Therese of Lisieux, Research Paper Example

Abstract

The paper discusses the life and achievements of Therese of Lisieux. A brief biographical sketch is provided. The paper discusses the historical context in which Therese of Lisieux was born and lived her life. Her connection with creed and the Catechism of Catholic Church is evaluated. The author offers a personal opinion and reflections about St. Therese’s personality.

Therese of Lisieux

St. Therese of Lisieux is fairly regarded as one of the most religious and spiritual figures in the history of Catholicism. Born in France, St. Therese was willing to devote her life to religion, spirituality, and chastity. Therese was a rare example of how a woman should lead her life in religious and spiritual humility. On her way to the spiritually self-fulfilling life, St. Therese had to overcome numerous obstacles. However, none of them ever reduced her devotion to God but only made her faith and belief in God even stronger. St. Therese lived her life with unchangeable focus on God. She changed society’s vision of God and prayer and led thousands of people to follow her little spiritual way.

A biographical sketch

St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as Francoise-Marie Therese Martin and Terese of the Infant Jesus, was born in 1873 to a family of a pious middle-class tradesman (Jones, 2009). She was a daughter of blessed Louis Martin and Blessed Marie-Azelie Guerin Martin, and four other sisters also became nuns (Jones, 2009). Her mother always wanted to be a saint, while her father always dreamt of becoming a monk (Catholic Online, 2009). Since the earliest day of her life, Therese grew in the atmosphere of utmost religiosity. However, it was not before the death of her mother and her own sickness that Therese realized the value of prayer and the significance of her intimacy with God. The loss of mother was one of the most serious tragedies Therese ever experienced in her life. Her elder sister Pauline became her second mother, making the second loss even worse when Pauline decided to enter the Carmelite convent five years later (Catholic Online, 2009). In no time Therese fell so sick that people thought she did not have a chance to survive (Catholic Online, 2009). That was the moment when, after praying to the statue of Mary with her sisters, Therese was miraculously cured (Catholic Online). By the time Therese was eleven years old, her two other sisters joined religious orders. With time Therese learned the skills of mental prayer: the space between her bed and the wall gave her a feeling of solitude which she could spend thinking about God, eternity, and human life (Catholic Online, 2009).

Just before her 14th birthday she received the vision of Jesus and immediately understood that she had been born to make a great sacrifice, and since that time, her faith grew unshakeable (Jones, 2009). By the age of fifteen she tried to join the Carmelites but was rejected because of her young age (Jones, 2009). She took up a pilgrimage to Rome to meet Pope Leo XIII who gave her an official permission to become a nun (Jones, 2009). She joined the Carmelites in 1888 when she was barely 15 and took her final vow in 1890 (Jones, 2009). St. Therese of Lisieux was well-known for her infinite devotion to god and prayer, but her fight with tuberculosis was less productive than her faith in God: because of her sickness, she was ordered not to fast (Jones, 2009). At 22, she was ordered by her prioress to write her ideas and memories, which would later transform into her famous book History of a Soul (Jones, 2009). Therese defined her religious way as a little way to God, which equally comprised trust in God and child-like devotion to God (Jones, 2009). St. Therese engaged in constant correspondence with Carmelite missionaries in China and many miracles were attributed to her (Jones, 2009). She died on 30 September 1897 of tuberculosis and was canonized in 1925 (Jones, 2009). In 1997 St. Therese was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II (Jones, 2009).

Historical context

Therese of Lisieux was born and lived her life in the complex political and, more importantly, religious conditions. In 1873, the year Therese was born, France entered the period of a profound cultural desolation for devout Ultramontane Catholics (Frohlich, 2000). That was the time of political instability and the beginning of the third Republic. A year after Therese’s birth, an editorial in the Ultramontane newspaper wrote:

There was a universal presentiment that the year 1873 would see something end and something new begin. But now there is nothing, neither life nor death. Humanity seems a void. Asphyxiated, cadavers slide to the bottom of a moral abyss. History offers few examples of this absolute infecundity. Odorless and silent pestilences infiltrate everywhere, killing everything, and nothingness seems to have conquered being. (Frohlich, 2000)

The period of Therese’s childhood miraculously coincided with the loss of religious hopes among her fellow countrymen. The latter hoped for a new religious dawn which would return the pope and king to their rightful thrones (Frochlich, 2000). Unfortunately, none of those hopes was ever meant to come true, and 1873 as well as 1874 threw people into the midst of spiritual despair – they were disappointed with how God intervened in the world of French politics (Frohlich, 2000). Yet, French people did not yet realize that the year of political and religious desolation also gave them an opportunity to revive their faith and to turn their faces to God, for the year St. Therese was born became a new stage in the religious and spiritual development in France and the rest of the world.

However, political conditions in France were not solely responsible for the religious raise and triumph of St. Therese’s writings and beliefs. The so-called Therese phenomenon owes its popularity and recognition to the growing feminization of the Catholic Church in the 19th century, as well as to the way St. Therese chose to write her book, as a combination of a drama, a novel story, and a portrait of female autonomy (Pope, 1988). In her article, Pope (1988) provides a detailed examination of the historical contexts, into which Therese’s beliefs and writing fit perfectly well. The feminization of religion can be traced back to the times of the American Protestantism, which manifested through the increasing number of women in churches and the changes in doctrine and symbols that reflected female religious experiences, as well as changes in the church routine which had to help women to meet their religious, spiritual, and daily needs (Pope, 1988). Under the influence of religious feminization, the image of God became more merciful toward the role of women in religion (Pope, 1988).

At the same time, the definition of gender roles was becoming stricter and the gap between women and men grew even larger; women were becoming more domesticated while men sought to participate actively in the public, political, and economic life of the state (Pope, 1988). Where men sought to prove their masculine qualities of rationality and toughness by all possible means, church became a unique place for women to treat and preserve their feminine qualities, including charity, humility, and piety (Pope, 1988). As a result, many women came to see church and religious self-expression as the sign of their utmost femininity and their submissiveness to the circumstances of life. By the time St. Therese was ready to join the Carmelite missionaries, women represented almost 75 percent of practicing Catholics in Europe: men were only a small minority that regularly attended mass and confessed their sins but never put any additional effort into becoming more religious or spiritual (Pope, 1988). Women exerted significant influence on the religious dogma. “The most obvious sign of this feminized sensibility was the fact that devotion more and more focused on the Holy Family, the increasingly androgynized image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin” (Pope, 1988). The growing piety and emotionalism went against and minimized the church authorities’ desire to ignore the signs of femininity in religion, followed by the growing public belief in miracles (Pope, 1988). In those historical and religious conditions, Therese immediately became the representation of the utmost femininity in religion. She was recognized not only for being a prominent religious woman but for representing and expressing the religions and spiritual views of the Catholic majority in France. Her primary mission was to glorify God, to promote love to God, and to live in the atmosphere of intimacy with God – the example, which thousands of missionaries and ordinary people decided to follow.

Therese of Liseux and virtues

In Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article 7, we read: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good” (USCCB, 2009). Catechism of the Catholic Church lists human and theological virtues. The former include the cardinal virtues – prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance; and the virtues and grace, which imply that a virtuous human is able to maintain a reasonable balance of light and strength, cooperate with the Holy Spirit and follow his calls (USCCB, 2009). The theological virtues include faith, hope, and charity (USCCB, 2009). These are followed by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (USCCB, 2009).

That St. Therese exemplified the utmost faith, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and hope is difficult to deny. Her devotion to God expressed through a set of beliefs and religious/ spiritual principles, which she called “her little way”. The latter comprised a series of sacrifices that were inherited by millions of Catholics (Pope, 1988). In her spiritual humility and her continuous striving to promote virtue and grace, St. Therese compared herself to and asked her followers to put themselves into a little child’s shoes (Martin T. of Lisieux, 2005). She wanted her followers to feel like a child who wants to go to the top of the stairs to find his mother (Martin T. of Lisieux, 2005). St. Therese believed that the path to spirituality was similar to that which a little child takes when he lifts his little foot to climb the first step – his efforts are fruitless and he constantly falls (Martin T. of Lisieux, 2005). St. Therese, with her emphasis on prudence, hope, faith, and fortitude, asked her followers to lift their feet to climb the ladder of holiness, and never to give up their attempts to reach the top of the holy mountain (Martin T. of Lisieux, 2005). She promoted the value of the good will, confident that each spiritual effort, no matter how fruitless it was, would be rewarded accordingly.

During her years at Carmel Lisieux, Therese was engaged in routine activities, including cleaning, painting, poem writing, and intense praying (Society of the Little Flower, 2010). However, it was due to the development of her Little Way that she became one of the most widely recognized saint figures in the history of Catholicism. In no activity could Therese forget her littleness, which was supplemented with and reinforced by humility, hope, faith, and fortitude. The Lord never demanded great things from her, but Therese felt that only religion would give her a unique chance to develop the best and the most valued virtues, including charity and religious grace (Society of the Little Flower, 2010).

St. Therese is often criticized for having been distanced from the conventional wisdom of the church – her spirituality is often called sentimental, privatized, subjective, and disconnected from scientific theology (Frohlich, 2000). However, what could become a negative religious implication turns out to be of the most important features of St. Therese, which ultimately made her one of the most prominent and widely recognized saints. St. Therese is the embodiment of the living spirituality, which the Catholic majority in France longed to see and to follow. Throughout her relatively short life, Therese simply appreciated that she was truly loved for who she was and that she could promote and transfer the knowledge of this love to others (Pope, 1988).

Those who choose to follow St. Therese’s ‘little way’ must prepare themselves to self-sacrifice. In her teachings, St. Therese constantly emphasizes the littleness of the spiritual being compared to the religious and spiritual grandeur of God. St. Therese stresses and underlines the meaning of being good in every little thing (Pope, 1988). Therese of Lisieux calls for and exemplifies patience and humility: she could listen to an old nun’s grumbling for ten minutes at a time and would never reproach a nun splashing dirty water on her face doing the laundry (Pope, 1988). One’s ability to look deeper into personal weaknesses and mistakes is important, too. That, however, does not mean that these mistakes and weaknesses must keep individuals from following the little way to the Holy Spirit and God. St. Therese herself spent much time pondering over her own weaknesses, including her distraction at prayer, and she never forgot that “The Lord knows our weakness, that he is mindful that we are but dust and ashes” (EWTN, 2009). Unable to combat her habit to fall asleep during her prayers, Therese ultimately recognized that God loves every human in every state, like parents love their children no matter whether asleep or awake (Society of the Little Flower, 2010).

I think that the image of St. Therese exemplifies a unique combination of spirituality and sanctity. That St. Therese did not always follow the conventional church dogma does not reduce her contribution to the modern understanding of religiosity and spirituality. I feel that one of the most important things Therese wanted to teach us is about our littleness in this world. We must never forget that we represent only a tiny share of the processes and phenomena that regular occur in the world we live. This littleness is the key to spiritual self-fulfillment. It is the key to inner moral and spiritual stability and balance. It is the basic prerequisite for developing other virtues, including patience, humility, faith, hope, and respect. These, even if they are not always discussed in religious writings, lay the foundation for leading a well-balanced and spiritually self-fulfilling life.

Conclusion

Therese of Lisieux is fairly regarded as one of the most prominent and recognizable figures in the history of Catholicism. Born in 1873, Therese had to change the vision and the mission of the Catholic religion: as a woman, she was able to reduce the sense of desolation and disappointment in the Catholic majority in France and to revive the spirit of God in her followers. The significance of St. Therese’s spiritual contribution is difficult to underestimate. Her Little Way exemplifies a combination of humility, hope, faith, and fortitude. She teaches her followers the value of spirituality and self-sacrifice. This vision of littleness compared with the religious grander of God is the necessary prerequisite for living a well-balanced and spiritually self-fulfilling life.

References

Catholic Online. (2009). Saint Therese of Lisieux. Catholic Online. Retrieved from http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=105

EWTN. (2009). St. Therese on Prayer. Global Catholic Network. Retrieved from http://www.ewtn.com/therese/readings/readng6.htm

Frohlich, M. (2000). Desolation and doctrine of Therese of Lisieux. Theological Studies, 61 (2), 261-279.

Jones, T.E. (2009). Saint Therese of Lisieux. Retrieved from http://saints.sqpn.com/sainttherese-of-lisieux/

Martin, T. (of Lisieux). (2005). The story of a soul: The autobiography of St. Therese of  Lisieux with additional writings and sayings of St. Therese. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16772/pg16772.html

Pope, B. (1988). A heroine without heroics: The Little Flower of Jesus and her times. Church History, 57(1), 46-60.

Society of the Little Flower. (2010). Therese’s life at Lisieux Carmel. Society of the Little Flower. Retrieved from http://www.littleflower.org/abouttherese/learn/lisieuxCarmel.asp

USCCB. (2010). Catechism of the Catholic Church. Article 7: The virtues. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved from http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect1chpt1art7.shtml