The Pope will dedicate an apostolic letter to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

“If his body was crippled, his heart was vibrant, missionary. A few hours before his admission to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome for surgery in the face of a risk of intestinal obstruction, Pope Francis presided over the general audience on Wednesday, June 7, paying homage to Saint Teresa of the ‘Child Jesus (1873-1897). In front of the relics of the saint exhibited in Saint Peter’s Square, he announced that he wanted to dedicate an apostolic letter to this spiritual figure, to whom he often said he was very close, for the 150th anniversary of his birth.

Died at the age of 24, made a doctor of the Church in 1997, the universal patroness of the Missions defined herself as “a little grain of sand”, Francis recalled in his catechesis. “Without appearing to do so, she interceded for the missions, hidden like an engine that gives the vehicle the strength to move forward,” he continued, before returning more specifically to two emblematic episodes in the life of the religious.

“Strong in her soul”

“The first concerns the day that changed his life, Christmas 1886, when God worked a miracle in his heart. Thérèse will soon be 14 years old. As the youngest, she is pampered by everyone at home. Returning from midnight mass, her father, very tired, did not want to attend the opening of his daughter’s presents and said: “Thank God, it’s the last year! Thérèse, of a very sensitive nature and quick to tears, was hurt by it, and cried”, thus traced the bishop of Rome. But she quickly suppressed her tears, went down again and, full of joy, she gladdened her father in this way. So what happened? That night, while Jesus had made himself weak in love, she had become strong in her soul. »

The second moment evoked by Francis related to her particular concern for sinners, when she had prayed for the conversion of the murderer Enrico Pranzini, sentenced to the guillotine for three murders. Thérèse had in fact discovered, while reading La Croix, that the criminal, after having refused to repent in faith, had seized from the scaffold a crucifix on which he had kissed the wounds of Christ.

“Moved by Charity”

“Here is the power of intercession moved by charity, here is the driving force of the mission”, commented Francis, before recalling, during the general audience, how much the Church “needs hearts like that of Thérèse, hearts that attract to love and draw closer to God” and to ask this great spiritual figure “for the grace to overcome our selfishness and the passion to intercede so that Jesus may be known and loved”.

The announcement of the forthcoming publication – without a precise date yet – of an apostolic letter dedicated to Saint Thérèse responds to a request from the diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux. In December 2022, a delegation from the local Church had indeed given Francis two letters containing strong proposals – including an invitation to come to Lisieux, a request to name the Carmelite patron saint of priests of the world, and finally a request to publish an apostolic letter in connection with the jubilee launched in January in memory of the birth of the saint.

The missives had not received a response, but Rome had requested the presence of the relics at the general audience. In the press, Francis has often recalled his spiritual closeness to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, of whom he calls himself “the friend”, frequently having recourse to her intercession. In 2016, during an hour-long interview with La Croix, Pope Francis, asked what France meant to him – and who his favorite saint was – replied: “Saint Thérèse of Lisieux . »

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