Published January 10 2023

So ends Story of a Soul. These last words of Saint Thérèse, in her autobiography, accompany in Lisieux this year 2023 which marks a double Jubilee: the 150th anniversary of the birth of Thérèse Martin in Alençon, on January 2, 1873; the 100th anniversary of the beatification of Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, April 29, 1923.

On the occasion of the jubilee of her birth, Thérèse of Lisieux was included on the list of anniversaries with which UNESCO is associated for the 2022/2023 biennium. The international organization, created in 1945 in the aftermath of the Second World War, honors every two years personalities or institutions who have worked in favor of peace, through education, culture and science.

Through her life, Thérèse of Lisieux discovers herself as a cultured woman whose writings invite us to scrutinize the mystery of man and the mystery of God. Certainly, she is an educator at heart. She takes the risk of losing in order to make the novices entrusted to her grow in her time and to bring us today to what we are becoming, according to each of our vocations. Thérèse of Lisieux reveals to us again “The Science of Love” for which Pope Saint John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church in 1997 (Ms B, 1r°).

At the heart of her vocation, the intense missionary desire that burns her "to announce the Gospel in the five parts of the world and even in the most remote islands" (Ms B, 3r°), led her to the Church, to the "Peripheries", according to the expression of Pope Francis.

Through the planetary pilgrimage of her relics, the missionary dissemination of the universal message of love of Saint Thérèse resonates with the countries visited, often in search of peace. His message resonates with the peoples visited in search of inner peace and a missionary commitment in the service of a more just and fraternal life together.

In 2023 again, we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Martin in Bordeaux, on August 22. Saint Thérèse writes about him, evoking the evening prayer at Les Buissonnets that she had “only to look at him to know how the Saints pray…” (Ms A, 18r°).

May Saint Thérèse, Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, at the heart of the Church, intercede for all of us and for the world, throughout this beautiful new year. Happy Jubilee 2023!.. Happy and Holy New Year!..

Father Olivier Ruffray, Rector of the Sanctuary, for the January issue of the Review Therese of Lisieux

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