圣女小德兰於1873年的1月2日在法国出生，圣女小德兰从小就非常虔诚。她4岁半时母亲去世，老父对她更是宠爱有嘉。 9岁时她姐姐宝琳进入嘉尔默罗修院，圣女小德兰的圣召开始萌芽。 6年後在一次罗马朝圣觐见教宗良13世时，就请求准许她15岁能加入修会，刚满16岁的她就进了隐修院，她入隐修会後取了婴孩耶稣的名字。 圣女小德兰的生平没有特别的大事，她在修院过了8年，1897年9月30日逝世。 她谦逊忍耐修到登峰造极的地步，天真淳朴一如赤子。 圣女小德兰身在修院，却无时不为救灵事业祈祷，并许下自己死後也会不断为传教工作服务，实行祈祷传教的真谛。 1925年列入圣品，被定为『传教区的主保』。
在天主教会内，圣女小德兰是一位极受人喜爱的年轻圣女，被称为「小花」。 圣女在加尔默罗隐院度过了她人生最後的十年，逝世时年仅24岁；她不曾远赴传教丶从未建立过一个修会，也没成就过什麽大事业。 她唯一的着作，过世後才被出版，那是一本修改自她自己成长纪录的小书，被称为 《灵心小史—Story of a Soul》或《一朵小白花》 （她的书信集与未经修改的自传近日已出版）。 圣女死後二十八年，被教会册封为圣人。
圣女一八七三年生於法国，是一个想成为圣人的母亲与原本想成为隐修士的父亲所宠爱的女儿。 圣女的二位双亲早年虽已结婚，但彼此却决定过着守贞般的生活，直至一位司铎告诉他们，此非天主所喜悦的婚姻生活方式，他们才开始生养孕育。 这对圣善的夫妇共育有九个子女，但仅存活五位，圣女正是他们最小的一位。
然而，悲惨很快地就临到圣女的身上，因为在她四岁半时，她挚爱的母亲即死於病症。 当时，她十六岁大的姊姊宝琳（Pauline）成了她第二位母亲，然而这却使圣女陷入更严重的失落里，因为五年後，她的第二位母亲进了加尔默 罗隐院。 数月後，她患了高烧的重病，人们都以为无治愈的希望。
当圣女的姊姊围坐在她病床前，向着房内的圣母雕像祈祷时，圣女在祈祷中见到圣母向其微笑，她的病症奇迹地获得痊愈。 当圣女还仅十一岁时，她即已养成心祷（mental prayer）的习惯，虽然她不懂那是什麽；当时她常在其床铺与墙壁间独自地思考关於天主丶生命与永恒的问题。
当圣女的另二位姊姊Marie与Leonie也进入修会时，陪伴在她身边的，仅剩父亲与小姊姊赛琳（Celine）。 圣女自述，那时期，当有人批 评或不欣赏她时，她即会悲伤地流泪，且经常仅是为了想哭而哭泣。 当时，圣女也想随同其姊宝琳与玛丽亚进入加尔默罗隐院，但因其年幼又加上易感的情绪，使她 的愿望难以实现，於是她只好向耶稣祈求，但却无任何答覆。 十四岁那年圣诞，耶稣来到圣女的心中，使她有了决定性的转变；她开始拭去自己无法控制的泪水，并 察觉到父亲的感受，而更甚於自己的感受；关於那次经历，圣女在自传中如此写道：「在这个神圣的晚上，温柔的婴孩耶稣，使我黑暗的灵魂充满了光 明。 为了爱我的缘故，耶稣变成软弱丶渺小的婴孩。 祂的软弱，祂的渺小，使我成为坚强的人。 祂把自己的武器送给我，使我逐渐强大起来，成了一个『巨人』」。
圣女虽被誉为一朵小花，然而她却有着钢铁般的意志。 当加尔默罗隐院的院长因圣女过於年幼而拒绝其入会时，这位早先过於羞涩的小女孩，却勇敢地来到主教面前请求特恩；而当主教也予以回绝时，她决 定直接前往罗 马寻求教宗的特准。 来到罗马的朝圣途中，圣女因着年幼与矮小之故，得以四处观看并触摸圣髑。 当他们走在晋见教宗的行列中时，小德兰立即藉着接近的机会，向教宗恳求进入加尔默罗隐院的特恩。 这位基督的代表（教宗良十三）见圣女年幼却有如此大的勇气，很快地即给予允准了。 小德兰对隐院生活的浪漫想法，很快地就得在实际的生活中遭受考验了；同时，圣女的父亲在当时也因着一连串的打击而异常思念他的小皇后（指圣 女），但圣女在 隐院内是无法前去探视父亲的。 这段期间，圣女经历了一段可怕的神枯时期，她描述说：「耶稣一点也不想继续与我交谈。 」因此，圣女常在祈祷中痛苦地沉睡过去，她这样自我安慰说：「母亲时常深爱着沉睡於她怀里的孩子，同样，天主也必然深爱着在祈祷中深沉睡去的 人。 」圣女又说：「爱要以行为来证明。 所以，我该如何证明我的爱呢？我不会做什麽大事业，我能对耶稣做的只是遍撒小花，而每一朵花都是为爱情所做的牺牲丶注视与简单的话语；都是为 爱所做的小小 行为。 」因此，圣女把握住每一个可以做刻苦与牺牲的机会，无论这些举动看起来多麽渺小：对她所不喜欢的姐妹报以微笑丶接受所有摆在她面前的食物而无 所抱怨，即便 那些常是剩馀的食物。 这些小小的牺牲，其价值都大过所谓的伟大事业，因为他人都未察觉出她所做的牺牲来；也从未有人告诉过她，隐忍这些羞辱与善行是如此地美好。
圣女关切的一直是如何能在现有的生活中达致圣善，因为她不只是想求好，她还要成为圣人；她想，为她们这些过着隐密生活的微小生命而 言，应有一 条路 能使她们成圣的；她总想成为圣人，可是当她与其他圣人相较时，她总觉得二者间有着极大的差距。 但她并不因此而气馁，她告诉自己说：「天主不会要求我做不到的事情，因此无论我有多渺小，我还是能成为圣人的；我既然不可能长得高大，那麽我 就按着自己的 样子，接受现状，即便我有数不清的过失；但是，我要寻觅一条直达天庭的『小道』，那是一条既短且直的道路，是一条全新的『小路』」。
圣女自述说：「我们活在一个充满发明的时代，我们不再需要卖力地爬着上升的台阶；在大厦中有电梯，因此我决定找一个电梯好能直达耶稣 的所在， 因为 我的个子太小，无法攀爬艰难的成圣阶梯。 因此，我在圣经中寻找成圣之道的灵感，於是我找到『叫那小孩子到我这里来』这句话。 耶稣，祢的臂膀就是领我直升天堂的电梯啊！因此，我不需要长大；我应停留在渺小中，且还要变得更加渺小！」
圣女曾这样论及她的圣召说：「我觉得我有司铎的召叫与宗徒的召叫；殉道是我年幼时的梦想，且它不断地在我内成长。 看着教会的奥体，我渴望自己能完全地在他们内；爱，就是我的圣召之钥；我知道教会有着一颗炽爱的心，且这爱建构了所有的召叫，因为爱就是ㄧ 切，它拥抱了所 有的时间与空间…简言之，爱就是永恒！於是，我在狂喜中呼喊道：『耶稣，我的爱丶我的圣召，我终於找到了祢…我的圣召就是爱！』」
一八九六年，圣女开始咳血，但她却继续工作而未告知任何人，直到一年後病情加重，其他修女才知道圣女患病一事。 糟糕的是，此时圣女失去了她内心的喜乐与自信，并且觉得她会毫无建树地在年轻时死去。 在此之先，宝琳已要求圣女写下灵心日记，并愿意她继续完成，好使其他姐妹能在圣女过世後彼此传阅。
她的痛苦是这样的剧烈，她说：「若我无信德，我会毫不犹豫地立即结束我的生命」；然而，圣女却继续保持微笑并鼓励他人，以致於别人还 以为她只 是装 病。 圣女有一梦想，是她死後希望完成的，那就是帮助所有还在世上的人们，她说：「我还会再回来；我要在地上用尽天堂！」
圣女於一八九七年的九月三十日过世，当时年仅二十四岁；她自己觉得能死於这年纪是出於天主的特别祝福，因为她觉得有司铎的圣召，若她 是男性， 则这 年纪将该是她晋铎的年纪。
圣女死後，隐院内的一切恢复常态，院内甚至无人论及小德兰。 但是，宝琳却收集了小德兰的所有着作（她做了部份编修），且出版了二千份寄往其他会院。 至此，小德兰的「神婴小道」开始广传，她那全心信赖耶稣丶在日常生活中履行小牺牲的教导，使得教会内成千上万的人找到了成圣的「小道」，特别 为那些渴 望在寻常生活中成圣的人，带来了莫大的鼓舞！二年内，小德兰已名闻遐迩；一九二五年小德兰荣登圣品。
里修的圣女小德兰是传教主保之一，这并不是因为她曾到过何处，而是因为她对传教有着一股特别的热爱；也因着她对传教士在祈祷与信件上 的支持。 圣女的一生，可作为我们的提醒：当人觉得自己什麽也不会做时，那才是使天主国继续茁壮的「小事情」。
Generations of Catholics have admired this young saint, called her the "Little Flower", and found in her short life more inspiration for own lives than in volumes by theologians.
Yet Therese died when she was 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years. She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, never performed great works. The only book of hers, published after her death, was an brief edited version of her journal called "Story of a Soul." (Collections of her letters and restored versions of her journals have been published recently.) But within 28 years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was canonized.
Over the years, some modern Catholics have turned away from her because they associate her with over- sentimentalized piety and yet the message she has for us is still as compelling and simple as it was almost a century ago.
Therese was born in France in 1873, the pampered daughter of a mother who had wanted to be a saint and a father who had wanted to be monk. The two had gotten married but determined they would be celibate until a priest told them that was not how God wanted a marriage to work! They must have followed his advice very well because they had nine children. The five children who lived were all daughters who were close all their lives.
Tragedy and loss came quickly to Therese when her mother died of breast cancer when she was four and a half years old. Her sixteen year old sister Pauline became her second mother -- which made the second loss even worse when Pauline entered the Carmelite convent five years later. A few months later, Therese became so ill with a fever that people thought she was dying.
The worst part of it for Therese was all the people sitting around her bed staring at her like, she said, "a string of onions." When Therese saw her sisters praying to statue of Mary in her room, Therese also prayed. She saw Mary smile at her and suddenly she was cured. She tried to keep the grace of the cure secret but people found out and badgered her with questions about what Mary was wearing, what she looked like. When she refused to give in to their curiosity, they passed the story that she had made the whole thing up.
Without realizing it, by the time she was eleven years old she had developed the habit of mental prayer. She would find a place between her bed and the wall and in that solitude think about God, life, eternity.
When her other sisters, Marie and Leonie, left to join religious orders (the Carmelites and Poor Clares, respectively), Therese was left alone with her last sister Celine and her father. Therese tells us that she wanted to be good but that she had an odd way of going about. This spoiled little Queen of her father's wouldn't do housework. She thought if she made the beds she was doing a great favor!
Every time Therese even imagined that someone was criticizing her or didn't appreciate her, she burst into tears. Then she would cry because she had cried! Any inner wall she built to contain her wild emotions crumpled immediately before the tiniest comment.
Therese wanted to enter the Carmelite convent to join Pauline and Marie but how could she convince others that she could handle the rigors of Carmelite life, if she couldn't handle her own emotional outbursts? She had prayed that Jesus would help her but there was no sign of an answer.
On Christmas day in 1886, the fourteen-year-old hurried home from church. In France, young children left their shoes by the hearth at Christmas, and then parents would fill them with gifts. By fourteen, most children outgrew this custom. But her sister Celine didn't want Therese to grow up. So they continued to leave presents in "baby" Therese's shoes.
As she and Celine climbed the stairs to take off their hats, their father's voice rose up from the parlor below. Standing over the shoes, he sighed, "Thank goodness that's the last time we shall have this kind of thing!"
Therese froze, and her sister looked at her helplessly. Celine knew that in a few minutes Therese would be in tears over what her father had said.
But the tantrum never came. Something incredible had happened to Therese. Jesus had come into her heart and done what she could not do herself. He had made her more sensitive to her father's feelings than her own.
She swallowed her tears, walked slowly down the stairs, and exclaimed over the gifts in the shoes, as if she had never heard a word her father said. The following year she entered the convent. In her autobiography she referred to this Christmas as her "conversion."
Therese be known as the Little Flower but she had a will of steel. When the superior of the Carmelite convent refused to take Therese because she was so young, the formerly shy little girl went to the bishop. When the bishop also said no, she decided to go over his head, as well.
Her father and sister took her on a pilgrimage to Rome to try to get her mind off this crazy idea. Therese loved it. It was the one time when being little worked to her advantage! Because she was young and small she could run everywhere, touch relics and tombs without being yelled at. Finally they went for an audience with the Pope. They had been forbidden to speak to him but that didn't stop Therese. As soon as she got near him, she begged that he let her enter the Carmelite convent. She had to be carried out by two of the guards!
But the Vicar General who had seen her courage was impressed and soon Therese was admitted to the Carmelite convent that her sisters Pauline and Marie had already joined. Her romantic ideas of convent life and suffering soon met up with reality in a way she had never expected. Her father suffered a series of strokes that left him affected not only physically but mentally. When he began hallucinating and grabbed for a gun as if going into battle, he was taken to an asylum for the insane. Horrified, Therese learned of the humiliation of the father she adored and admired and of the gossip and pity of their so-called friends. As a cloistered nun she couldn't even visit her father.
This began a horrible time of suffering when she experienced such dryness in prayer that she stated "Jesus isn't doing much to keep the conversation going." She was so grief-stricken that she often fell asleep in prayer. She consoled herself by saying that mothers loved children when they lie asleep in their arms so that God must love her when she slept during prayer.
She knew as a Carmelite nun she would never be able to perform great deeds. " Love proves itself by 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." She took every chance to sacrifice, no matter how small it would seem. She smiled at the sisters she didn't like. She ate everything she was given without complaining -- so that she was often given the worst leftovers. One time she was accused of breaking a vase when she was not at fault. Instead of arguing she sank to her knees and begged forgiveness. These little sacrifices cost her more than bigger ones, for these went unrecognized by others. No one told her how wonderful she was for these little secret humiliations and good deeds.
When Pauline was elected prioress, she asked Therese for the ultimate sacrifice. Because of politics in the convent, many of the sisters feared that the family Martin would taken over the convent. Therefore Pauline asked Therese to remain a novice, in order to allay the fears of the others that the three sisters would push everyone else around. This meant she would never be a fully professed nun, that she would always have to ask permission for everything she did. This sacrifice was made a little sweeter when Celine entered the convent after her father's death. Four of the sisters were now together again.
Therese continued to worry about how she could achieve holiness in the life she led. She didn't want to just be good, she wanted to be a saint. She thought there must be a way for people living hidden, little lives like hers. " I have always wanted to become a saint. Unfortunately when I have compared myself with the saints, I have always found that there is the same difference between the saints and me as there is between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and a humble grain of sand trodden underfoot by passers-by. Instead of being discouraged, I told myself: God would not make me wish for something impossible and so, in spite of my littleness, I can aim at being a saint. It is impossible for me to grow bigger, so I put up with myself as I am, with all my countless faults. But I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight, a little way that is quite new.
" We live in an age of inventions. We need no longer climb laboriously up flights of stairs; in well-to-do houses there are lifts. And I was determined to find a lift to carry me to Jesus, for I was far too small to climb the steep stairs of perfection. So I sought in holy Scripture some idea of what this life I wanted would be, and I read these words: "Whosoever is a little one, come to me." It is your arms, Jesus, that are the lift to carry me to heaven. And so there is no need for me to grow up: I must stay little and become less and less."
She worried about her vocation: " I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this Heart was burning with love. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and places...in a word, that it was eternal! Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love...my vocation, at last I have found it...My vocation is Love!"
When an antagonist was elected prioress, new political suspicions and plottings sprang up. The concern over the Martin sisters perhaps was not exaggerated. In this small convent they now made up one-fifth of the population. Despite this and the fact that Therese was a permanent novice they put her in charge of the other novices.
Then in 1896, she coughed up blood. She kept working without telling anyone until she became so sick a year later everyone knew it. Worst of all she had lost her joy and confidence and felt she would die young without leaving anything behind. Pauline had already had her writing down her memories for journal and now she wanted her to continue -- so they would have something to circulate on her life after her death.
Her pain was so great that she said that if she had not had faith she would have taken her own life without hesitation. But she tried to remain smiling and cheerful -- and succeeded so well that some thought she was only pretending to be ill. Her one dream as the work she would do after her death, helping those on earth. "I will return," she said. "My heaven will be spent on earth." She died on September 30, 1897 at the age of 24 years old. She herself felt it was a blessing God allowed her to die at exactly that age. she had always felt that she had a vocation to be a priest and felt God let her die at the age she would have been ordained if she had been a man so that she wouldn't have to suffer.
After she died, everything at the convent went back to normal. One nun commented that there was nothing to say about Therese. But Pauline put together Therese's writings (and heavily edited them, unfortunately) and sent 2000 copies to other convents. But Therese's "little way" of trusting in Jesus to make her holy and relying on small daily sacrifices instead of great deeds appealed to the thousands of Catholics and others who were trying to find holiness in ordinary lives. Within two years, the Martin family had to move because her notoriety was so great and by 1925 she had been canonized.
Therese of Lisieux is one of the patron saints of the missions, not because she ever went anywhere, but because of her special love of the missions, and the prayers and letters she gave in support of missionaries. This is reminder to all of us who feel we can do nothing, that it is the little things that keep God's kingdom growing.
