St. Thérèse 

St. Thérèse was a French Carmelite who lived from 1873 to 1897. After much resistance from her superiors due to her young age they yielded to a clear call from the Lord for the young Saint to enter the Carmel at age 15 and in her 9 years in the Carmel prior to her death she reached remarkable levels of sanctity. She built on the spirituality of her Patroness St. Teresa of Avila by developing a "little way" to sanctity. Realizing that so many of us are not called by God to do big things such as retaking the Holy Land like the Crusaders or baptizing 100,000 Indians like St. Francis Xavier, she saw that we can all achieve sanctity through those little mortifications such as sitting in the sunny part of the bench so our sister may sit in the shade. As little and as simple as we are, she shows us that we can offer up even the smallest things done with love of Christ for the sake of our Lord. She laid out these teachings extensively in her masterpiece "Story of a Soul" and in her many letters. Let us deny ourselves and follow in her beautiful example of sanctity!

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Pray for us!