History and Facts about St Thérèse the patroness of all foreign missions and patroness of France.
St. Thérèse is the patroness of all foreign missions and patroness of France. Her
feast day was formerly October 3 but currently October 1st.
Marie Thérèse Martin was born at Alençon, France on
January 2, 1873, the youngest of five daughters. Her father, Louis, was a
watchmaker, and her mother, Zelie, who died of breast cancer when Thérèse was
four, was a lace maker.
She was brought up in
a model Christian home. While still a child she felt the attraction of the
cloister, and at fifteen obtained permission to enter the Carmel of Lisieux.
For the next nine years she lived a very ordinary religious life.
There are no
miracles, exploits or austerities recorded of her. She attained a very high
degree of holiness by carrying out her ordinary daily duties with perfect
fidelity, having a childlike confidence in God's providence and merciful love
and being ready to be at the service of others at all times.
She also had a great
love of the Church and a zeal for the conversion of souls. She prayed
especially for priests. She died of consumption on September 30, 1897, at the
age of 24, and was canonized in 1925. She has never ceased to fulfill her
promise: "I will pass my heaven in doing good on earth."