St. Thérèse of Lisieux Patroness of Mission and Lover of Nature

Every year, our Mother Church invite us her Children in the Month of October to actively participate and share in Her mission. This starts on First October with the Celebration of the feast day of the Patroness of Mission (St. Therese of Lisieux) described by  United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a nature lover and development activist taken up be Pope Francis in his Laudato Si 230.

The Saint, popularly known as the 'Little Flower' tells us of her Love for nature in her Autobiography: The Story of the Soul. The Little flower is a soul with the blazing love for God and Nature. How she saw God in nature is a wonderful experience; how she could feel the wind singing the Heavenly Hymn for her is even more captivating, what more would a soul desire other than listening here on earth the Hymn one would enjoy in Heaven.

More wonderfully, Therese considered she had the Vocation to be a priest before discernment made her settle for Love as her ultimate vocation - Jesus Let me Love Thee - was always on her lips. Later love for Jesus made Therese develop love for foreign Mission and since she could not go on Mission cause of the Cloistered life, she took up prayer as a participation in the Mission, she even wrote many letters to priests on foreign Mission, a reason she is the joined Patroness of Mission despite not going on any foreign Mission.

 It is not surprising that Pope Pius XI took St. Therese as the star of his Pontificate as noted Pope John Paul II in his Encyclical Divini Amoris Scientia  (October 19th, 1997)

Pius XI, who considered Thérèse of Lisieux the “Star of his pontificate,” did not hesitate to assert in his homily on the day of her canonization, 17 May 1925: “The Spirit of truth opened and made known to her what he usually hides from the wise and prudent and reveals to little ones; thus she enjoyed such knowledge of the things above — as Our immediate Predecessor attests — that she shows everyone else the sure way of salvation.”

In his Papal Bull for the cause of Canonization of Therese Martins, Pope Pius XI wrote: 

For the peculiar characteristic of the sanctity to which God called Thérèse of the Child Jesus lies chiefly in this, that having heard the Divine call she obeyed with the utmost promptness and fidelity. Without going beyond the common order of things, in her way of life she followed out and fulfilled her vocation with such alacrity, generosity, and constancy that she reached an heroic degree of virtue. In our own day, when men seek so passionately after temporal goods, this young maiden lived in our midst practicing in all simplicity and devotedness the Christian virtues in order to honor God and to win eternal life. May her example strengthen in virtue and lead to amore perfect life, not only the cloistered souls but those living in the world.

As this issue is dedicated to the care of environment, let us not forget to involve St. Therese in our daily striving for a better environment,  for she is not only  the Patroness of Mission but also the Patroness of the Florists. May the Little Flower our Patroness in heaven who promised to spend her heaven doing good on earth by showering flowers continue her intercessory role for the agents of Mission worldwide so that we not only live but fruitfully gain the graces necessary to continue her mission - doing good on earth and making God Loved.

St. Therese, Pray for us.