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Therese Martin
Greek origin first name.
The name Therese comes from the word: "Therizo."
A word meaning: "to harvest", "to gather" or "fertility".
2 January 1873 in Alencon, France.
30 September 1897 in Lisieux, France.
Therese was born into a very devout family in Alencon. Her father was a watchmaker and her mother was a lacemaker. They later established their own small business.
Therese grew up in a large family of nine children, but four died at a young age while the five surviving daughters, including Therese, decided to become nuns.
From a young age, Therese showed great sensitivity, deep faith, and a great love for God. But she also went through periods of great fragility, especially after the death of her mother when she was only 4 years old. She then developed a strong attachment to her sisters, especially Pauline.
At the age of 15, with rare determination, she obtained special permission to enter the Carmel of Lisieux, a cloistered convent normally reserved for older women. There, she took the name Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face.
During her 9 years of religious life, Therese lived in humility, prayer, and self-effacement. She developed what she called her "little way": a spirituality based on complete trust in God, love in small things, and abandonment.
She wanted to "please Jesus" in the simplicity of everyday life.
At the request of her superiors, she wrote her memories in a manuscript that became famous: "The Story of a Soul," a spiritual book that has touched millions of readers.
Afflicted with tuberculosis, she died at a very young age, 24, on 30 September 1897, after enduring great suffering with faith.
Shortly before her death, Therese reportedly uttered this famous phrase:
"After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses."
"I will spend my heaven doing good on earth."
This statement has become a spiritual legend, embraced by thousands of believers.
The roses symbolize the graces that Therese promises to distribute from heaven.
Many people claim to have received an answer to a prayer accompanied by a tangible sign: a rose given, found, or seen just after a request to Therese.
It is also said that praying to Therese with confidence often leads to a kind of mysterious comfort, like an invisible rose offered to the soul.
At her death, Therese was little known, but quickly her reputation for holiness spread worldwide. Miracles were reported, and thousands of letters poured into Lisieux.
She was canonized in 1925, proclaimed patroness of missions (along with Saint Francis Xavier.) Later, she was designated a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II, a very rare title for a woman.
Her main relics are located in the Basilica of Saint Therese in Lisieux.
This is the primary shrine dedicated to Saint Therese.
Her main relics (bones) are kept in a bronze and glass reliquary, in a chapel located in the crypt of the basilica.
It is a globally renowned pilgrimage site, visited by millions of people.
