St. Therese of Lisieux
St. Therese of Lisieux, who was born in France on January 2, 1873, was the pampered daughter of a mother who had wanted to be a saint and a father who had wanted to be a monk. St. Therese, the young French saint, known as the "Little Flower," who died at 24 in 1897 after having lived as a cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years, is the patroness of Lisieux College of Education. St. Therese, who never went on missions, never founded a religious order, and never performed great works, continues to inspire many who know the story of her short life that was deeply rooted in love for God and the mission of love and kindness. A brief edited version of her journal called "Story of a Soul" was published after her death, and
collections of her letters and restored versions of her journals were published later. St. Therese, after realizing that love for God comprised sacrifices, utilized each chance to sacrifice for the sake of the community, no matter how small the sacrifice might seem. Little secret humiliations caused by the community members and good deeds like scattering flowers were her little sacrifices, which no one acknowledged. Her one dream as the work she would do after her death, "helping those on earth to return," she said. "My heaven will be spent on earth." St. Therese's "little way" of trusting in Jesus for her holiness, relying on small daily sacrifices, motivated thousands who were trying to find holiness in ordinary lives. Every two years, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) honors figures from around the world who have worked in the fields of Peace, Education, Science, Social Science, and Communication. In view of the 150th anniversary of her birth (1873-2023), which falls on January 2, 2023, the Shrine at Lisieux proposed St. Therese of Lisieux as a representative of France to be inscribed for this honor. On November 11, 2021, the member countries of UNESCO's General Conference endorsed St. Therese for this recognition, which was supported by Italy and Belgium and proposed by the nation of France. This conference decided that St. Therese's "little way" will be honored by UNESCO in 2023.
