You’ve probably heard me mention my love for Therese of Lisieux and her “little way” of humility and sacred living. Well our church’s high school group is doing a series on biographical sketches of some of Christianity’s greats, I have have the privilege (as the token woman 🙂 of teaching on Therese of Lisieux next Wednesday. I’ve only scratched the surface of her character, but I’m realizing her life is a gold mine of treasure, especially with regard to the sacredness of the mundane. She lived it!
Her life is one of suffering and tragedy and mundane tasks. Her mother died when she was four-years-old, and at nine she already wanted to be a Carmelite nun. After being rejected countless times because of her age, she finally was allowed to join the convent at Lisieux when she was 15. At 15 her maturity and wisdom was amazing, and yet all was shrouded in a childlike innocence and faith that earned her the knickname the “little flower of Jesus”.
Therese’ famous “little way” meant using every single ordinary task and assignment in her daily life as an opportunity to manifest her love for God and for others. She showed no favoritism, took no part in gossip, despised no menial task. She embraced the mundane things of life as a means for demonstrated her love for her Savior. Her truly extraodinary life was filled with ordinary things.
This perspective of hers changed the way she viewed everything, especially suffering. A life wrought with sorrow, at the young age of 21 her health began to steeply decline. In 1896, at 23 years of age, she began bleeding from the mouth as a result of tuberculosis taking a turn for the worse. Her perspective on all this? She said, “I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me.” A year later, at the sweet young age of 24, she went to be with Jesus.
Though the Catholic church usually requires 50 years to pass between death and beatification/canonization, she was beatified, then canonized by the Catholic church only 28 years after her death. Though according to Scripture all God’s children are considered Saints, her recognition of Sainthood truly is a tribute to her unique devotion to God in the mundane things of life.
I believe her message is a timely one for young and old alike. Many youths are encouraged to “do great things for God!” I would argue many need to simply do little things for God. It is my experience that the little things require a depth of fortitude, resolve, humility, and courage, that many large things do not. Little things provide no pats on the back–only the sweet knowledge in one’s own heart that God–who is the Object of all affection–is well pleased.
I’ll write more about Therese as I study more. I’m fascinated by her life and have a feeling she will be walking through the pages of the Sacredness of the Mundane.