Thérèse of Lisieux honoured by UNESCO in 2022 and 2023

UNESCO has decided to select Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) as one of the anniversaries commemorated by UNESCO in 2022-2023.

Every two years, UNESCO associates itself with the anniversary of personalities or institutions who, through their figures and shared works, promote the same values of humanity in the service of peace and understanding between peoples that the organisation defends.

 Each Member State of UNESCO may then nominate one man and one woman for inclusion in the list of anniversaries with which UNESCO could be associated for the next two years. This is referred to as a "biennium" or "biennial", which takes into account the time span of two years.

At the suggestion of the Shrine of Lisieux, France has chosen to present the figure of Thérèse of Lisieux, born in 1873, with the support of Belgium and Italy. France also presented Gustave Eiffel, who died in 1923.

After an internal selection process, UNESCO has chosen to include Thérèse of Lisieux in its final list of anniversaries commemorated during its 2022/2023 biennial, motivated by her universal personality:

Extract from the presentation of Thérèse de Lisieux to the Executive Council of 25 March 2021

"Thérèse of Lisieux was a nun who died at the age of 24 and is best known for her posthumous publications, including Histoire d'une âme. This celebration will contribute to bringing greater visibility and justice to women who have promoted the values of peace through their actions. Given the fame of Thérèse of Lisieux in the Catholic community (the city of Lisieux being the second most popular place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes), the celebration of her birthday can be an opportunity to highlight the role of women within religions in the fight against poverty and the promotion of inclusion, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 161. It can also reinforce UNESCO's message on the importance of culture (poems and written plays) in promoting universal values and as a vehicle for inter-religious dialogue.”

1 MDG 1: Inclusive quality education for all as a key factor in poverty eradication.

MDG 16: Foster peaceful inclusive societies through education, including peace and human rights education and the provision of education in emergencies. Encourage dialogue between cultures, the culture of peace and non-violence... Strengthen governance systems for culture and fundamental freedoms.    

This article is excerpted from a press release published on the Web site of the Shrine at Lisieux (https://www.therese-de-lisieux.catholique.fr).   I reproduce it here with fervent thanks to the Shrine at Lisieux, the Shrine at Alencon, UNESCO, and all their partners in celebrating this worldwide honor done to Therese].  Look for more information about the universal significance of this award in the days to come.                                      

On 11 November 2021, the General Conference of UNESCO member countries validated the inclusion of Thérèse of Lisieux in the anniversaries with which UNESCO will be associated for the years 2022/2023, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary in 2023 of the birth of Thérèse Martin in Alençon, on 2 January 1873.

 A young French woman known throughout the world, a woman of culture, education and science, Thérèse of Lisieux, through her personality and her work, scans the depths of the human heart and opens up possible answers to the men and women of this world in search of meaning, in search of personal and universal peace.

UNESCO's recognition of Thérèse of Lisieux at the suggestion of France opens up new prospects for the spread of her message of life, peace and love to "the remotest islands", as Thérèse of Lisieux herself put it, to the "peripheries", according to the expression of Pope Francis.

The official reception of this recognition took place on Saturday 4 December 2021 at 3.30 pm in Lisieux at the Halle Saint-Jacques, rue au Char.

Father Olivier Ruffray Rector of the Shrine of Lisieux

Every two years, Unesco honours personalities who, in their own way, have worked and continue to work in the fields of education, the advancement of women, culture, science and peace-building

Known throughout the world, Thérèse, through her works and her testimony, contributes to the promotion of universal values. Through the quality and depth of her life, she speaks a language that transcends borders; that of Love.

 Father Thierry Hénault-Morel Rector of the Shrine of Alençon

[This article is excerpted from a press release published on the Web site of the Shrine at Lisieux (https://www.therese-de-lisieux.catholique.fr).   I reproduce it here with fervent thanks to the Shrine at Lisieux, the Shrine at Alencon, UNESCO, and all their partners in celebrating this worldwide honor done to Therese].  Look for more information about the universal significance of this award in the days to come.

For many years, the world believed that Therese's Story of a Soul, which took the world by storm, had been published on September 30, 1898, the first anniversary of her death.  In fact, it was published on October 20, 1898.  The Archives of the Lisieux Carmel preserve a note by Therese's sister Celine, Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face, giving the date October 21, 1898, but Father Conrad De Meester, in his critical edition Histoire d'une Ame (Paris, Presses de la Renaissance, 2001), shows that it was received at Lisieux on October 21, but was published by Librairie St. Paul at Bar-le-Duc on October 20.  The influence of Therese's published manuscripts has been so great that we must consider October 21, 1898 as a crucial date for the Christian faith.

The splendid Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux tells the story of the publication in its article "Story of a Soul in the making - 1897-1898 - in the details," recounting how Therese's uncle, Isidore Guerin, agreed to finance an edition of 2,000 copies and how he sought bids from several printers.  There you can also read in English translation the first reactions of the readers (some of whom had known Therese) who wrote to Carmel.

We are so accustomed to having these powerful manuscripts that it's hard to imagine the world before they appeared.  I have had the joy of giving them to many young persons on their confirmation and to the bereaved and those in many kinds of trial.  How blessed we are that Therese wrote this story and that it has been shared with the world! 

 Statue of St. Therese of Lisieux as a Doctor of the Church. Courtesy of the Philadelphia Carmel.

A quarter of a century ago, Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed St. Therese of Lisieux a Doctor of the Universal Church: the youngest Doctor and only the third woman.  His reasons, and the reasons of the Church, for doing so are powerfully presented in the Apostolic Letter he issued on that occasion: Divini Amoris Scientia, the "science of the love of God."  This document, his homily at the doctoral Mass, and several other documents on which one can fruitfully reflect on this occasion are gathered on my page "Doctor of the Universal Church" on "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway." 

 So many valuable documents and homilies were offered for that occasion that I want to reflect on what we have experienced, and what Therese has experienced, in her first 25 years as a Doctor. 

• St. Therese has seen the continued travels of her relics throughout the world.  This reverse pilgrimage, in which Therese comes to the people, began in 1994, and continues to this day.  It has been greeted with remarkable enthusiasm, and has been an extraordinary experience of grace.  Among other places, the relics were received by vast crowds in the United States in 1999, in Ireland (where 75% of the population turned out to venerate them) in 2001, and in Australia (where 400,000 people venerated them) in 2002.  More remarkable than the many who came to venerate St. Therese's relics and to pray in their presence has been the atmosphere of deep prayer and the experiences of grace  that accompanied them on their travels.
• St. Therese has seen her parents, Louis and Zelie Martin, beatified in 2008 and canonized, the first saints canonized as a couple, in 2015.  They are a model for achieving holiness as spouses, living out the universal call to holiness of all the baptized, and becoming saints while engaged unreservedly in the life of the family, the Church, and the community.
• St. Therese has seen the opening of the cause for the beatification of her sister, Leonie Martin, Sister Francoise-Therese of the Visitation at Caen, a woman whose life shows that special-needs persons, abused and wounded persons, and those who find their true vocation only late in life can become whole and holy.

To my knowledge, the film "In Search of the Little Flower: The Full Life Story of St. Therese" is the only excellent full-length documentary about St. Therese in English legally available for free viewing on the Internet.  It was produced in 2019 by Sancta Familia Media (Brian Timmons and John Patrick Mallon), two devout young Catholic Scotsmen who traveled to France with their pastor, Fr. James Grant, then press secretary to the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, to make the film in order to help the people of Scotland prepare for the historic first visit of the relics of St.Therese to Scotland.  From then until 2022, more than 58,000 people have viewed it online.  I strongly recommend it.  Feast on it!