Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway

"The Works of Mercy," by the Master of Akmaar, Netherlands

In Misericordiae Vultus, Pope Francis writes:

“It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty. And let us enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God’s mercy. Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy in his preaching so that we can know whether or not we are living as his disciples. Let us rediscover these corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead. And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill, and pray for the living and the dead.”

Most of the corporal works of mercy are based in Matthew 25:34-46, the gospel in which Jesus says “I was hungry and you fed me.”  Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin practiced the works of mercy every day, and they taught this practice to their daughter Therese.  Their vice-postulator, Fr. Antonio Sangalli, remarked:

Works of mercy were the very base on which Louis and Zélie Martin built their life. They showed love for neighbor, for family, for life, through corporal and spiritual works of mercy; and by carrying out these works, they grew in love for God and neighbor.

As we know, Pope Francis recently called for a Jubilee of Mercy, which, like the Martin parents, we must live out through works of mercy. We must carry out these works in all areas of life: at home, work, school and within all of our relationships. This, to me, was the Martins’ special charisma that they impart to us.

["Louis and Zelie Martin Model 'a Simple Spirituality Achieved in Daily Life."  National Catholic Register, July 7, 2015]

Louis and Zelie were hardly married when they welcomed into their home a foster child whose mother had just died.  When Louis went out, he always carried small change to give alms to the poor who begged of him.  When he found an intoxicated man on the street, he helped him get home.  At the train station, finding a poor epileptic man who had no money for his fare, he took up a collection and settled the man in his seat. Noticing a homeless family shivering near the police station, he took pains to help the father get a new job.  Finding a poor old man freezing in a barn, he battled the bureaucracy for a long time to get the man into a home for the elderly.  As a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Conference, he visited and cared for poor families.  He arranged for the burial of a neighbor when there was no one else to attend to it. 

Zelie often took care of children who needed temporary help; sent her maid to poor families with a bottle of wine, a hot meal, and coins; sent the children to give alms to the poor they met when out walking; nursed her servants and visited her employees when they were ill; went to great lengths, badgering the police and appearing in court, to rescue Armandine, a child who, taken in by two local women who pretended to be nuns, was being horribly abused. Zelie welcomed those in need to her own house and gave them food and clothes, often crying when she heard their tales of distress. 

The Martins extended themselves to the spiritual works of mercy, too: teaching catechism; accompanying the dying and arranging for the priest to visit them; offering Masses for living persons in need as well as for the dead; enrolling their whole family in making novenas for the cure of a sick neighbor or the conversion of a dying one; forgiving a neighbor who sued them in a boundary dispute. 

Today we may not find the poor living in our own neighborhood as Louis and Zelie did.  We might imitate them by participating in service projects as a family, or volunteering with groups or institutions which allow us to serve those in need.  We can support organizations which serve the increasing number of refugees.

In Carmel, Therese gave herself to the spiritual works of mercy.  She devoted her life to prayer, often praying for special intentions recommended by the other nuns or by those outside the monastery; taught, counseled and admonished the novices; and forgave with her whole heart those who hurt her. Most of all, she offered herself to Merciful Love and allowed that love to flow through her. The Pope emphasizes how crucial these works of mercy are:

We cannot escape the Lord’s words to us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged: whether we have fed the hungry and given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger and clothed the naked, or spent time with the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-45). Moreover, we will be asked if we have helped others to escape the doubt that causes them to fall into despair and which is often a source of loneliness; if we have helped to overcome the ignorance in which millions of people live, especially children deprived of the necessary means to free them from the bonds of poverty; if we have been close to the lonely and afflicted; if we have forgiven those who have offended us and have rejected all forms of anger and hate that lead to violence; if we have had the kind of patience God shows, who is so patient with us; and if we have commended our brothers and sisters to the Lord in prayer. In each of these “little ones,” Christ himself is present. His flesh becomes visible in the flesh of the tortured, the crushed, the scourged, the malnourished, and the exiled… to be acknowledged, touched, and cared for by us. Let us not forget the words of Saint John of the Cross: “as we prepare to leave this life, we will be judged on the basis of love” 

Let us not use the words of Christ to make ourselves wrong, but remember that the Jubilee of Mercy is above all a time of grace.  Let's ask St. Therese to celebrate her feast by obtaining from God for us the grace of recognizing his face in every human being we meet and of ministering to him in those in whom he still suffers poverty, illness, and loneliness today, so that one day He will say to us “I was hungry and you fed me . . . come, enter into eternal joy!” 

Time of Personal Prayer

Pray as the Holy Spirit leads you.  Consider reading over paragraph 15 of "Misericordiae Vultus” and pausing wherever your heart feels moved.

The Prayer of Pope Francis for the Jubilee

Click here to read the Prayer of Pope Francis.