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No saint seems a less likely candidate for patron saint of the missions than Thérèse of Lisieux. Yet she shares that honor with St. Francis Xavier, a widely traveled and more logical choice. Francis, it is said, converted hundreds of thousands and endured harrowing conditions during his travels through the east.
Thérèse, on the other hand, never left her cloister for the nine years of her religious life, apparently converted no one, wrote no treatises on evangelization, never preached to large crowds, never baptized anyone, and never engaged in fund raising. To all appearances, she did nothing more than pursue her Little Way among the twenty-five or so nuns of her own convent.
But the church recognizes in Thérèse a most unusual and intense missionary spirit: she proposes to “spend her heaven doing good on earth,” bringing souls to Jesus. “If God answers my desires,” she said, “my heaven will be spent on earth until the end of the world” .
Not even Francis, the consummate missionary, makes such an extravagant claim. Earthbound, he accomplished miraculous conversions. Thérèse couldn’t compete with him in life, but she has matched him in death. Shortly after she died, accounts of restored relationships, conversions, and healings granted through her intercession began to pour into the Carmel of Lisieux.
The foundation for Thérèse’s heavenly activity, however, was the zeal for souls that gripped her on earth. She was consumed with a thirst for souls, she said. Her life was nothing less than an apostolate of prayer and suffering for sinners. Even on her deathbed, in the midst of terrible pain, she insisted that the prayers offered for her relief be offered, instead, on behalf of sinners.
Thérèse’s zeal sprang from her love for God and his love for her. This was too good to keep to herself. The point of her life, she said, was to love Jesus wholeheartedly and to bring others to love him with that same consuming passion.
A Fisher of Souls
Even before Thérèse entered the convent, she was convinced that Jesus had made her “a fisher of souls.” She said that she experienced a tremendous desire to work for the conversion of sinners. She had her first success in this line when she prayed for the salvation of an unrepentant murderer named Pranzini. The event was crucial in launching Thérèse on her apostolate of prayer. Céline offered to join her in interceding for the man.
I would have wished all creatures would unite with me to beg grace for the guilty man [Pranzini]. I felt in the depths of my heart certain that our desires would be granted, but to obtain courage to pray for sinners I told God I was sure he would pardon the poor, unfortunate Pranzini… . I was absolutely confident in the mercy of Jesus. But I was begging him for a “sign” of repentance only for my own simple consolation.
My prayer was answered to the letter! In spite of Papa’s prohibition that we read no papers, I didn’t think I was disobeying when reading the passages pertaining to Pranzini. The day after his execution I found the newspaper La Croix. I opened it quickly and what did I see? Ah! My tears betrayed my emotion and I was obliged to hide.
Pranzini had not gone to confession. He had mounted the scaffold and was preparing to place his head in the formidable opening [of the guillotine], when suddenly, seized by an inspiration, he turned, took hold of the crucifix the priest was holding out to him and kissed the sacred wounds three times! Then his soul went to receive the merciful sentence of him who declares that in heaven there will be more joy over one sinner who does penance than over ninety-nine just who have no need of repentance [Luke 15:7]!
I had obtained the “sign” I requested, and this sign was a perfect replica of the grace Jesus had given me when he attracted me to pray for sinners… .
After this unique grace my desire to save souls grew each day, and I seemed to hear Jesus say to me what he had said to the Samaritan woman: “Give me to drink!” [John 4:7]. It was a true interchange of love: to souls I was giving the blood of Jesus, to Jesus I was offering these same souls refreshed by the divine dew. I slaked his thirst and the more I gave him to drink, the more the thirst of my poor little soul [for the conversion of sinners] increased.
One Sunday, looking at a picture of our Lord on the cross, I was struck by the blood flowing from one of the divine hands. I felt a great pang of sorrow when thinking this blood was falling to the ground without anyone’s hastening to gather it up.
I was resolved to remain in spirit at the foot of the cross and to receive the divine dew. I understood I was then to pour it out upon souls.
The cry of Jesus on the cross sounded continually in my heart: “I thirst!” These words ignited within me an unknown and very living fire. I wanted to give my beloved to drink, and I felt myself consumed with a thirst for souls… . I burned with the desire to snatch [great sinners] from the eternal flames.
Thérèse was asked to correspond with a missionary priest who requested the prayers and support of one of the nuns of Carmel. She wrote to him concerning her zeal for souls.
I do not want you to ask God to deliver me from the flames of purgatory; Saint Teresa [of Ávila] said to her daughters when they wanted to pray for her: “What does it matter to me to remain until the end of the world in purgatory if through my prayers I save a single soul.”
These words find an echo in my heart. I would like to save souls and forget myself for them; I would like to save them even after my death. So I would be happy if you were to say … “My God, allow my sister to make you still loved.”
When I was beginning to learn the history of France, the account of Joan of Arc’s exploits delighted me; I felt in my heart the desire and the courage to imitate her. It seemed the Lord destined me, too, for great things.
I was not mistaken, but instead of voices from heaven inviting me to combat, I heard in the depths of my soul a gentler and stronger voice, that of the Spouse of Virgins, who was calling me to other exploits, to more glorious conquests, and into Carmel’s solitude.
I understood my mission was not to have a mortal king crowned but to make the King of Heaven loved, to submit to him the kingdom of hearts.
One day when I was thinking of what I could do to save souls, a word of the gospel gave me a real light. In days gone by, Jesus said to his disciples when showing them the fields of ripe corn: “Lift up your eyes and see how the fields are already white enough to be harvested,” and a little later: “In truth, the harvest is abundant but the number of laborers is small. Ask then the master of the harvest to send laborers.”
What a mystery! Is not Jesus all-powerful? Are not creatures his who made them? Why, then, does Jesus say: “Ask the Lord of the harvest that he send some workers”? Why?
Ah! It is because Jesus has so incomprehensible a love for us that he wills that we have a share with him in the salvation of souls. He wills to do nothing without us. The creator of the universe awaits the prayer of a poor little soul to save other souls redeemed like it at the price of all his blood.
I hold nothing in my hands. Everything I have, everything I merit, is for the church and for souls.
Let us not grow tired of prayer; confidence works miracles. And Jesus said to Blessed Mary Margaret: “one just soul has so much power over my heart that it can obtain pardon for a thousand criminals.”
Praying for Priests
At the direction of St. Teresa of Ávila, the sixteenth-century reformer of the Carmelite order, the Carmelites have made a specific commitment to pray for priests.
When Thérèse entered the order, she said that she had come “to save souls and especially to pray for priests.” The next few selections indicate how seriously she took that commitment.
Let us pray for priests; each day shows how few the friends of Jesus are. It seems to me this is what he must feel the most, ingratitude, especially when seeing souls who are consecrated to him giving to others a heart that belongs to him in so absolute a way. (GC II 708)
On her trip to Rome, Thérèse gained insight into the importance of praying for priests.
Having never lived close [to priests], I was not able to understand the principle aim of … Carmel. To pray for sinners attracted me, but to pray for the souls of priests whom I believed to be as pure as crystal seemed puzzling to me!
I understood my vocation in Italy and that’s not going too far in search of such useful knowledge. I lived in the company of many saintly priests for a month, and I learned that, though their dignity raises them above the angels, they are nevertheless weak and fragile men.
If holy priests, whom Jesus in his gospel calls “the salt of the earth,” show in their conduct their extreme need for prayers, what is to be said of those who are tepid? Didn’t Jesus say too: “If the salt loses its flavor, wherewith will it be salted?” [Matthew 5:13].
How beautiful is the vocation … which has as its aim the preservation of the salt destined for souls! This is Carmel’s vocation since the sole purpose of our prayers and sacrifices is to be the apostle of the apostles. We are to pray for them while they are preaching to souls through their words and especially their example. (SS Clarke 122)
In two letters to Céline, Thérèse conveys a sense of urgency in the matter of praying for priests.
Céline, during the short moments that remain to us, let us not lose our time. Let us save souls. Souls are being lost like flakes of snow, and Jesus weeps… .
Let us live for souls, let us be apostles, let us save especially the souls of priests; these souls should be more transparent than crystal.
Alas, how many bad priests [there are], priests who are not holy enough. Let us pray, let us suffer for them, and, on the last day, Jesus will be grateful. We shall give him souls! (GC I 578)
Céline, I feel that Jesus is asking both of us to quench his thirst by giving him souls, the souls of priests especially… . We are so insignificant and yet Jesus wills that the salvation of souls depends on the sacrifices of our love. He is begging souls from us. (GC I 587–88)
Spending Heaven Doing Good on Earth
Thérèse wanted so much to win souls for Jesus that she was determined to continue her work for the church even after her death.
I really count on not remaining inactive in heaven. My desire is to work still for the church and for souls. I am asking God for this and I am certain he will answer me.
Are not the angels continually occupied with us without their ever ceasing to see the divine face and to lose themselves in the ocean of love without shores? Why would Jesus not allow me to imitate them? (GC II 1142)
I feel … my mission is about to begin, my mission of making God loved as I love him, of giving my little way to souls. If God answers my desires, my heaven will be spent on earth until the end of the world.
Yes, I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth. That isn’t impossible, since from the bosom of the beatific vision, the angels watch over us.
I can’t make heaven a feast of rejoicing; I can’t rest as long as there are souls to be saved. But when the angel will have said: “Time is no more!” [Revelation 10:6] then I will take my rest; I’ll be able to rejoice, because the number of the elect will be complete and because all will have entered into joy and repose. (HLC 102)
I am not looking forward to enjoyment and rest in heaven; all that attracts me is love: to love, to be loved, and to return to the world to make God loved, to help missionaries, priests and the whole church. I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth. (STL 68)
Reflection
There was no conflict in Thérèse’s mind between her intense desire to save souls and the cloistered life. She knew she didn’t need to be on the spot in order to bring an individual to the Lord.
All Thérèse’s missionary work, all her “evangelization,” took place through prayer and sacrifice. “Prayer is my greatest weapon,” she once said, and she wielded it effectively.
Thérèse gets us back to the basics of evangelization: not techniques, books, or programs but prayer, sacrifice, and a heart set on God.
Prayer
Lord, give me a zealous heart. Renew in me the desire to bring others to you. When I do bring your word to those who don’t know you, keep me humble and close to you. May your own compassion fill and guide me. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.