‘The democrat of holiness’
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux’s feast day is on Wednesday 1 October. She was born in Alençon France in1873, and died 24 years later. But despite her short life, she has become one of the best known and best loved saints. Her autobiography Story of a Soul has had a profound influence on the Christian spirituality of the 20th and 21st century.
The French Carmelite nun was renowned for her ‘little way’ – doing small things with great love. Her life story reveals a young woman who had a profound trust in the compassionate love of God that grew out of deep inner turmoil and emotional pain. Her writings continue to inspire people worldwide to live lives of prayer and service in simple ways.
Thérèse was canonized in 1925 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997, the centenary year of her death.
In this interview from our RNN Archives » Miriam Gormally speaks with the late Fr Eugene McCaffrey OCD who conducted a retreat for the feast of St Thérèse in 2012. Miriam begins their conversation suggesting that St Thérèse wasn’t always so well liked, with people being put off by the rather ‘saccharine’ portrayal of her in some church circles.
