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St. Therese teaches love of neighbor in ‘little way’
Published: August 11, 2016
By Edward C. Dodge
Catholic High School for Boys
Recently, the story of Sister Cecilia Maria, a Carmelite who lived in Santa Fe, Argentina, spread through Catholic news sites and on social media.
Sister Cecilia, only 42, lay dying of cancer in a hospital, yet she maintained a serene and joyful disposition. Many photos of her smiling face circulated the Internet, bringing with them a forceful image of her faith in her salvation and even her eagerness to meet her Lord.
Sister Cecilia’s story made me think of another Carmelite whom I have long admired: St. Therese of Lisieux, who died in 1897, months shy of her 24th birthday.
Therese explained that the “little way of spiritual childhood” was not primarily about the actions but about the motivation: love. Each of these little acts was borne of a “death” to the self in a conscious effort to manifest the love of God to another. It is an incredibly difficult way to live, but with Christ’s grace, it’s not impossible.
Therese had an intense devotion to God, and she practiced what she called her “Little Way,” and while her autobiography, “The Story of a Soul,” often reads very sentimentally, her spirituality is quite intense. One night, it occurred to Therese that some people rejected God, so she offered herself as an “oblation to divine love,” which led to her experience of the “dark night of the soul,” an intense spiritual dryness during which a Christian often feels abandoned by God.
The “little way” was Therese’s name for how she lived out her Christian life. This spirituality calls the Christian to realize that everything she has is a gift from God. In return, he asks only for her love. Some people are called to perform great works, but most of us are called to perform “little” works, and while they may not be terribly impressive by themselves, each little work becomes part of a beautiful life lived for God by aiding others.
For Therese at the monastery, this meant doing dishes with the sister who always sloshed her with water, ignoring the clicking of rosary beads that dragged her from her mental prayer, missing night prayer to help the elderly sister walk to the refectory, ignoring petty slights some sisters took at her and going out of her way to help other sisters, especially if she didn’t like them or didn’t want to help.
Imagine how you’d feel if you noticed Therese suddenly helping you a lot: It meant she was working her way through not liking you! We may balk at the supposed “holiness” of some of these actions in isolation, but consider the little way as a method of living out the second great commandment: Love thy neighbor as thyself.
Therese explained that the “little way of spiritual childhood” was not primarily about the actions but about the motivation: love. Each of these little acts was borne of a “death” to the self in a conscious effort to manifest the love of God to another. It is an incredibly difficult way to live, but with Christ’s grace, it’s not impossible.
Eighteen months before she died, Therese, who had always felt a profound closeness to Christ, fully realized how many people did not believe in him, and she prayed to suffer for them. She dreamt that she was lost in a mist, and she heard voices claim that the king was only a fable, that he would never return.
She wrote that she no longer felt his presence, but she knew he was with her, just as she knew that while clouds may hide the sun, it remained there behind them, shedding its light on the earth. Her faith in the Lord remained unshaken.
Therese continued to write to missionaries, to pray, to work and to write and perform plays for the other sisters. When she died of tuberculosis, having taken no pain medication, her final words were of faith and joy: “My God, I love you!”
