Thérèse of Lisieux

Thérèse of Lisieux ( January 2, 1873 in Alençon, France, † September 30, 1897 in Lisieux, France) was a nun in the Order of Discalced Carmelites. It was in 1925 by Pius XI. and canonized by Pope John Paul II Doctor of the Church in 1997.

Life

Thérèse was born as the youngest of nine children of Louis and Zelie Martin as Marie -Françoise -Thérèse Martin. Even as a fifteen- year-old she wanted support from her family, to enter the Carmelites, their membership applications were rejected several times, partly because of their young age. Only after Bishop of Bayeux Hugonin had granted a dispensation, she followed her sisters Pauline and Marie in the Carmel of Lisieux. As a religious name she chose Thérèse de l' enfant Jesus ( Therese of the Child Jesus) on January 10, 1889 Therese added this yet et de la Sainte Face ( and the Holy Face ) are added. On June 9, 1895 at the Holy Mass for Trinity Fest, she consecrated herself to the merciful love of God.

Thérèse saw her life as a way of devotion to God and their fellow human beings, who are just in the small gestures of everyday life outside ( their so-called " little way " of love). My own life was unobtrusive, the world hardly noticed the existence of a live in strict enclosure nun. After her death, her fame spread as one of the greatest saints, as countless people their intercession attributed prayers. Your existence believes that they will spend the heaven in doing good for the earth, promotes a dynamic and vital conception of the eternal destiny of man ( " After my death I will let it rain roses "). She has updated the idea of ​​divine sonship in a way that many millions of people has had a lasting fascination. Pope Pius XI. called it " the star " of his pontificate.

Her life story, which she wrote on the orders of their prioress, under the title " Story of a Soul " (L' histoire d'une âme ) published two years after her death and is the most widely read after the Bible spiritual book in the French language at all.

In 1897 she died, just 24 years old, after a violent suffering from tuberculosis. Her last words were: " My God, I love you!"

Doctor of the Church

Already in 1923 Thérèse of Liseux was beatified and on 17 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI. canonized. Pope Pius XI. She explained on December 14, 1927 alongside Franz Xaver also patron of the universal mission. The Catholic Church celebrates their Memorial Day on October 1. On October 19, 1997 Therese of Lisieux was elevated by Pope John Paul II next to Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Avila Doctor of the Church. To distinguish them from Teresa of Ávila, this often referred to as the "great St. Teresa " and Therese of Lisieux as the "little Saint Teresa ".

The St. Therese in Lisieux basilica dedicated target of two million pilgrims annually. Since the 1990s, is a small shrine of St. Teresa on a trip around the world, so that the people to whom it is not possible to travel to Lisieux, have the opportunity to worship.

19 October 2008 her parents Louis and Zelie Martin in the Basilica of St were. Therese beatified in Lisieux.

Therese of Lisieux held compassion for the one attribute of God, which is consistent with the human poverty. Your desire to love even the " sinner " (which was revolutionary for its time), it might be fulfilled in this way by God.

The German theologian Andreas Wollbold sees Therese of Liseux a highly talented, bold woman who was ahead of her time. Confident she had been to have developed its own teaching: "It is said of her that she had put in place of the image of the just God that the merciful Father, the place of performance the blind trust, and the place of sin, repentance, pursuit of perfection, the simple self- loving Let. If that were so would be resurrected with their quietism, which is a powerful, widely used in the late 17th century flow of a mysticism without asceticism and self-effort. " It initiated after Wollbold a turn in the spirituality that an intense Sacred Heart devotion gave more space than the usual at that time extended penance.

Patrozinien

In Vienna is the dedicated to her parish and pilgrimage church of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus in Innsbruck Theresa Church in Berlin, the Church of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus in Stuttgart- Weilimdorf the Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus in Zurich - Friesenberg the church of St. Theresia.

Works

• Even Biographical writings. John -Verlag Einsiedeln, Freiburg 2003, 15th Edition, ISBN 978-3-89411-280-6.
• I go into life. Recent discussions of the Saint of Lisieux. Johannes Verlag people village people village in 1998, 5th edition, ISBN 3-7794-0718-3.

Cinematic reception

Life Therese was filmed several times:

• Story of a Soul, original: Proces du Vatican ( 1951). With France Descaut, directed by André Haguet.
• Thérèse (1986). With Catherine Mouchet, directed by Alain Cavalier. The film won several César Awards in 1987, including Best Picture.
• Thérèse: The Story of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux ( 2004). With Lindsay Younce, Director Leonardo Defilippis.