Obstacles in the Journey to Carmel - St Therese

We all know God answers all our prayers.  Sometimes He says, "Yes" promptly.  Sometimes He says, "No, you can handle it".  Sometimes He says, "Wait.  I have something better."

This happened to Therese too.  She has an ardent love to serve Jesus and want to be his Spouse.  However, she encountered so many difficulties before she finally achieve her goal.

Her sister, Pauline encouraged her but not Marie, for she thought Therese is too young.  Therese doubted herself as she is aware that Celine also wanted to be a nun and hence, as the elder sister, she should be given the opportunity first.  Anyway, Celine allowed Therese to leave for Carmel first.

Then, Therese though happy, was struggling how and when to request for her father's permission.  She chose the feast of Pentecost to speak to her father.  Her father was sad but he agreed to give his Little Queen to Jesus.

More challenges came.  Therese's uncle did not consented as he felt it was wrong for a child so young to embrace the tough life in Carmel.  However, God touched him and he, with much affection said to Therese, "Go in peace, my dear child, you are a privileged little flower which our Lord wishes to gather.  I will put no obstacle in your way."

The Lord put Therese to the test.  More obstacles came her way.
- The Superior of Carmelites would only allow her entrance at the age of 21
- The Vicar-General, Father Recerony
- The Bishop at Bayeux

When all failed, Therese's father brought his 2 daughters on a pilgrimage to Rome, with the aim to speak to the Pope, at that time Pope Leo XIII.

Although no one was allowed to speak to the Pope, Therese has gained enough courage to seek permission to enter Carmel at the age of 15.  When she was told to do as the Superiors decide, she went on to persuade the Pope to say yes, saying, "Holy Father, if only you say 'yes', everyone else would agree."

The Pope gave his final answer, much to Therese's frustration, "You will enter if it is God's Will".

All these obstacles made Therese grew stronger in faith. She told the Child Jesus to treat her like a toy, not one that is precious and untouchable but like a ball which He can throw to the ground, kick about, pierced, left in the corner, rolled it away, and pressed to His heart as He wished.

She continued to pray fervently and used the miracles in the bible to console herself.  The miracles taught us that we will be put to trials before the reward is given.

After all the trials, finally Therese was given permission to enter Carmel.  However, the door will only be opened to her after Lent.  Though sad, the delay was good for her as she learned to be more serious in life and grow in humility and other virtues.

~ Chapter 5&6 ~ The Story of A Soul

Pranzini - Therese's 1st Spiritual Child

After the miraculous conversion, Therese received a message to bring souls (sinners) to Jesus. A picture showing a pierced and bleeding hand of Jesus revealed to her that she was to stand at the foot of the cross to receive the precious blood and give it to souls.

It is recorded in The Story of a Soul (pg 51), "From that day the cry of my dying Saviour - 'I thirst!' - sounded incessantly in my heart, and kindled therein a burning zeal hitherto unknown to me. My one desire was to give my Beloved to drink; I felt myself consumed with thirst for souls, and I longed at any cost to snatch sinners from the everlasting flames of hell."


Therese's first spiritual child was Pranzini, a notorious murderer who was the talk of the town at the time.  He was to be sentenced to death for several murders and has yet to repent.

Therese's prayed for his repentance saying, "My God, I am quite sure that Thou wilt pardon this unhappy Pranzini. I should think so if he did not confess his sins or give any sign of sorrow, because I have such confidence in Thy unbounded Mercy; but this is my first sinner, and therefore I beg for just a sign of repentance to reassure me."

Indeed, her prayer again was answered as the newspaper reported a day after the execution that "Pranzini had mounted the scaffold without confessing or receive absolution, and the executioners were already dragging him towards the fatal block, when all at once, apparently in answer to a sudden inspiration, he (Pranzini) turned round, seized the crucifix which the Priest was offering to him, and kissed Our Lord's Sacred Wounds three times."

What a beautiful answer! After receiving this grace, Therese's thirst for the salvation of souls grew more and more.

Therese - the miraculous transformation

Therese has a strong desire to give herself to the Lord but she often failed by her own actions and imperfections.  She is sensitive and emotional and will burst into tears at every small little things that come her way.

Therese was asking for a small miracle, one that would make her strong to pursue her dreams to be a Carmelite nun.  Her prayers were heard and on Christmas Day, 1886, God revealed to her

"On that blessed night the sweet infant Jesus, scarce an hour old, filled the darkness of my soul with floods of light. By becoming weak and little, for love of me, He made me strong and brave; He put His own weapons into my hands, so that I may went from victory to victory, beginning if I may say so, 'to run as a giant'.  The fountain of my tears was dried up, and from that time they flowed neither easily nor often." ~ The Story of a Soul (Chapter 5: Vocation of Therese)


From that moment on, she has re-gained her strength of mind, her self-esteem which she has lost at the age of 4 and half.

Why God does not give equal glory to all the elect in Heaven?

Extracted from Chapter 2  A Catholic Household, The Story of the Soul

One day, I (Therese) expressed (to Pauline) surprise that God does not give an equal amount of glory to all the elect in Heaven - I was afraid that they would not all be quite happy.  She sent me to fetch Papa's big tumbler, and put it beside my tiny thimble, then, filling both with water, she asked me which seemed the fuller.  I replied that one was as full as the other - it was impossible to pour more water into either of them, for they could not hold it.  In this way, Pauline made it clear to me that in Heaven the least of the Blessed does not envy the happiness of the greatest; and so, by bringing the highest mysteries down to the level of my understanding, she gave my soul the food it needed.

The Little Flower - Why not rose or lily?

He (Our Lord) showed me the book of nature, and I (St Therese) understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy.  I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would lose its springtide beauty, and the fields would no longer be enamelled with lovely hues.  And so it is in the world of souls, Our Lord's living garden.  He has been pleased to create great Saints who may be compared to the lily and the rose, but He has also created lesser ones, who must be content to be daisies or simple violets flowering at His feet, and whose mission is to gladden His Divine Eyes when he deigns to look down on them.  And more gladly they do His Will the greater is their perfection.

~ extracted from Chapter 1: Earliest Childhood,  St Therese of Lisieux ~ The Story of the Soul

St Therese of Lisieux

I have been reading the "Little Flower", a book about the life of St Therese of Lisieux and her "little ways". It is really amazing. Her love of God and for God, her offerings and sacrifices, prayers and ultimately, her FAITH! How I wished that I had read it at the age of 10 or 12.

Therese was the youngest child of nine children born to Louis and Zelie Martin. Four of the children was called by the Lord at a very young age. She lost her mother at the age of 4 and she grew up under the care of her sisters and father. She is nicknamed the Little Queen by her father.

At a very tender age, she has already decided to serve the Lord as a Carmelite nun and that she wanted to be a saint. Granted the permission, she entered the convent in Lisieux at the age of 15 to give her whole life to God. Her religious name is Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Her devotion to God was very simple and childhood like. Every little thing she does was a manifestation of her love for God and others.

She was called by the Lord on 30 September 1897, at the age of 24, after a long fight with tuberculosis. Her last words were, "My God, I love You".

The Feast of St Therese of Lisieux, a.k.a. The Little Flower is celebrated on October 1st each year.

Important dates in the Life of St Therese of Lisieux
Birthday - January 2, 1873
Baptism - January 4, 1873
Death of her Mother, Zelie Guerin - August 28, 1877
Pauline, her sister, enters Carmel - October 2, 1882
Our Lady's Smile; Therese Healing - May 13, 1883
First Communion - May 8, 1884
Confirmation - June 14, 1884
Christmas Conversion - December 25, 1886
Audience with Pope Leo XIII - November 20, 1887
Entry into Carmel - April 9, 1888
Profession of Vows - September 8, 1890
Death of her Father, Louis Martin - July 29, 1894
Her Death, Entry into Heaven - September 30, 1897
Her autobiography "Story of a Soul" is published - September 30, 1898
Cause of Beatification Introduced at Rome - June 10, 1914
Beatification - April 29, 1923
Canonization - May 17, 1925
Declared Doctor of the Church - October 19, 1997