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Thérèse Martin was born January 2, 1873, into a devout Catholic family, and entered the Carmel in Lisieux, France, when she was just 15 years old.

After making her vows three years later, she served her community as sacristan and novice-mistress. By 1894, she had signs of tuberculosis; she would die of the disease in 1897 at the age of 24.

Taking as her personal motto “Love is repaid by love alone,” from St. John of the Cross, Thérèse found the courage to endure hours and days of spiritual darkness that few saints have suffered. Love for the Father, expressed in childlike simplicity and trust—combined with a deep understanding of the mystery of the Cross—formed the basis of her “Little Way.” This “Little Way” makes her one of the popular saints of our times.

She was canonized in 1925 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997.