Virgin and Doctor of the Church · Feast day October 1
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
The feast day of St. Thérèse of Lisieux is October 1, a memorial in the US Catholic calendar. Traditionally invoked as patron of missions and florists. Below: a short life and 9 sourced quotations in their own words.
| Feast day | October 1 |
|---|---|
| In the US calendar | Memorial |
| Title | Virgin and Doctor of the Church |
| Died | 1897 |
| Patron of | missions, florists |
| In their own words | 9 sourced quotations |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | None left in the published calendar (through December 31, 2028) |
Life
Born at Alençon in France, Thérèse Martin entered the Carmel of Lisieux at fifteen and died there of tuberculosis at twenty-four, unknown to the world. Her superiors asked her to write her childhood memories; the result, Story of a Soul, went round the world.
Her ‘little way’ — doing small things with great love, trusting God like a child — made her a Doctor of the Church, and she promised to let fall a shower of roses after her death.
Patron of
Tradition invokes St. Thérèse of Lisieux as patron of missions and florists.
Saints with the same patronage
- St. Francis Xaviermissions · December 3
Patronages are traditional, not an official list. All patron saints in Bless, A to Z.
In their own words
Each quotation names the work it comes from. Bless quotes these in the comments beside the verses listed under In Scripture.
My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be love.
Everything is grace.
I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.
Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just what God wants us to be.
For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy.
I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the simplicity of the daisy.
Jesus does not demand great actions from us but simply surrender and gratitude.
To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.
It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love.
In Scripture
In Bless, St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s words appear in the comments beside these verses. This page’s labels say how each is linked: “on this verse” means the saint wrote about that very verse; “on this theme” means the quotation shares its theme. Scripture is quoted from the Catholic Public Domain Version.
On this theme
Reveal your way to the Lord, and hope in him, and he will accomplish it.
Psalm 36:5 · CPDV Beside their words: “It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love.”
On this theme
What shall I repay to the Lord, for all the things that he has repaid to me?
Psalm 115:3 · CPDV Beside their words: “Jesus does not demand great actions from us but simply surrender and gratitude.”
On this theme
Let my prayer be guided like incense in your sight: the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice.
Psalm 140:2 · CPDV Beside their words: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, a cry…”
On this theme
And as for clothing, why are you anxious? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither work nor weave. But I say to you, that not even Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6:28–29 · CPDV Beside their words: “I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the…”
On this theme
Not all who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, the same shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 7:21 · CPDV Beside their words: “Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just what God wants us to be.”
On this theme
And he said: “Amen I say to you, unless you change and become like little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3 · CPDV Beside their words: “Jesus does not demand great actions from us but simply surrender and gratitude.”
On this theme
Whoever is faithful in what is least, is also faithful in what is greater. And whoever is unjust in what is small, is also unjust in what is greater.
Luke 16:10 · CPDV Beside their words: “To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.”
On this theme
And we know that, for those who love God, all things work together unto good, for those who, in accordance with his purpose, are called to be saints.
Romans 8:28 · CPDV Beside their words: “Everything is grace.”
10 more verses
On this theme
But instead, God has placed the parts, each one of them, in the body, just as it has pleased him.
1 Corinthians 12:18 · CPDV Beside their words: “I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the…”
On this theme
But be zealous for the better charisms. And I reveal to you a yet more excellent way.
1 Corinthians 12:31 · CPDV Beside their words: “My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be love.”
On this theme
But for now, these three continue: faith, hope, and charity. And the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 13:13 · CPDV Beside their words: “My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be love.”
On this theme
Let everything whatsoever that you do, whether in word or in deed, be done all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17 · CPDV Beside their words: “To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.”
On this theme
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from fornication,
1 Thessalonians 4:3 · CPDV Beside their words: “Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just what God wants us to be.”
On this theme
Pray without ceasing.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 · CPDV Beside their words: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, a cry…”
On this theme
Furthermore, since we also have so great a cloud of witnesses over us, let us set aside every burden and sin which may surround us, and advance, through patience, to the struggle offered to us.
Hebrews 12:1 · CPDV Beside their words: “I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.”
On this theme
Every excellent gift and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor any shadow of alteration.
James 1:17 · CPDV Beside their words: “Everything is grace.”
On this theme
Fear is not in love. Instead, perfect love casts out fear, for fear pertains to punishment. And whoever fears is not perfected in love.
1 John 4:18 · CPDV Beside their words: “It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love.”
On this theme
And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having stringed instruments, as well as golden bowls full of fragrances, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5:8 · CPDV Beside their words: “I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.”
In the calendar
The upcoming dates, through December 31, 2028, when Bless’s Today screen shows St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Where the US calendar keeps another celebration that day, it is named instead and no rank is given.
Readings
No dates are left in Bless’s published calendar, which runs through December 31, 2028. St. Thérèse of Lisieux keeps October 1 in Bless’s calendar of saints: see the saints of October.
All the saints of October Born on October 1? A saint for every day
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