7 Inspiring Quotes from St. Therese de Lisieux

Born Marie Francoise Therese Martin in 1873 to Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, Saint Therese de Lisieux (also referred to as St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face) is affectionately called the Little Flower. In her autobiography, which is included in the book ‘The Story of a Soul,” she writes “The only way I have of proving my love is to strew flowers before Thee – that is to say, I will let no tiny sacrifice pass, no look, no word. I wish to profit by the smallest actions, and to do them for Love. I wish to suffer for Love’s sake, and for Love’s sake even to rejoice; thus shall I strew flowers.”

A doctor of the Church, the saint’s “little way” of love and Christian spirituality encourages people to love and serve God with a childlike trust in His eternal goodness. It has been a big inspiration to many. Here are seven quotes from St. Therese de Lisieux, who’s Feast day is October 1, that can inspire such things as faith, love and forgiveness.

Faith

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At the beginning of her autobiography, St. Therese de Lisieux affectionately addresses her Prioress at Lisieux, who asked her to write the story of her life. A cloistered Carmelite nun in Lisieux, France from the age of 15 until she passed away at 24 from tuberculosis, the saint’s unshakable faith was present since she was a toddler. She writes “It is to you, dear Mother, that I am about to confide the story of my soul. When you asked me to write it, I feared the task might unsettle me, but since then Our Lord has deigned to make me understand that by simple obedience I shall please Him best. I begin therefore to sing what must be my eternal song: ‘the Mercies of the Lord.’”

Peace

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That faith and trust also helped her to find peace with those around her and with her circumstances. In her autobiography, she writes about two occasions where she chose to be at peace, rather than to give in to her initial annoyance with fellow nuns. One incident involved a nun who regularly fidgeted and made an irritating noise during meditation. Although she wanted to let the nun know, she eventually chose to offer the noise to the Lord as a type of musical praise. She found that same peace when another nun continuously splashed her face (accidentally) with dirty water while they were doing laundry. Instead of wiping her face, the saint learned to delight in the humility.

Every sacrifice she made to keep the peace was for Jesus. She once said “Let us not be justices of the peace, but angels of peace.“

Contemplation

Once, when talking with her fellow nuns, she shared with them her contemplation on the Holy Family. “What does me a lot of good when I think of the Holy Family is to imagine a life that was very ordinary,” she said. “It wasn’t everything that they have told us or imagined. For example, that the child Jesus, after having formed some birds out of clay, breathed upon them and gave them life. Ah! No! Little Jesus didn’t perform useless miracles like that, even to please His Mother. Why weren’t they transported into Egypt by a miracle which would have been necessary and so easy for God? In the twinkling of an eye, they could have been brought there. No, everything in their life was done just as in our own.”

Follow Her Inspiring Messages

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It’s been written that St. Therese de Lisieux never refused Jesus anything from the time she was three years old. In this pure love for Jesus, she also appreciates all the souls she inspires. “He showed me the book of nature, and I 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 simplicity of the daisy,” she wrote. “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.”