Pope recommends 'little way' of St. Therese

April 06, 2011

At his weekly public audience on April 6, Pope Benedict XVI continued his series of talks on the Doctors of the Church, speaking about the enormous influence of St. Therese of Lisieux (1873- 1897).

Although she lived only 24 years, “a very simple and hidden life,” St. Therese became one of the most beloved saints of the Catholic Church because of her writings, with “illuminated all the Church with her profound spiritual doctrine,” the Pope said. In proclaiming her a Doctor of the Church, in 1997, Pope John Paul II referred to St. Therese as “an expert in the science of love.”

The key to the spirituality of St. Therese, the Pope told the crowd of 10,000 in St. Peter’s Square, was “living the greatest love in the littlest things of daily life.” Her love of God, Pope Benedict said, was constant and strong, “like the continued breathing of the soul.” And her last words—“My Lord, I love you!”—expressed the fundamental reality that is “at the center of all her writings.”

 

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Further information:

• St. Therese of Lisieux and the Little Way (VIS)