Saint Therese - The Little Flower

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Therese, the Little Flower. Saint Therese was the ninth child of Louis Joseph Martin and Zelie. She was born in the year 1873 in Alecon, France. Her parents were devout Catholics who had aspired to religious life but later chose the vocation of marriage. Being the ninth child in the family she was constantly surrounded with affection from her older siblings and her parents. Her father used to call her "The Little Queen". 
The love and care of her family made Therese become overly sensitive and needy. Her mother died at the young age of 45 when Therese was only four years old. Her sisters Marie and Pauline cared for her after that. This left a big impact on Therese's personality and she was more melancholic than before. 
It was not until she was thirteen that an incident that happened during a Christmas season changed her and made her stronger. The family had come back from midnight mass and were exhausted but Therese was looking for her presents and her father commented that this would be the last year she receives presents, this caused sensitive Therese to run upstairs to her room sobbing. However, soon she was completely changed in an instant and became indifferent to such frivolous matters. This change was so clear that she wrote it in her autobiography which she had titled, "The story of the springtime of a little white flower". She often called herself the Little Flower out of humility and love for God. Later the title was changed to "The story of a soul". 
Saint Therese had another special experience when she was very ill as a child and was so delirious and sick for several weeks. One day the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary came alive and smiled down at her. In that very instant she was completely healed and became well again. 
At the age of fifteen she entered Carmel to become a cloistered sister. Her older sisters had already joined Carmel and she was eager to as well. During her time in Carmel she had several physical ailments and interior sufferings. At the young age of twenty-four after being in Carmel for only nine years she died of tuberculosis. Her last words were, "God, I love you!".
Saint Therese's Little way spirituality, was simply to place oneself completely in the arms of Jesus so he can lift us up to high degrees of holiness rather than for us to strive for it with our own effort. Her life was a reflection of God's love and mercy. Saint Therese loved to suffer for Jesus and she found joy in suffering which is a gift that is given to very few souls. Here is an excerpt from her poem, "My Joy and My Peace":
When clouds the sunny skies o'ercast
And weary grows my heart the while,
My joy it is that joy is past,
And gone my Lord's consoling smile
Saint Therese pray for us and may our children who are our "Little Queens" emulate the virtues of the Little Flower!