Celebrate the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux!

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St. Thérèse of Lisieux

At the age of 15, St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) dreamed of entering the Carmelite order of nuns, even though it was in conflict with ecclesiastical norms to do so at such a young age. St. Thérèse is known as the Little Flower, but she had a will of steel. When the superior of the Carmelite convent refused to take Thérèse because she was so young, the formerly shy little girl went to the bishop. When the bishop also said no, she decided to go over his head, as well.

Her father and sister took her on a pilgrimage to Rome to try to get her mind off this crazy idea. Thérèse loved Rome, and at her urging, they went for an audience with the Pope. They had been forbidden to speak to him, but that didn't stop Thérèse. As soon as she got near him, she begged that he let her enter the Carmelite convent. She had to be carried out by two of the guards!

But the Vicar General who had seen her courage was impressed and soon Thérèse was admitted to the Carmelite convent that her sisters Pauline and Marie had already joined. 1

In addition to the documented stories about her iron will, there is also a good deal of written evidence that St. Thérèse felt called by God to the priestly ministry.

Because the Church would not test her call, she prayed for death at a young age, so she could celebrate in heaven at the age men could celebrate the Eucharist on earth. Imagining Jesus as a thief who would come to steal her, she told her sister Pauline, “He knows well enough He will come to steal me.”

“At what age?” Pauline asked.

“At 24," Thérèse responded. "Don’t you see that God is going to take me at an age when I would not have had the time to become a priest. If I had been able to become a priest, it would have been in this month of June, at this ordination that I would have received holy orders. So in order that I may regret nothing, God is allowing me to be sick; I wouldn’t have been able to present myself for ordination, and I would have died before having exercised my ministry.” 2

Her sister Celine Martin testified under oath in 1910, “The sacrifice of not being able to be a priest was something she always felt deeply. During her illness, whenever we were cutting her hair she would ask for a tonsure, and then joyfully feel it with her hand.”

In a letter to her sister Marie in 1896, Thérèse described finding her vocation: “I feel in me the vocation of the PRIEST. With what love, O Jesus, I would carry you in my hands when, at my voice, You would come down from heaven. And with what love would I give you to souls! But alas! While desiring to be a Priest, I admire and envy the humility of St. Francis of Assisi and I feel the vocation of imitating him in refusing the sublime dignity of the Priesthood.” 3

There is something strong, original and irrepressible in St. Thérèse, a sharpness, a splendidly incurable independence of mind which transcended her meager education, and which even in her sickness and mortal agony did not desert her. She might be seen, paradoxically, as a model for the power, endurance, and resourcefulness of women, a power which, even when intolerably constricted, crushed and punished by circumstances, reasserts itself with the tenacity of weed (or little flower) growing on a wall. 4

In the letter to her sister Marie, addressed in part to Jesus, we see the depth of her longing for something more:

“Ah! My Jesus, pardon me if I am unreasonable in wishing to express my desires and longing which reach even into infinity. Pardon me and heal my soul by giving her what she longs for so much!

“To be your Spouse, to be a Carmelite, and by my union with You to be the Mother of souls, should this not suffice me? And yet it is not so… I feel the vocation of the warrior, the priest, the apostle, the doctor, the martyr.” 5

References:

1 http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=105

2 Clarke, Last Conversations, p.260.

3 Patricia O’Connor, In Search of Therese (Wilmington: Michael Glazier, 1987), p.125

4 Monica Furlong, Therese of Lisieux (New York: Pantheon Books, 1987), p.1.

5 Therese Martin, Story of a Soul, translated by John Clarke, O.C.D. (Washington Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1975), p. 193.

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  Action Alerts

In honor of her feast day in October 1, WOC suggests the following actions to advocate women's ordination into a renewing priestly ministry.

1. Add to our Directory of Catholic Women Ministers

Let us know about Catholic women ministers, including women priests. We will contact her to obtain permission to publicize her name and a description of her ministry on our website’s national directory, which you can view here.

2. Send a letter to the editor responding to recent news about women’s ordination (see below) -- use the sample letter here.

3. Offer a prayer

4. Send a letter to your parish council to request a meeting -- use the sample letter here

Set up a meeting with your parish council to discuss ways to distribute information about St. Thérèse. Ask for permission to have a booth outside church after Mass to talk about how to advance women’s role in the Church. Contact the WOC office for materials in English and Spanish. Call (703) 352-1006 or email nvazquez@womensordination.org

5. Help increase WOC's influence and impact

Send us the contact information of a person at a university, seminary or women’s studies department that you know would like to receive WOC’s quarterly newsletter: NewWomen, NewChurch.

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Women's Ordination News

1. Higher Calling: A woman is ordained to the Catholic priesthood by Karen Springen in Newsweek, a web exclusive on Sept 13, 2007

2. Interview: Theologian and Activist Mary Hunt by Rosemary Ganley in The Social Edge

3. Catholic Women Press their Fitness for Priesthood by Claire Bushney in Women's Enews

4. "Creativity at the grass roots: Women-Church Convergence models religious community" by Rosemary Ruether in National Catholic Reporter (email WOC for copy of article)

Respond to these articles using Sample Letters to the Editor

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*** This ACTION ALERT email is from the Women's Ordination Conference. Send comments, e-mail address changes, or information for future ACTION ALERTS to Nidza Vazquez, at nvazquez@womensordination.org ***

*** Founded in 1975, Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) is the oldest and largest national organization working solely for women to be ordained as deacons, priests and bishops into a renewing Catholic Church. For more information about WOC and how to become a WOC member, click here. ***

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