Little Way, Great Hope: St. Thérèse of Lisieux for the Jubilee Pilgrims

Oct 1, 2025: St. Thérèse of Lisieux—often called the “Little Flower”—lived a brief yet luminous life, inspiring millions with her spirituality of simplicity, trust, and profound love for Christ. Her journey, marked by childhood innocence, hidden suffering, and unwavering faith, provides pilgrims of the Jubilee 2025 with a model of hope, integration of weakness, and missionary zeal. Recognized as the patron saint of missions despite never leaving her cloister, Thérèse’s ‘little way’ affirms that the vocation to holiness and evangelization springs from everyday fidelity and surrender. This reflection delves into her life, struggles, spirituality, missionary legacy, and continuing relevance for modern Christians.

1. Early Life: Seeds of Holy Desire

Family Roots: Born in 1873 to devout parents Louis and Zélie Martin, Thérèse’s home was a cradle of faith, nurturing her early awareness of God’s love and mercy.

Loss and Sensitivity: Her mother’s death when she was four deeply affected Thérèse, fostering both emotional sensitivity and precocious spiritual yearning.

First Steps of Faith: By age fifteen, Thérèse entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux, embracing a vocation shaped by passionate love and unwavering trust in Jesus.

2. Struggles: Trials in the Cloister and Heart

Interior Suffering: Thérèse experienced prolonged periods of spiritual dryness, scruples, and doubts, often feeling her own littleness and incapacity.

Dark Night: “My soul is in darkness”—her spiritual diary confesses struggles akin to the ‘dark night’ St. John of the Cross describes.

Physical Illness: Tuberculosis ravaged her body, yet she bore suffering with a spirit of joyful self-offering, echoing Christ’s invitation to bear one’s cross (Lk 9:23).

Misunderstood Zeal: Sometimes misunderstood by fellow nuns, Thérèse bore daily frustrations with humility—a witness to hidden sanctity (Mt 6:6).

3. Spirituality: The “Little Way” of Love and Trust

Gospel Simplicity: Thérèse’s ‘little way’ emphasises doing ordinary things with extraordinary love, reflecting the call to childlike trust (Mt 18:3).

Love Over Deeds: “What matters in life is not great deeds, but great love”—her teaching mirrors 1 Cor 13:1-3’s primacy of love over works.

Confidence in Mercy: Trusting God’s unconditional mercy, Thérèse abandoned herself to divine grace, embodying hope amid weakness.

Universal Sanctity: Her spirituality democratizes holiness—not by heroic feats, but by surrender and faithful perseverance.

4. Patron Saint of Missions: Love Without Borders

Desire for Souls: Though physically confined, Thérèse’s heart burned for the salvation of all, praying ardently for missionaries and the spread of the Gospel.

Her Vocation: She wrote: “My vocation is love!”—identifying herself with the heartbeat of the Church (1 Cor 13:13).

Papal Declaration: Pope Pius XI declared her patroness of missions in 1927, noting her fervour and prayer transcended all boundaries, echoing Matthew 28:19’s missionary mandate.

Redemptive Suffering: Embracing suffering for others, Thérèse lived out St. Paul’s theology of “completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, the Church” (Col 1:24).

5. Jubilee 2025: Relevance for Pilgrims of Hope

Pilgrimage of Heart: As Jubilee 2025 invites believers to become “Pilgrims of Hope,” Thérèse’s journey through darkness and hope models interior pilgrimage—trust amid suffering, loving surrender in uncertainty.

Hope that Endures: In a fractured world, her message calls Christians to anchor their hope in God’s mercy, finding joy in the midst of trials (Rom 5:2-5).

Mission Through Hiddenness: The Jubilee’s missionary impulse is vitalised by her ‘little way’—showing that even hidden, simple acts illuminate the world with Christ’s love.

Ecclesial Vision: As Pope Francis remarked, Thérèse is a “doctor of spiritual hope”—teaching joy, prayer, and resilience as practical missionary tools.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux stands as an icon of hope for the Jubilee 2025, inviting all Christians to embrace the pilgrimage of the heart, trust God in weakness, and transform the world through simple acts of love. Her legacy reveals that the path to holiness and mission—the “little way”—is open to all, regardless of place, power, or circumstance. As Pilgrims of Hope, her witness challenges followers to bloom where planted, “doing good on earth” with faith and joy rooted in Christ.

Questions for Reflection

1. How might embracing St. Thérèse’s ‘little way’ of love and trust transform daily challenges into opportunities for spiritual growth and witness?
2. In what ways does Thérèse’s hidden suffering speak to the mystery of redemptive suffering and the universal call to mission in the Church?
3. How can the pilgrimage of hope modelled by St. Thérèse inspire new expressions of joy, resilience, and missionary zeal in personal faith journeys during the Jubilee year?

By Fr. Valerian Lobo 

Jamshedpur Diocese