LISIEUX, France (LifeSiteNews) — Catholics in Normandy gathered from May 16–18 to mark the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the cloistered Carmelite known as “The Little Flower,” whose hidden life inspired millions.
Canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 17, 1925, St. Thérèse was born in 1873, entered Carmel at 15, and died at 24. Her posthumous autobiography The Story of a Soul ignited worldwide devotion, with Pope St. Pius X reportedly calling her “the greatest saint of modern times.”
Lisieux commemorated the centenary with a horse-drawn procession of her relics from the convent to St. Peter’s Cathedral and then to the basilica. The anniversary Mass began with a reading of Pope Pius XI’s sermon at the canonization Mass in 1925.
Father Emmanuel Schwab, rector of the sanctuary, explained: “Thérèse’s relics always stir up a lot of emotion and fervor.”
Other activities in Lisieux ranged from pilgrimages and Confessions to historical re-enactments and children’s treasure hunts.
St. Thérèse’s spirituality of “the little way” – trust, humility, and total abandonment to God – was praised by multiple popes. Benedict XV called it “the secret of holiness.”
Pius XI made her patroness of the missions, and said – in the sermon read at the anniversary Mass – that, if her “way of spiritual childhood” was adopted by Catholics, “the reform of human society” would “easily” follow.
Cardinal Alfred Baudrillart, a staunch opponent of modernism and member of the French Academy, saw in Thérèse’s canonization the elevation of her hometown alongside the great spiritual centers of history:
The name [of Lisieux] became united with that of Thérèse, and behold, Lisieux has become a world-city equal to the most celebrated.
As Teresa and Avila, Angela and Foligno, Francis and Assisi, so Thérèse and Lisieux have become inseparable names.
Pilgrims come in crowds, and Lisieux takes its place for the centuries to come, among the holy cities of the world.
The year 1925 also saw two other landmark events marking their centenaries in 2025: Pius XI’s encyclical Quas Primas, instituting the Feast of Christ the King; and Our Lady of Fatima’s first request for the Five First Saturdays devotion of reparation, through Sister Lucia.
The alignment of these three centenaries points to what is needed to “restore all things in Christ” in society: recognition of the rights of God and the Kingship of Christ, reparation for sin, and the humility of St. Thérèse’s little way of trust and love.
