The Psychology of

St. Therese’s Life and

Little Way:

Saint Agnes Young Adults

Richard Kim
January 15, 2008
The Life of the Little
Flower
The Early Life of Therese
• Born on January 2, 1873 in
Normandy, France to Saints
Louis and Zelie Martin
• Youngest of nine children, of
whom, only five daughters
survived to childhood
• All five daughters entered
religious orders
Saints Louis and Zelie
Martin
 The Martyrdom of
Separation
• Therese’s mother died of breast
cancer when Therese was 4
years old
• Therese became “introverted, shy,
and self-effacing”
• Therese turned to her sister, 16
year old Pauline, to be her
surrogate mother
• At age 9, Therese suffered a
second separation when Pauline
 “…in a moment I saw
what life is really like,
full of suffering, and
continual separations,
and I burst into bitter
tears.”
 The Sick Child
• After her separation from
Pauline, she developed
mysterious physical and
psychological symptoms lasting
a month
– Headaches, hallucinations, fear
• Experienced miraculous healing
of her illness after her sister
Marie prayed to the Blessed
Virgin Mary as Our Lady of
 Our
Lady
of the
Smile
 Christmas Conversion
• On Christmas day, 2 weeks
before her 14th birthday,
Therese’s father remarked on
her childish behavior in receiving
Christmas gifts
– “Therese ought to have outgrown
all this sort of thing, and I hope this
will be the last time.”
• Therese suddenly changed—her
heart became “filled with
 Therese’s spiritual life
• After her Christmas conversion,
she experienced a sudden
spiritual maturity.
• Therese sought to enter the
Carmel convent of Lisieux,
however, Church authorities
denied her request since she was
only 15
• Therese would not be deterred
– Having received an audience with
Therese and
the Holy
Father
Therese: “Holy
Father, in honor
of your Jubilee,
permit me to
enter Carmel at
the age of
fifteen!...Oh!
Holy Father, if
you say yes,
everybody will
agree!”

Pope Leo:
“Go….Go….You
Therese’s early years at
Carmel
• Therese became a Carmelite
postulant in April 1888 at the
age of 15.
• She made her profession of
religious vows on September 8,
1890 at the age of 17.
• She realized her dream;
however, she suffered another
loss.
• In 1889, her father suffered a
 Finding her Little Way
• Though she was committed to
her vocation, she did not find the
extreme mortifications practiced
by the religious at that time to
be conducive to her holiness.
• Struggling to find her vocation,
she happened to be graced by
the advice of Mother Genevieve:
– “I’m going to say just a little word
to you….Serve God with peace and
The authentic and simple
life
• What touched St. Therese so
deeply about Mother
Genevieve’s words was that they
were not profound.
– They were what they were, and
nothing else, sincere, simple, and
sanctified.
• “The opposite of simplicity for
Therese was not complexity but
duplicity.”
Therese’s “Hidden Life”
• Therese sought to live a “hidden
life:”
– “Ask that your little daughter
always remain a little grain of sand,
truly unknown, truly hidden from all
eyes, that Jesus alone may be able
to see it….”
• She succeeded in being so little
that one her fellow nuns snidely
remarked that her obituary
would read:
 The Little Way of St.
Therese
“….I want to see out a means of
going to heaven by a little way, a
way that is very straight, very short,
and totally new….I wanted to find an
elevator which would raise me to
Jesus, for I am too small to climb the
rough stairway of perfection. I
searched, then, in the Scriptures for
some sign of this elevator…and I
read these words…: “Whoever is a
LITTLE ONE, let him come to me.”
The elevator which must raise me to
heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And
The Psychology of the
Little Way
Living simply
Living silently
Living lovingly
Living childishly
Silence
 Silence: sane and
sanctified living
• Silence in simplicity:
– Not seeking the approval of others
• Silence in action:
– Choosing one’s battles wisely
• Silence in word:
– Minding one’s own business
• Silence in expectation:
– Letting go of worrying about the
outcome of one’s actions
 Silence in action
• Therese chose her battles wisely
but this does not mean she was
weak and cowardly.
– Her patron saint was St. Joan of Arc
• Her candor and courage in
speaking was so much that other
sisters went to her when they
wanted frank advice.
• Therese’s antidote to petty
squabbling however was
 Silence: the balm of
anger
• Blowing off steam does not
reduce anger, instead
“expressing anger makes you
angrier, solidifes an angry
attitude, and establishes a
hostile habit.”
• Therese did not repress her
anger, but rather she “distracted
herself from her feelings, in
order that she would not become
“If one tells me about
her fights with the
Sisters, I am careful not
to work myself up
against this or that
Sister. I must, for
example, while
listening to her, be able
to look out the window
and enjoy interiorly the
sight of the sky, the
 Silence in word
• What is wrong with gossip and
idle curiosity?
• They are signs of acedia (sloth)
• Our lives become “dissipated in
the lives of others….Meddling in
everyone else’s business is a
symptom of not having one’s
mind on one’s own business.”
• Minding one’s own business also
“eliminates the envy and
 Silence in expectation
• For Therese, “the effort and the
goal were one and the same….if
the goal is the trying, then we
meet our goal in the trying.”
• The Gospel sower of the seed
realizes that he can only plant
the seeds, the fruits depend
upon many things not under his
control.
– “To the right and to the left, I throw
 My vocation is love!
• Therese’s sanctity and sanity
was anchored by her sense of
perspective, and that
perspective was one of eternal
love:
– “God looked upon everything that
he had made and saw that it was
very good.”
– Looking through a kaleidoscope:
“So long as our actions, even the
most trivial, remain within love’s
“As soon as these persons love, they go
beyond the bodies and turn their eyes to
the soul and look to see if there is
something to love in the soul. And if
there isn’t anything lovable, but they see
some beginning and readiness so that if
they love this soul and dig in this mine
they will find gold.” St. Teresa
 Living Childishly
“One day, Leonie, thinking she
was too big to be playing any
longer with dolls, came to us
with a basket filled with dresses
and pretty pieces for making
others….”Here, my little sisters,
choose; I’m giving you all this.”
Celine stretched out her hand
and took a little bal of wool
which pleased her. After a
 Spiritual childhood
• “The secret to spiritual
childhood is to make yourself
nothing.”
• If we are nothing, we realize that
we are in a position of
fundamental dependency to God
– We then live life as a gift, gratefully
received
• If we are nothing, then we are
empty as a “flute, which if you
 Therese’s dark night of
the soul
• On April 3, 1896, she first
developed the symptoms of
tuberculosis
• She suffered physically and
underwent a dark night of the
soul.
– Celine: “Therese lived on bare faith
her entire life.  There was no soul
less consoled in prayer”. 
– “What a grace it is to have faith!  If
 Therese’s death
• Therese died on September 30,
1897.
• She was 24 years old.
• Her last words were “My God, I
love You.”
St. Therese’s promise

“I feel that my mission is

now to begin. My mission
is to make others love the
good God as I love Him, to
give to souls my little way.
I will spend my heaven in
doing good upon the
earth. I will let fall a
Prayer to St. Therese
Oh St. Therese, Little Flower of the
Child Jesus, please pick for me a
rose from the heavenly gardens
and send it to me as a message of
love.

Ask God today to grant the favors I

now place with confidence in your
hands….

St. Therese, help me to always