Saint Therese grew up in a good family in the 1800's in France. She was very much into the love and mercy of God. She became a nun at a young age. She taught the novices, who were training to be nuns, to trust in God's love. Before her death at the age of 24, Saint Therese wrote her autobiography at the request of the superior of her convent. During her final illness Saint Therese said, "I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth." Miracles of healing took place in answer to her prayers, and she was declared a "saint" by the Catholic Church in 1925.
People continue to read her autobiography and continue to pray to her. In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared Saint Therese a Doctor of the Church for her teachings, one of only 33 people who have received this title of recognition. What did she teach? Love. God's love for us. Our love for God.
In my young children's book, Little Saint Therese, I try to draw the children into her life as a very real child, who - as I show them - may have played with some of the same toys they like, and enjoyed some of the same pets. The story takes them through various aspects of her life...through some of her schooling at home; her trip to the seaside; the happiness of her first Confession and the joy of her First Holy Communion; her visits, first to the bishop and then to the pope, to try to become a nun at an early age; and then her life as a nun.
Through it all, shines love: the love that her family surrounded her with, her love for her family and for God, and God's great love for all of us.
So, even if you are not Catholic, if you would like to share with your children about life from another culture, perhaps you might like to consider the Little Saint Therese book. And if you are Catholic and you don't have young children, perhaps you might like to get the book for a friend's child, or godchild or grandchild or niece of nephew, as a gift. You might even enjoy reading it yourself before you give it away.
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