Thérèse of Lisieux, photograph (c. 1888), unknown photographer · public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Her story

The youngest daughter of a devout family in Normandy, Thérèse entered the Carmel of Lisieux at just 15 and died of tuberculosis at 24. Her autobiography, Story of a Soul, describing her "Little Way" of doing small things with great love, became one of the most-read spiritual books of the 20th century.

Path to sainthood

Beatified on 29 April 1923 and canonised on 17 May 1925, both by Pope Pius XI. John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church in 1997.

Patronages

Missions (named by Pius XI on 14 December 1927, alongside St Francis Xavier, though she never left her convent), florists, France (secondary patron), and people with tuberculosis.

Trivia

• At 14 she broke protocol during a papal audience and asked Pope Leo XIII in person for permission to enter Carmel early.
• Her parents, Louis and Zélie Martin, were canonised together by Pope Francis on 18 October 2015, the first married couple canonised in the same ceremony.
• She promised to "spend my heaven doing good on earth" and to let fall "a shower of roses". Roses are her symbol.

Sources

• Vatican News: St Thérèse of the Child Jesus
• Britannica: St Thérèse of Lisieux
• AP: Pope canonizes first married couple in modern times
• Vatican: John Paul II, Divini Amoris Scientia (1997)

Fact-checked on October 15, 2026 against New Advent (Catholic Encyclopedia), Vatican documents and news reports. Britannica links are given for further reading. Feast days follow the General Roman Calendar.

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