St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Magnificat 90 is particularly inspired by St. Thérèse of Lisieux and her little way. What made her holy and what does her ‘little way’ mean?
Saint Thérèse shows us a way to surrender ourselves completely to His Love and how much He wants us to love Him, even in an imperfect way. By reading the book and talking more with God, I have become familiar with and trusting in that Love, and I trust that Love more. For me, this is such a big change in my life, which I hope will continue to grow every day. As one of the other ladies said: it’s not about falling, it’s about how you get back up.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was born in 1873, the youngest of five sisters. When she was four years old, her mother died, which made her very sensitive. She grew up and discovered at an early age the great love that God had for her. Her two older sisters entered the convent, and she also felt the desire to give herself completely to God in religious life. After often being told that she was still too young, she was allowed to enter at the age of 15. Eventually, she fell ill and, after a long period of suffering, she died at the age of 24 in the Carmelite convent in Lisieux in 1897. She was canonized on May 17, 1925, and, according to Pope Pius XI, is the greatest saint of modern times. Her feast day is October 1.
Saint Thérèse is known for always having been small (literally and figuratively). She thought she could not become as great a saint as other saints who preceded her, so she said, “I cannot reach as high as the spiritual athletes, but I stretch out my arms and He lifts me up.” She realizes that by being small, God can do His work through her, and that she can also go “up.” She says, “I have finally found my vocation: my vocation is love.”
We are all called to be a specific part, a member of the body of the Church. Thérèse understood that God was calling her to be the heart, from which His love flows to all the members. She understood that love contained all the vocations she longed for. In Magnificat 90, we are guided in particular by her little way of love.
O Jesus, how I wish I could tell all the little souls how unspeakably loving you are! I feel that if you could find a soul even weaker and smaller than mine, which is impossible, you would shower it with even greater favors, if only it would surrender itself with complete trust to your infinite Mercy.