Research Paper On St. Therese

Therese lived a very short life and died when she was 24, after she had lived as a nun for less than ten years. Unlike many other saints, St. Therese never went on missions, nor founded a religious order, nor performed “great” works. However, she did write in a journal that was published briefly after her death called “Story of a Soul.” Within 28 years of her death, the public after reading her book demanded that she become canonized and so she was. Therese was born in Lisieux, France in 1873. She was a pampered and well-treated daughter of a mother who wanted to become a saint and a father who wanted to become a monk. Therese was one of nine children. Only five of these children lived and they were all daughters. She didn’t experience the happiest of childhoods, however, because her mother died of breast cancer when Therese was just four and a half years old. Her older sister Pauline became the mother of the family but she entered the Carmelite convent five years later. Just a few months after she entered the convent Therese became very ill with a fever that people thought she was dying. Therese saw her sister’s praying to the statue of Mary in her room, so she followed their example and prayed too. Mary smiled at Therese and suddenly she was cured. She tried to keep the grace of her curing a secret but people found out and constantly questioned her about Mary. Therese didn’t give into their curiosity which caused people to assume that she had made up the story.

Therese’s two other sisters, Marie and Leonie, left to join religious orders too. There was only Therese, her father, and her last sister Celine. Therese wanted to enter the Carmelite convent to join her sisters though, but people were not convinced she could handle the rigors since she couldn’t handle her own emotional bursts. She prayed to Jesus for help but he did not