Our Class Saint

Therese Martin was the youngest of nine children and was born on 2nd January 1873 in France. Therese's mother died when she was 4 years old. At the age of 14, on Christmas Eve in 1886, Therese had a conversion that transformed her life.

At 15, she entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux to give her whole life to God. Even in times of doubt and fear, she remained faithful to God. After a long struggle with tuberculosis, she died on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. Her last words were the story of her life: "My God, I love You!"

She loved flowers and saw herself as the "little flower of Jesus," who gave glory to God by just being her beautiful little self among all the other flowers in God's garden. Because of this beautiful analogy, the title "little flower" remained with St. Therese.

Her inspiration and powerful presence from heaven touched many people very quickly. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 17, 1925. Had she lived, she would have been only 52 years old when she was declared a Saint.

https://www.littleflower.org/therese/