St. Therese of Lisieux outfit //

 This is my first Saint inspired outfit. I of course chose my confirmation Saint… Saint Therese of Lisieux. I have a very special devotion and love for her. You can see the post i wrote about my devotion for her on her feast day. If you have any suggestions on any saints you would like me to style let me know. I'll do my best to post Saint outfits when I can. Really looking forward to this project.

Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin was born in Alençon on 2 January 1873 the last of nine children born to Louis and Zélie Martin. Four of the children died before Thérèse was born - Joseph Louis, Joseph-Jean-Baptiste and Mélanie-Thérèse who died in infancy and Hélène who died when she was five. Thérèse and three of her surviving sisters Marie, Pauline and Céline became Carmelite nuns in Lisieux in Normandy a geographical region in the north-west of France. Her fourth sister Léonie entered the Visitantine convent in Caen also in Normandy.

When Thérèse was only four years old her mother Zélie Martin died. After this the family moved to Les Buissonnets in Lisieux, the home where St Thérèse then lived – and described as ‘the gracious nest of my childhood’ - until her entry to the Lisieux Carmel in 1888. It was in Les Buissonnets in 1883 that Thérèse was cured through the smile of the Blessed Virgin Mary of a mysterious illness which had left her seriously ill. It was also here that she received the Grace of Conversion, after midnight Mass on 25 December 1886, about which she wrote in her autobiography ‘I felt charity enter into my soul, and the need to forget myself and to please others’.

From an early age Thérèse wanted to give herself to God; she wrote that ‘from the age of three, I began to refuse nothing of what God asked of me’; she described Céline’s First Holy Communion as ‘one of the most beautiful days of my life’; she became a Child of Mary; she attended daily Mass with her father in the Cathedral of St Pierre in Lisieux. In May 1887 when she was fourteen she asked for and got her father’s permission to enter Carmel. Later that year travelled with her father and her sister Céline to Rome where she asked Pope Leo XIII for his permission to enter Carmel at the age of fifteen.

Thérèse became a Carmelite ‘to save souls and to pray for priests’. As a Carmelite nun Sr Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face devoted her life to God. She lived to a large extent in silence and continual prayer and engaged in the work and recreations of the community. There is a lot of detail - as recorded in St Thérèse of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations – in Thérèse’s reply to Mother Agnes’ query about her various assignments in the Carmel. She was initially assigned to the linen room and the refectory and later became assistant sacristan and was placed in charge of the novices in 1893. She undertook sewing, gardening, painting of religious objects and was a prolific writer.

All the writings of St Thérèse are infused with reference to God and scripture and with prayerfulness. Her works include religious plays, poems, specific prayers, hundreds of letters from before and after her entry to Carmel and providentially her autobiography Story of a Soul in which she articulated her Little Way of Spirituality and her Doctrine of Love. On prayer St Thérèse wrote: ‘For me prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial, as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus’. In 1895 St Thérèse made her Act of Oblation to Merciful Love.

St Thérèse became ill in 1896 and died with great suffering from tuberculosis after almost two years. During this time she also suffered a trial of faith and hope which she offered so that ‘the bright flame of faith’ can shine for those who do not believe. Towards the end of her life St Thérèse said she realized that her mission was about to begin, and she vowed to spend her heaven doing good on earth. She died on 30 September 1897 and was buried in the Lisieux Cemetery on 4 October 1897. Before her canonisation in 1925 the body of St Thérèse was brought to the Lisieux Carmel where today there is a constant stream of visitors and pilgrims to the St Thérèse Shrine. Her Universal Feast Day is celebrated on 1 October each year.

*facts ^^ about St. Therese cited here. 

Sweater // My mothers
Shirt //
Skirt // (similar)
Tights // Target
Shoes // payless

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