Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897)
October 1
	“The cornerstone’s dated 1872, but the stained glass is much later,” explained the pastor, astonished when his visitor accurately dated it to just before the Great Depression, explaining, “The window for the Little Flower”—Thérèse’s nickname—“gives it away.” From her canonization in 1925, her statues and windows adorn most churches where European immigrants worshiped. Entering Carmel at fifteen, victim of tuberculosis at twenty-four, Therese proposed her “Little Way” to sanctity: doing ordinary tasks with extraordinary love. Thus “ordinary Catholics,” many of whom had lost loved ones to tuberculosis, embraced her. Though she never left her cloister, this Carmelite’s spiritual communion and devoted correspondence with missionaries earned her the title Patroness of Missions. Her autobiography, Story of a Soul, continuously in print since her death, chronicles her prayerful perseverance through doubt and caused her to be the youngest person ever named a Doctor of the Church. Countless physical healings and spiritual conversions testify to her fulfillment of her deathbed promise: “After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth!”
—Peter Scagnelli