For more than one hundred years, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, wey people still know as “Di Small Flower,” don touch di mind and heart of people wey nobody fit count. Her simple and pure heart dey burn with deep love for our Lord, and dat love pour enter many people life. Every day, she dey inspire people wey know her, and she still dey inspire people wey read her story.
Dem born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin on January 2, 1873 for Rue Saint-Blaise, Alençon, France. Her mama na Marie-Azélie Guérin (Zélie), and her papa na Louis Martin, wey dey make and sell jewellery and dey make watch. Her mama, wey often dey call Thérèse her “small angel,” die from breast cancer just few months before Thérèse fifth birthday. But those first years wey she spend with her mama touch Thérèse life so deeply dat, for many ways, her mama remain with her, for her heart and mind, throughout her life. Di love wey mama and daughter share na love wey no get end.
Her papa, Louis Martin, wey dey call Thérèse his “small queen,” dey show her his deep love every day, and she dey look up to am as her “king.” When Thérèse be pikin, she dey spend hours with her papa as e dey work for garden, because she want dey near am as often as she fit. She dey regularly follow am for di walk wey e dey take every day, and dem always dey visit di Blessed Sacrament for di convent wey dey nearby for Lisieux. She love to dey with am, and for di way e dey embrace her as papa, she dey experience di satisfaction wey God love dey give. When Louis reach sixty-six years, stroke strike am two times, and dis make part of im body no fit move again. E spend di next three years for hospital, and di last two years of im life for house, where im family dey care for am. Na im daughters Céline and Léonie mainly dey care for am for house until June 24, 1893, when Léonie enter di Visitation Convent for Caen, as she try religious life for di second time. For di last year of im life, Céline faithfully care for their papa with help from their uncle, one housemaid and one male assistant, until e die on July 29, 1894.
Thérèse get four sisters wey still dey alive and four brothers and sisters wey die when dem still small (three die as babies and Hélène die when she be five years). All her sisters wey still dey alive enter religious life, and three of dem enter di same Carmelite convent for Lisieux as Thérèse. Her sisters wey still dey alive na:
- Marie, wey become Carmelite for Lisieux and take di name Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart.
- Pauline, wey become Mother Agnes of Jesus for di Carmelite convent for Lisieux.
- Léonie, wey become Sister Françoise-Thérèse, one Visitandine sister for Caen. Dem dey currently study di holy virtues wey she live by, to see whether dem fit canonize her for future.
- Céline, wey still become Carmelite for Lisieux and take di name Sister Geneviève of the Holy Face.
Di relationship wey Thérèse get with her sisters be like di one wey brothers and sisters normally get, but e still get something special about am. Di girls dey play together and sometimes dem dey fight one another. But di deep love and affection wey dem get for one another transform wetin for otherwise be ordinary relationship between sisters. Thérèse love her sisters well-well and love to dey with dem, and dem too love her di same way.
Thérèse whole family get tender love and affection for one another, and dis love no dey shake. Their home truly be “school of love,” and every single day for their home, dem dey learn di lessons of love and live by dem. For many ways, na first and mainly through di love wey Thérèse experience inside her family she learn about God love.
Just before her fifteenth birthday, after she don overcome many obstacles, Thérèse receive permission from di Bishop of Bayeux make dem accept her into di Carmelite convent. She officially enter as postulant on April 9, 1888, when she be fifteen years. She embrace religious life and live am with zeal and devotion. She take her temporary vows on January 10, 1889 and her final vows on September 24, 1890. For di next seven years, Sister Thérèse live di hidden and holy life of Carmelite nun.
Sister Thérèse begin write di story of her own life when she be twenty-one years, just three years before she go die. She do dis in obedience to her sister Pauline, wey dem don recently elect as Mother Superior, Mother Agnes of Jesus. Dis story of her own life, Di Story of One Soul, show di beauty and depth of her family life, give beautiful understanding of her vocation as Carmelite nun, and show how she devote herself to Jesus, as she dey long to dey with Am forever for Heaven, even from when she still be very small pikin.
The first manuscript wey dey make up Story of One Soul get the things wey Sister Thérèse remember from when e still be pikin, and from im first years as Reverend Sister. When e be twenty-three years old, Sister Thérèse catch tuberculosis and suffer well-well for more than one year. Na during this time Sister Thérèse add two more manuscripts to the story of im own life wey e write. E write one for im sister Marie, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, wey want hear more about Sister Thérèse spiritual life (wey Chapter 10 of this book talk about). The last manuscript explain im life as Reverend Sister in detail, and e write am in obedience to Mother Marie de Gonzague, as Sister Agnes of Jesus request (wey Chapter 9 of this book talk about). E write this last manuscript during the last year of im life, after dem discover say e don catch tuberculosis. E no finish this manuscript because im health dey get worse, but im sister, Sister Agnes of Jesus, keep notebook wey record the things wey happen for Sister Thérèse last months in detail. Dem don print this one as separate book wey dem call Im Last Conversations. Another one wey dey available as printed book na Letters of Sister Thérèse of Lisieux, and dem first publish plenty of the letters under the title General Letters. Lastly, Sister Thérèse really love to write poems, prayers and plays, and dem don publish plenty of them for different formats.
Sister Thérèse die on September 30, 1897, with three of the Martin sisters and all im fellow religious Sisters around am for the Carmelite convent for Lisieux. Im last words na, “Oh!… I love Am!… My God, I…love…You!”
One Family of Saints
As we don talk before, Thérèse mama, Zélie, die when Thérèse be only four years old. Im papa, Louis, die when Sister Thérèse be twenty-one years old, just three years before Sister Thérèse too die. Pope Francis declare both Louis and im wife Zélie as Saints. This one make them the first husband and wife wey dem declare as Saints together, and the first mama and papa wey dem declare as Saints after dem don already declare their pikin as Saint.
For 1893, Saint Thérèse sister Léonie enter the Monastery of the Visitation for Caen and take the name Sister Françoise-Thérèse. Na only am among the five sisters no become Carmelite for Lisieux. Sister Françoise-Thérèse die for 1941, and on January 24, 2015, dem open diocesan inquiry to look into whether im life show the holiness of a saint. Because of this, dem now dey call am “The Servant of God, Léonie Martin.” One day, e fit receive the glorious titles of “Blessed” and “Saint,” like im sister and im papa and mama.
Even though dem never open the cause for beatification for any of Saint Thérèse other sisters, doubt hardly dey say these sisters na true servants of God wey deep holiness fill their lives. Dem be holy family. Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart die of tuberculosis for 1905. Mother Agnes of Jesus (Pauline) die on July 28, 1951, and the last Martin sister, Sister Geneviève of the Holy Face (Céline), die on February 25, 1959.
Wetin This Book Cover
This book get 99 short lessons, reflections and prayers from Saint Thérèse life. The lessons stand on Thérèse own words as e share im faith and wetin dey im heart for the pages of the three manuscripts of the story of im own life wey e write: Story of One Soul. Each reflection wey follow dey try bring out one of im countless virtues, so that we fit enjoy the “sweet smell” of this precious little flower of God and put the lesson to work for the reader everyday life. The prayer wey end each lesson no be just something to read; dem write am make you pray am. You fit find am helpful to pray that prayer slowly, as you dey think deeply about am, for the end of each lesson. You fit even come back to that prayer for the end of each day, especially the prayers wey concern your life pass.
E fit help you to use this book for daily reflection, as you dey read one lesson each day. If you do like this, you go fit think deeply about one lesson from im holy life at a time, so that the sweetness of im love and the depth of im life go enter your heart well. But you fit still find am just as helpful to read several lessons at once.
Also, this book no be book wey dem mean make you “read only once.” Instead, the lessons wey we learn from Saint Thérèse life na lessons wey good make we continue to take to heart throughout our life. So, the reflection and prayer after each lesson make this book something wey fit help us examine our own life and pray every day throughout our life. For people wey Saint Thérèse life especially dey inspire, e go help them to come back to this book again and again. Una wey be parents fit also find say St. Thérèse lessons go help una train una children. As una dey tell the stories of Little Thérèse, the stories go inspire una children and challenge them to grow as dem dey grow older and mature for their own life of faith.
Chapter One – The Earliest Things Wey I Remember
E Dey Available as eBook and Paperback!
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