Feast: October 3 · Patroness of the missions
Thérèse Martin, the youngest daughter of the saintly Louis and Zélie Martin, entered theCarmelite convent of Lisieux at only fifteen, with special permission she had begged for inperson from Pope Leo XIII. She never left the cloister, never did anything that seemedremarkable, and died of tuberculosis in 1897 at the age of twenty-four. Yet she becameone of the most beloved saints in the history of the Church.
Her autobiography, Story of a Soul, revealed her “Little Way”: doing small things with greatlove, trusting God like a child trusts her father. “I will spend my heaven doing good uponearth,” she promised, and she said she would let fall a shower of roses. The miracles thatfollowed were so numerous that she was canonized in 1925, and in 1927 Pope Pius XInamed this cloistered nun patroness of the missions, alongside St. Francis Xavier. Thérèseshows that sanctity is within reach of every one of us, right where we are.