Therese Martin, future Saint Therese of Lisieux, was born on January 2, 1873 in Alecon, France. By the age of 15 she had decided upon becoming a cloistered Carmelite after wanting to follow in the footsteps of her sisters but was refused by the Carmelite superior because of her young age. After also being denied entrance by the bishop, Therese even approached Pope Leo XIII while on a pilgrimage with her father and sister. After being forbidden to speak to the Pope, Therese broke the mandatory silence and begged for his approval to be accepted into the Carmelite cloister. Pope Leo XIII was impressed with Therese and she was soon accepted into the cloister and was finally able to join up with her two older sisters. Not even a year into Therese's acceptance, she had grown so ill with a fever that people thought she was on her death bed. Then one day while Therese saw her sisters praying to the Virgin Mary statue in her room, she saw Mary smile at her and was instantly cured.......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 1065
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |