VATICAN CITY, APRIL 6, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI today focused the general audience on a saint he says is one of the “best known and loved”: the 19th century Carmelite, St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
The Pope noted that her “little way” has been a spiritual aid for simple souls and the poor, as well as for the whole Church, to the extent that Venerable Pope John Paul II named her a doctor of the Church in 1997. It was the Polish Pontiff who said she was an “expert in the scientia amoris.”
Benedict XVI reflected that Thérèse expresses this science above all in her autobiography, “Story of a Soul.”
“I would like to invite you to rediscover this little-great treasure, this luminous commentary on the Gospel fully lived,” he recommended. “‘Story of a Soul,’ in fact, is a marvelous history of Love, recounted with such authenticity, simplicity and freshness, before which the reader cannot but be fascinated!”
“But, what was this Love that filled Thérèse’s whole life, from her childhood to her death?” he asked. “Dear friends, this Love has a Face, it has a Name, it is Jesus! The saint spoke continually of Jesus.”
Trust and love
The Holy Father went on to consider the various stages of the saint’s short life on earth. He also highlighted her devotion to sacred Scripture and the Eucharist.
He noted how she read the Bible “nourished by the science of love,” which he said “is not opposed to academic science.”
“The science of the saints, in fact, […] is the highest science,” the Bishop of Rome asserted, citing Thérèse’s affirmation that it was through prayer that great scholars such as Augustine and Aquinas obtained “this divine science that fascinates the greatest geniuses.”
Thérèse’s devotion to the Eucharist, the Pope said, cast out fear.
“I cannot fear a God who for me has made himself so small! (…) I love him! In fact, he is none other than Love and Mercy,” he quoted.
The Bishop of Rome emphasized trust and love as hallmarks of Thérèse’s life.
“Thus,” he said, “Thérèse indicates to all of us that Christian life consists in living fully the grace of baptism in the total gift of self to the Love of the Father, to live like Christ, in the fire of the Holy Spirit, his very love for others.”
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text: www.zenit.org/article-32249?l=english
