I am in the village of Lisiuex the place where st Therese grew up. She is known as the Little Flower an image that can hide get true character. I must admit that I have never been much attracted to Therese because I saw her to be remote in sentimentality and piety. I have learned that like so many of the saints, their life stories have been "doctored up" to show the world an idealized portrait of the person , an endeavor that prevents people from really getting to know the saint and to be encouraged to follow Christ. The whole point of the saints is to point us to Christ and help us to follow him.
It seems that Therese 's seminal work, "story of a soul" was altered by one of her sisters, a fellow Carmelite. She changed to passages that she deemed were too harsh or negative. She wanted the image of her saintly sister to be perfect and sweet. We now have the original autobiography complete in Therese's original words. I discovered something else during this visit to Lisiuex : most of her few years in the Carmel were ones of struggle and darkness. Until she saw a vision at the point of her death, she lived in much inner turmoil not believing she was loved by God. She was a tough young WOMAN, not a little girl. Her doctrine on the "little way" is simple and gospel : everything that you do...do it in LOVE. She means EVERYTHING , from the most menial tasks to those that are packed with meaning. Her vocation is to dimly be LOVE in the heart of the church. Early in her life she felt sorry for a criminal condemned to be executed. She prayed that this hardened man would convert before he was executed. She prayed before a crucifix for this to happen and it did. The man confessed his love for God and sorrow for sin. Therese is a powerful intercession for all us disciples teaching us the little way if love , a way that leads us into the heart of Christ. Food for the journey. Buen camino. Padre
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