page_title: Thérèse of Lisieux
section_title: Devotees of Thérèse of Lisieux
hierarchical_section_title: Thérèse of Lisieux / Legacy / Devotees of Thérèse of Lisieux
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Kostel Nejsvětější Trojice ve Fulneku, Česko. Levý zadní boční oltář chrámové lodi. Vpředu socha sv.&#160;Terezie od Dítěte Ježíše, za ní obraz Utrpení Pána Ježíše. Deutsch: Kirche zur Heiligsten Dreifaltigkeit in Fulnek, Tschechien. Der linke hintere Seitenaltar des Kirchenschiffes. Vorn die Statue der Hl.&#160;Theresia vom Kinde Jesu, dahinter das Bild des Leidens Jesu. English: Most Holy Trinity Church in Fulnek, Czechia. The lefthand rear lateral altar of the aisle. Ahead the statue of St.&#160;Teresa of the Child Jesus, behind that the painting of Suffering of Jesus. Esperanto: La kirko de la Plej Sankta Triunuo en Fulnek, Ĉeĥujo. Maldekstra malantaŭa flankaltaro de la navo. Antaŭe statuo de Sankta Terenjo de la infana Jesuo, post ĝi bildo de Sufero de Jesuo.
context_page_description: Thérèse of Lisieux, born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin, also known as Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite nun who is widely venerated in modern times. She is popularly known as "The Little Flower of Jesus", or simply "The Little Flower.”
  Thérèse has been a highly influential model of sanctity for Catholics and for others because of the simplicity and practicality of her approach to the spiritual life. Together with Francis of Assisi, she is one of the most popular saints in the history of the church. Pope Pius X called her "the greatest saint of modern times".
  Thérèse felt an early call to religious life, and overcoming various obstacles, in 1888 at the early age of 15, she became a nun and joined two of her older sisters in the cloistered Carmelite community of Lisieux, Normandy. After nine years as a Carmelite religious, having fulfilled various offices such as sacristan and assistant to the novice mistress, and having spent her last eighteen months in Carmel in a night of faith, Thérèse died at the age of 24, from tuberculosis.
context_section_description: Over the years, a number of prominent people have become devotees of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. These include:
  Pope Francis - "When I have a problem I ask the saint, not to solve it, but to take it in her hands and help me accept it."
  Pope John Paul I - "Dear little Thérèse , I was seventeen when I read your autobiography. It struck me forcibly...Once you had chosen the path of complete dedication to God, nothing could stop you: not illness, nor opposition from outside, nor the mists or inner darkness."
  Mother Teresa of Calcutta, originally called Agnes, explained her choice of the name Teresa as follows: "I chose Thérèse as my namesake because she did ordinary things with extraordinary love" She and St. Thérèse were both deeply drawn by the words of Christ on the Cross:  "I thirst."
  Maximilian Kolbe offered his first Mass for the intention of the beatification and canonization of then-Sister Therese. He also dedicated his Asian missions to St. Therese.
  Maria Candida of the Eucharist - Was inspired by reading The Story of a Soul.
  Edith Piaf - French singer - "Shortly after her birth Edith developed a cataract. She was blind for almost three years. Her grandmother, Louise, took her to Lisieux. She saw. It was a real miracle for Edith. She always believed this. Since that time she had a real devotion to St Thérèse of the Child Jesus...she always had a small picture of the saint on her bedside table." (Simone Berteaut, Edith Piaf's closest friend).
  Lucie Delarue-Mardrus - French writer - "the Carmelite-apparition..appeared, roses in hand, in the midst of an era which grieves and terrifies poets...Thérèse is my fellow-countrywoman, and almost my contemporary. I do not wish to let her glorious entry into sanctity pass by without honoring her in my own way. And besides, she is henceforth public property." (Introducing her book, 1926, on Thérèse).
  Marc Sangnier - Founder of Le Sillon - "May Thérèse from on high support us and show us how to be more one with Jesus."
  Delia Smith - British cookery writer - "Thérèse ..not only personified the first beatitude but is, I am deeply convinced, the supreme teacher in regard to the spiritual life."
  Louise Brooks - American dancer and actress - "Her spiritual trek was guided by two New York City priests, whom she saw with increasing frequency in late 1952 and early 1953, and by a book about the life of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Storm of Glory by John Beevers. So enamored of Saint Thérèse was Louise that she spent one entire Sunday propped up in bed with her easel, fashioning a portrait in charcoal on canvas from a small photo of Thérèse at eight.  It was the best and most haunting of her dozen works of art."
  Alain Mimoun - Olympic marathon champion - "St Thérèse of Lisieux is my patron saint. The white roses which I planted in front of her [her statue in the garden] flower almost all the year round."
  Henri Bergson - Nobel prize winner - "One reason why the philosopher Henri Bergson esteemed Thérèse so highly was that he was fascinated by the qualities of character which prompted her to confront the Pope of her day , Leo XIII, in pursuit of her own desires...explicitly forbidden by the chaplain to address Leo XIII, Thérèse flouted the injunction..she was dragged away by two papal guards.This is hardly the simpering and docile saint which Thérèse's statuary too often suggests."
  Claudia Koll - Italian actress
  Don Luigi Orione - Italian saint
  Pio of Pietrelcina - Italian saint
  Fernando del Valle - operatic tenor
  Charles Maurras - French author and political philosopher
  Jacques Fesch - French murderer turned devotee
  Ada Negri - Italian poet
  Giovanni Papini - Italian critic and journalist
  Giuseppe Moscati - Italian saint
  Alfredo Obviar - Filipino Bishop and founder of the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus
  Francis Bourne - British Cardinal - "I love St Thérèse of Lisieux very much because she has simplified things: in our relationship with God she has done away with the mathematics.."
  Jean Guitton - French writer
  Emmanuel Mounier - French writer/philosopher
  Gilbert Cesbron
  G
caption: Statue of Saint Thérèse at the Most Holy Trinity Church, Fulnek, Czech Republic
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