Feastday: October 1

Patroness of the Missions

1873	January 2nd	Thérèse was born to Louis and Zelie Guerin Martin.
	January 4th	Thérèse was baptized Marie-Francoise-Therese Martin
1877	August 28th	Zelie Martin dies and is buried the next day. Thérèse chooses her eldest sister Pauline to be her "mama": The day of Mama's departure... Papa took me in his arms and said: 'Come, kiss poor little Mother for the last time.' Without a word I placed my lips on her forehead. I don't recall having cried very much, neither did I speak to anyone about the feelings I experienced... God willed to give me another mother on earth. He willed that I also choose her freely... I threw myself into [Paulines] arms, crying: 'Well, as for me, it's Pauline who will be my Mama!"
	November 16th	The Martins move to Lisieux and reside in the house known as Les Buissonnets: "I experienced no regret whatsoever at leaving Alencon; children are fond of change, and it was with pleasure that I come to Lisieux... ae Les Buissonnets... my life was truly happy."
1879		Thérèse makes her first confession: "Oh! Dear Mother, [Pauline (Mother Agnes)] with what care you prepared me for my first confession, telling me it was not to a man but to God I was about to tell my sins; I was very much convinced of this truth."
1881	October 3rd	Thérèse attends school at the Benedictine Abbey: "I have often heard it said that the time spent at school is the best and happiest of one's life. It wasn't this way for me. The five years I spent in school were the saddest in my life, and if I hadn't had Celine with me, I couldn't have remained there and would have become sick in a month."
1882	October 2nd	Pauline enters the Carmel of Lisieux: "... I was about to lose my second Mother! Ah! how can I express the anguish of my heart! In one instant, I understood what life was; until then I had never seen so sad..."
1883	May 13th	Our Lady smiles at Thérèse and she is cured of the illness which threatened to take her life.
1884	May 8th	Thérèse makes her First Holy Communion: "Ah! How sweet was that first kiss of Jesus! It was a kiss of love; I felt that I was loved, and I said: 'I love You, and I give myself to You forever!'"
1886	December 25th	Thérèse experiences her "Grace of Conversion" after Midnight Mass.
1887	May 29th	Thérèse receives her father's permission to enter Carmel at the age of fifteen.
	November 20th	While in Rome on a diocesan pilgrimage with her father and sister, Thérèse, during a papal audience, asks Pope LeoXIII for permission to enter Carmel at age fifteen.
1888	April 9th	Thérèse enters Carmel: "My desires were at last accomplished; my soul experienced a PEACE so sweet, so deep, it would be impossible [for me] to express it."
1889	January 10th	Thérèse receives the habit of a Discalced Carmelite Nun.
1890	September 8th	Thérèse makes her first religious profession.
1894	July 29th	Louis Martin dies: " Last year, July 29, God broke the bonds of His incomparable servant and called him to his eternal reward... 'You know, my God, how much I want to know whether Papa went straight to heaven; I am not asking You to speak to me, but give me a sign. If [a certain Sister] consents to Celine's entrance or places no objection to it, this will be an answer that Papa went straight to You."
1896	April 5th	Entrance of Thérèse into the Night of Faith: "[Jesus] permitted my soul to be invaded by the thickest darkness, and that the thought of heaven, up until then so sweet to me, be no longer anything but the cause of struggle and torment. His trial was to last not a few days or a few weeks; it was not to be extinguished until the hour set by God Himself and this hour has yet to come."
1897	September 30th	Thérèse dies at 7:20 in the evening after a long and painful battle with pulmonary tuberculosis. Her last words were: "Oh! I love Him!"... "My God, I love You!"
	October 4th	Thérèse is buried in the Lisieux Municipal Cemetery.
1914	June 10th	Thérèse's Cause of Canonization is introduced in Rome by Pope St. Pius X. Therese is now known as the Servant of God, Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, O.C.D.
1921	August 14th	Pope Benedict XV declares the Servant of God, Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus, "venerable".
1923	April 29th	Venerable Thérèse of the Child Jesus is declared "blessed" by Pope Pius XI.
1925	May 17th	Blessed Thérèse of the Child Jesus is Canonized by Pope Pius XI. She is henchforth referred to as St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, O.C.D.
1927		Pope Pius XI named St. Thérèse Principal Patroness, equal to St. Francis Xavier, of all missionaries, male or female, and of missions throughout the world.
1944		Pope Pius XII names St. Thérèse Secondary Patroness of France equal to St. Joan of Arc (the Primary Patroness of France is the Blessed Virgin Mary).
1997		"Ah! In spite of my littleness, I would like to enlighten souls as did the Prophets and the Doctors... " Pope John Paul II declares St. Thérèse Doctor of the Church, making her only the third woman in the history of the Roman Catholic Church to be named so.

"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.

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." Terry Matz