Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Thérèse Martin was born in Alençon, France, in 1873, the youngest of a deeply believing family. She lost her mother at age four, and from childhood felt an enormous desire to love Jesus. At 15 she managed to enter the Carmel of Lisieux.

In the convent she discovered she could not do great things: she would never be a missionary or a martyr. So she found her 'little way': doing every small thing — sweeping, smiling, bearing an annoyance — with enormous love, trusting God like a child in her father's arms.

Sick with tuberculosis, she died in 1897 with a promise: 'I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses.' Her autobiography, 'Story of a Soul', won over the entire world.

Thérèse teaches that holiness does not require great feats: even the smallest acts, done with great love, can lead us to holiness. She was canonized in 1925, is patroness of the missions — without ever leaving her convent — and a Doctor of the Church. Her feast is October 1.

• Matthew 18:3 — 'Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven': the heart of Thérèse's little way.

• Saint Francis of Assisi
• Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa)
• The Blessed Virgin Mary