St. Therese of the Child Jesus

St. Therese was born to a middle-class French family in 1873 on the 2nd of January, the pampered daughter of a mother who wanted to be a saint and father who wanted to be a monk.  Her father, Louis, was a watchmaker and her mother, a lace-maker who died of cancer when Therese was only four years old.   Therese herself became very ill when she was eight years old, and when she prayed to Mary, she saw Mary smile at her and she suddenly she was cured.  At the age of eleven, Therese had developed a habit of mental prayer and soon after entered the Carmelite Convent. She knew as a Carmelite nun, she would never be able to perform great deeds.

"Love proves itself by great deeds, so how am I to show my love?  Great deeds are forbidden me.  The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love."

Yet Therese died when she was only 24, after having lived as a cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years.  She never went on missions, never founded a religious order or performed any great works.  But within 28 years of her death, public demand was so great  that she was canonized.