letters per day. Preparations for the canonization process have already begun. Documents, memories, testimonies and original manuscripts are needed. By 1925, the canonization process was completed: by Pope Pius XI in front of a crowd of five hundred thousand in Rome in St. Peter's sister Teresa is recognized as a saint. However, Mother Agnes is still involved in the preparation of new publications, because Saint Teresa entrusted this task to her. In parallel with new editions of “The Tale of a Soul,” interest in the originals themselves is growing. In September 1947, one of the leaders of the Carmelite Order writes to Mother Agnes: “The Church has spoken its word. Holiness and teaching of St. Therese of the Child Jesus is universally recognized. To avoid erroneous or incomplete interpretations, in order to deepen the teachings of the saint, the documents and texts that you gave us are not enough. Only the original manuscripts will help to understand the movement of thought, the rhythm of life and the light that is contained in its definitions, usually clear and final.” Eighty-six-year-old mother Agnes is unable to undo her life’s work - “The Tale of a Soul.” However, anticipating her imminent death, on November 2, 1950, she instructs her sister Genevieve (Celina): “Do this on my behalf after my death.” Six months later, Agnes's mother died. But only in 1957 the first incomplete edition of the original manuscripts was published. Based on this edition and after painstaking work for 35 years, it was only in 1992 that the first complete edition of the manuscripts of St. Teresa appeared. Comparing this edition with The Tale of a Soul, one researcher counted more than 700 changes in the text. Such a volume of changes made it impossible to simply edit the well-known translation, although we turned to it with gratitude more than once during our work.
For my short life Sister Teresa wrote more than fifty poems and eight plays. This side of her creative heritage for a long time remained in the shadows. She composed her first poem in early 1893 after five years spent in the monastery. Having received a very modest provincial education, Sister Teresa had a very vague understanding of versification. Actually, she did not write poetry, but words to known melodies, so sister Genevieve (Selina) argued that “they sound much better if you sing them.” However, a hundred years passed, the melodies sank into oblivion, and theologians were more interested in Sister Teresa’s poems. Indeed, their spiritual richness requires special study. But a few years ago a small “miracle” happened in France: songs based on the words of Sister Teresa began to sound again! Sung in a new way, they quickly spread far beyond the borders of France and reached Russia, finding an echo in thousands of hearts. Therefore, the translations of poems published in this book should be treated, first of all, as the words of already existing songs.
We are well aware that any translation is a distortion of the original. Therefore, we ask for your prayers and indulgence in advance.
Preface
"The Lord's Work is Hard"
The experience of faith of Saint Therese of Lisieux, who was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by John Paul II last October, needs serious reflection. What do the Fathers of the first centuries, John Chrysostom or Ambrose of Milan, Gregory the Great or Augustine, have in common with a girl from Normandy who read little, had no life experience, did not receive a systematic education and, having gone to Carmel at the age of fifteen, it would seem , completely cut herself off from reality. It may seem that the story of Therese Martin is nothing more than a plot for a sad and beautiful movie, the authors of which set themselves the goal of making their viewer think about what, in addition to problems today God and eternity also exist.
It is precisely this perception of Teresa’s life that the latest edition of her “Autobiographical Manuscripts” on French in the popular Litre de vie series, where the cover reproduces a still from the feature film “Thérèse”, shot not so long ago by Alain Cavalier.
Not only skeptics and scoffers, but also serious theologians see her as just the heroine of a sad movie. That is why the question of what “my little teaching” is, which Cardinal Lustige first spoke about as Teresa’s theological feat fifteen years ago, remains relevant today. What is her theology?
Saint Teresa, unlike the great saints of the past, chooses the small path. This is the first feature of her personal credo. The theme of childishness turns out to be almost the main one for her - childishness, which becomes the defining characteristic of our “I”. The words “unless you are converted and become like children...” were endlessly quoted during sermons, but the gospel’s call to childhood in the history of Christianity was never comprehended until Thérèse of Lisieux’s “The Story of a Soul” appeared.