Pope Paul VI.  Photo credit: Catholic News Agency

Letter of Pope Paul VI 
to the Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux
on the Occasion of the Centenary 
of the Birth of St.  Thérèse of the Child Jesus

In this year 1973, the centenary of the birth on earth of Thérèse Martin offers itself as a providential light.  How her nearness to God, the simplicity of her prayer, draws hearts to seek the essential! How her hope opens the way to those who doubt God or who suffer from their limitations! How the realism of her love elevates our everyday tasks, transfigures our relationships, in a climate of confidence in the Church! And, from the heights of Heaven, We do not doubt that Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus herself will not stop, in this jubilee year, accomplishing on earth the good she has promised. 

In our time, intimacy with God has become an important, but difficult, goal. 
In effect, we've thrown our suspicions on God; we've framed all our search for God as alienation; a largely secular world tends to distance itself from its source and from the divine purpose and focus solely on the existence and actions of human beings.  And yet the need for a prayer that is contemplative, selfless, and free makes itself felt more and more.  The apostolate itself, at all levels, must be rooted in prayer, united to the Heart of Christ; if not, it would dissolve into an activity that is related to the Gospel only in name.  Faced with this situation, Thérèse remains above all the one who believed passionately in the Love of God; who lived under his gaze in the smallest details of daily life, walking in his presence; who made her whole life a colloquy with the Beloved; and who found there not only an extraordinary spiritual adventure but also the place where she joined the wider horizons and communed intimately with the concerns and needs of the missionary Church.  To all those who today are searching for the essential, who sense the inner dimension of the human person, who seek the Spirit capable of creating true prayer and giving a theological value to their life, We invite them, whether they are contemplatives or apostles, to turn to the Carmelite of Lisieux.   Although she expressed herself in a language necessarily marked by her epoch, she is an incomparable guide on the ways of prayer.    

So today it is important to revive hope.  Many people have experienced harshly the limits of their physical and moral strength.  They feel powerless before the immense problems of the world, with which they rightly feel solidarity.  Their daily work seems to them overwhelming, obscure, and useless.  Also, illness sometimes condemns them to inaction; persecution spreads a suffocating fog over them.  Those who are more lucid are even more aware of their own weakness, their cowardice, their smallness.  The meaning of life can no longer be made clear; the silence of God, as some say, can be oppressive.  Some resign themselves passively; others focus on their selfishness or on their immediate gratification; others become hardened or rebel; still others finally despair.  To each and every one, Thérèse “of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face” proclaims: learn to rely not on yourself, whether on your virtue or on your limitations, but instead to depend upon the mysterious Love of Christ, which is greater than our hearts and which unites us with the offering of his passion and with the power of his Life.  She can teach us all to follow the “royal little way” of the spirit of childhood, which is the opposite of childishness, of passivity, of sadness!  Cruel trials within her family, scruples, fears, and other difficulties seemed very likely to thwart Thérèse’s development; she was not spared severe sickness in her youth; moreover, she experienced profoundly the night of faith.  And yet God made her find, in the midst of this very night, confident abandonment and ourage, patience, and joy--in a word, true freedom.  We invite all people of good will, especially the little and the humbled, to meditate on this paradox of hope.

Finally, We see as a highly desirable quality for our time the realistic integration into the Christian community where we are called to live in the present moment.  Many Christians have difficulty seeing how to reconcile concretely their personal development with the practical requirements of religious obedience or life in common; freedom and authority; holiness and the institution; the truth of relationships and charity; the diversity of charisms and unity; everyday realism and the “prophetic” challenge of the present .  .  . St. Thérèse found herself constantly confronted with such problems.  It would be pointless, of course, to look to her for a modern formulation of these issues, much less for systematic solutions.  But we cannot deny the luminous insights that informed her daily contacts with her Sisters--especially with the novices who were her companions--and her integration into the narrow confines of monastic life.  With the delicacy of her sensitivity, the clarity of her judgment, her desire to simplify, and her commitment to the fundamentals, we can say that she followed the Spirit, forged an original path, let her own spiritual personality blossom, and allowed many souls to achieve new  growth, each in its own way.  But to do this, she never strayed from obedience; she knew how to use with realism the humble means which her community offered her and which the Church put at her disposal.  Thérèse did not wait, before beginning to act, for an ideal lifestyle or a perfect community; instead, she helped to change things from within.  Humility is the space of love.  The value of our acts is measured by their price in love.  Her quest for the Absolute and the transcendence of her charity allowed her to overcome obstacles, or, rather, to transfigure these limitations.  It is with confidence that she identified herself right away with the essence of the Church, its Heart, which is not separated at all from the Heart of Jesus.  May she obtain today, for all her Catholic brothers and sisters, this love for the Church, our Mother!

Yes, by Thérèse’s example, through her intercession, We hope to receive great graces.  That the laity might enjoy the taste for the inner life, the power of unblemished charity, never separating their earthly work from the reality of heaven.  That religious men and women might feel strengthened in their total gift of self to the Lord.  That priests, for whom Thérèse prayed so fervently, might fully understand the beauty of their ministry in the service of divine Love.  And that young people, whose generosity or faith may falter today at the prospect of an absolute and definitive consecration, might discover the possibility and the price of such a vocation, near Thérèse, who stood ready even before age fifteen to renounce all that was not God, the better to devote her life to “loving Jesus and to making Him loved.  ” As she said on her deathbed, she did not regret having “surrendered herself to Love.”  God the Father is faithful; Jesus’ love will never fail; the Holy Spirit comes to help us in our weakness.  And our Church needs, above all, holiness.

  In expressing these wishes of an ardent heart, We encourage you,then, dear Brother bishop, to make every effort to ensure that the message of the saint of Lisieux is again proposed, meditated upon, and presented in a manner corresponding to the spiritual needs of our time.  We congratulate you on the welcome that your diocese prepares for pilgrims in the atmosphere of joy, simplicity, and reverence suitable to this religious event.  We urge priests, educators, and preachers to make her message the theme of their sermons, their catechesis, their retreats, their pilgrimages, and theologians also to examine the spiritual doctrine of St.  Thérèse of the Child Jesus.  It is a joy for Us to learn that many good publications are helping to draw still more attention to this holy soul, to give a profound echo of her spiritual journey, with the necessary respect for the authenticity of the facts and for the mysterious role of grace.  We also invite pilgrims of Alençon and of Lisieux to pray for our ministry as universal Pastor.  And to you yourself, to all those who seek to go farther into the way opened by St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, and especially to the dear Carmelite nuns, We address, with our paternal encouragement, our Apostolic Blessing.  

Vatican, January 2, 1973

Paulus PP .  VI

[On the centenary of the birth of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, January 2, 1973, Pope Paul VI wrote this letter to Mgr Jean Badré (1913-2001), bishop of the diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux.  Mgr Badré served with distinction as a soldier in World War II; he was active in the French Resistance and was bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux from 1970 to 1988.  Pope John Paul II referred to this letter in his Apostolic Letter, "Divini Amoris Scientia," naming St. Therese a doctor of the Church. Please see the original letter in French on the Vatican Web site. 

I am happy to present the English translation of this letter in honor of the beatification of Pope Paul VI on Mission Sunday, October 19, 2014.  The translation is copyright 2014 by Maureen O'Riordan for "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway."  For more about the relationship between Pope Paul VI and St. Therese, please see my article "Pope Paul VI to be beatified on Mission Sunday, October 19, 2014; his bond with St. Therese of Lisieux"].

Pope Paul VI

 The Vatican announced today that Pope Francis has approved the promulgation of the decree for the beatification of Pope Paul VI, formerly Giovanni Cardinal Montini.  The ceremony of beatification is scheduled for October 19, 2014, Mission Sunday.  It will happen at the concusion of the Third Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, according to Vatican Radio.  That date is the 17th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's proclamation of St. Therese of Lisieux as a Doctor of the Church and the sixth anniversary of the beatification of her parents, Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin.  Both these ceremonies also fell on Mission Sunday.

 Healing of a child in California in 2001 certified as beatification miracle

Last Tuesday, May 6, Vatican Insider  reported that the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints had voted unanimously to approve the miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope Paul VI. In 2001 a woman in California was expecting a baby, and her doctors predicted that the unborn child had such serious problems that it would either die in the womb or be born with severe kidney trouble.  The mother refused an abortion.  A nun who was a friend of the family urged her to pray to the late Pope, and the child was born safely in his 39th week.  The child, who has not been named, is now 13 and in good health. Read the details of the healing in Vatican Insider.

The bond between Pope Paul VI and St. Therese of Lisieux

 "I was born to the Church the day Saint Therese was born to heaven"

Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini was born on September 26, 1897 in Lombardy.  He was baptized on September 30, 1897, the day St. Therese died.  Later, when he became Pope, he received the ad limina visit of the bishop of Seez, the diocese where Therese was born, and said:

I was born to the Church on the day on which the Saint was born to heaven. That tells you just how special the links tying me to her are. My mother acquainted me with Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus whom she loved. I’ve read the Histoire d’une âme several times, the first time in my youth."1

When he received the distinguished French author Jean Guitton, Pope Paul VI said to him:

"You know that I was baptized in 1897, on the day when Thérèse Martin, later Thérèse of the Child Jesus, passed away in France. On one of the secret notes she made before her death (cf. Last Conversations), Thérèse said: `When I am dead, I shall visit the cradles of baptized infants'. On pilgrimage in Rome, she had encountered some mediocre priests; instead of criticizing them and retreating to the periphery, she resolved to place herself at the very heart of things, in love alone. I shall read you what she said about this in the `Story of a Soul"'. Taking the book, the Pope read out the famous passage: "I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and places. I cried out: I have found my place in the Church. My vocation is love."
(Reported by Jean Guitton, who adds: "Paul VI did not read me the French text, but the Latin translation in the breviary.")2

In his speech at a concert marking the centenary of the birth of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II recalled this coincidence of dates:

In mentioning Concesio, the birthplace of Giovanni Battista Montini, I naturally think of his family home and the baptismal font where he received the sacrament of new birth on the very day that — how can we fail to remember it? — the soul of St Thérèse of Lisieux departed this world. We can certainly link the spirituality of this Carmelite saint with the religious desire of Pope Paul VI, who expressed his great love for Christ through his long, wise service to the Church.3

1938: Pope Paul VI writes to the Lisieux Carmel about his lifelong devotion to St. Therese

As early as 1938, when he was "Substitute for Ordinary Affairs" under Cardinal Pacelli, who was then Vatican Secretary of State but later Pope Pius XII, the future Cardinal Montini wrote to the Carmel of Lisieux that he "had been following 'for a long time and with the liveliest interest the development of the Carmel convent of Lisieux.' And added that he had 'great devotion to Saint Teresa, a little relic of whom I keep on my work table.'"4

 1970: Pope Paul VI opened the way for St. Therese to be Declared a Doctor of the Church

 As we know, it was Pope John Paul II who, on October 19, 1997, declared St. Therese a Doctor of the Church.  But this could never have happened had not Pope Paul VI named the first two women, Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Avila, Doctors of the Church on September 27, 1970.  In fact, the demand among the people and the bishops for Therese to be named a doctor began at her canonization in 1925, but, because she was a woman, the Vatican ordered the gathering of the signatures of the world's bishops stopped in the 1930s.  In "Therese: A Doctor of the Third Millennium," their circular letter to the Carmelite family when Therese's doctorate was announced, the general superiors of the two branches of the Carmelite Order, Father Camillo Maccise, O.C.D., and Father Joseph Chalmers, O. Carm. give the history:

I. A LONG ROAD TOWARDS THE DOCTORATE

First Steps

4. Already from the time of her canonization, there was no lack of bishops, preachers, theologians, and faithful from different countries who sought to have our sister Thérèse of Lisieux declared a Doctor of the Church. This flow of petitions in favor of the doctorate became official in 1932 on the occasion of the inauguration of the crypt of the Basilica at Lisieux, which was accompanied by a congress at which five cardinals, fifty bishops, and a great number of faithful participated. On June 30, Fr. Gustave Desbuquois, SJ, with clear and precise theological argument, spoke of Thérèse of Lisieux as Doctor of the Church. Surprisingly, his proposal had the support of many of the participants, bishops, and theologians. This positive reaction to the suggestion of Fr. Desbuquois spread universally. Mons. Clouthier, Bishop of Trois Rivières, Canada, wrote to all the bishops of the world in order to prepare a petition to the Holy See. By 1933 he had already received 342 positive replies from bishops who supported the proposal to have Thérèse of Lisieux declared a Doctor of the Church.

The Obstacle of Being a Woman

5 The petition of Fr. Desbuquois was presented to Pope Pius XI, along with a letter of Mother Agnes of Jesus, sister of Therese and prioress of the Lisieux Carmel. She informed the Pope about the great success of the Theresian Congress. On 31 August 1932, Cardinal Pacelli, Secretary of State, replied to Mother Agnes' letter on behalf of the Pope. He was very pleased about the positive results of the congress, but added that it would be better not to speak of Thérèse's doctorate yet, even though, "Her doctrine never ceased to be for him a sure light for souls searching to know the spirit of the Gospel."

However, the time was not yet ripe for a woman to be declared a Doctor of the Church. In fact, Pope Pius XI had already replied negatively to the Carmelites' petition to have St. Teresa of Jesus, "Mother of Spiritual People" declared doctor. The petition was turned down because she was a woman. "Obstat sexus" ("Her sex stands in the way"), the Pope replied, adding that he would leave the decision to his successor. After the Vatican's negative response, and by its order, the gathering of signatures in favor of Thérèse of Lisieux's doctorate was interrupted.

Circumstances Change

6. Teresa of Jesus and Catherine of Siena's declaration as Doctors of the Church in 1970 eliminated completely any obstacle to naming a woman doctor. As a result, the proposal for the doctorate of Thérèse of Lisieux was taken up again.

In 1973, the centenary of her birth, Mgr. Garrone stated the question anew: "Could St. Thérèse of Lisieux become some day a Doctor of the Church? I respond affirmatively, without hesitation, encouraged by what has happened to the great St. Teresa and St. Catherine of Siena."

 It was Pope Paul VI who not only gave the Church Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Avila as Doctor of the Church but also removed the "obstacle" of St. Therese's gender, which had stalled her movement to the Doctorate for nearly forty years.  How much we owe him.

1971: Thoughts pf Pope Paul VI about St. Therese's Spirituality

In a general audience on December 29, 1971, Pope Paul called Therese

she who taught in our day the spirit of childhood.  Spiritual childhood is one of the liveliest religious currents of our time.  It has nothing immature or affected about it.  Expressed in simple and innocent language, it is certainly derived from the paradoxical but always divine saying of Jesus: "Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the reign of God."  (Mt 18:3).  . . . The basis of this evangelical spirituality could not be more authoritative.  It unfolds according to a humility not only moral but also theological and metaphysical, if I may say so: the humility of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:38, 48), the humility of the wise, who have a sense of the transcendence of God and of the absolute dependence of the creature on the Creator; a humility all the more justified when the creature is something, because all depends on God, and the confrontation between our every limitation and the Infinite obliges us to bow our heads.  And humility, in this spiritual school, unites with confidence, because of how many signs God has given us of His goodness and His love.  If He wants to be called Father, our spirits must be filled with the filial spirit, and with a filial spirit, a childlike spirit full of faith and abandonment. This is the spiritual childhoood, which, at the school of the tradition of the Church, St. Therese of the Child Jesus sums up:  "It's the way of confidence, of complete abandonment."5 

June 9, 1964:  Paul VI and the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved the writings of the Servants of God, Louis and Zelie Martin.

1971: Paul VI unites the two causes for sainthood of Louis and Zelie Martin

The cause for Louis Martin was opened in the diocese of Bayeux on March 22, 1957.  The cause for Zelie Guerin Martin was opened in the diocese of Sees on October 10, 1957.  Their last surviving daughter, Celine (Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face) had the joy of testifying about them before she died in 1959.  In 1971, for the first time in the history of the Church, Paul VI, finding that they became holy as spouses, ordered that the two causes be united into one single cause.  He laid the foundation for their being beatified together in 2008.6  (An Italian couple, Blessed Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Blessed Maria Corsini, were beatified in 2001.  Their cause, however, was introduced only in 1994, long after Paul VI united the causes of Louis and Zelie).

1973: Paul VI offers St. Therese of Lisieux as a teacher of prayer and hope

In 1973, on the occasion of the centenary of Therese's birth, Pope Paul VI wrote a letter to Jean-Marie-Clement-Badre, then bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux, and "offered her as a teacher of prayer and theological virtue of hope, and a model of communion with the Church, calling the attention of teachers, educators, pastors and theologians themselves to the study of her doctrine."7  

 Pope Paul VI opened the way for St. Therese to be recognized as a Doctor of the Church and for Louis and Zelie Martin to be declared a blessed couple.  How fitting that he will be declared blessed on the same date, October 19, and the same liturgical feast, Mission Sunday, on which Therese was named a Doctor of the Church and on which Louis and Zelie were declared blessed.

Copyright Maureen O'Riordan 2014.  All rights reserved.  If you want to make use of this story, please apply to me for written permission.

 _____________________

1"The Popes and Little Teresa of the Child Jesus," by Giovanni Ricciardi, in the May 2003 issue of 30 Days in the Church and in the World. 

2"Popes" at "St. Therese of Lisieux, The Little Flower"

3"Address of His Holiness Pope John Paul II at a Concert Marking the Anniversary of the Birth of Pope Paul VI."

4"The Popes and Little Teresa of the Child Jesus,", Ricciardi, op. cit.

5 General Audience of Pope Paul VI, December 29, 1971

6Biographical Profile of the Venerable Servants of God Louis Martin and Zelie Martin.

7Quoted in the "Saint Therese Calendar 2014" published by the St. Therese National Office in Dublin, Ireland.

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