If you read the accounts of the sister of St Therese who was in the convent, she tells of what Therese said while she was close to death. She did say she was a saint. I dont see why some malignant trolls on Cathinfo feel they can contradict an obvious historical fact. The replies with opinions show you have no clue what you talk about, I have read many books on this saint, and what I say is true. Dont tempt me to call the resistance a bunch of self important idiots.

Quote from: soulguard

If you read the accounts of the sister of St Therese who was in the convent, she tells of what Therese said while she was close to death. She did say she was a saint. I dont see why some malignant trolls on Cathinfo feel they can contradict an obvious historical fact. The replies with opinions show you have no clue what you talk about, I have read many books on this saint, and what I say is true. Dont tempt me to call the resistance a bunch of self important idiots.

The definition of a saint in a dead sinner. I doubt St. Therese said that.

If I recall correctly, she said something in the context that her heaven would be spent on earth that she thought her vocation was to be a priest.

"I will spend my heaven doing good on the earth"
Yet another obvious hint that she believed she was a saint.

that she thought her vocation was to be a priest.

She called it a "little desire" in her heart, that she would have wanted to be a priest; that's all.

While I await SG's post of when & where St. Therese said that she WAS a saint, let me say that St. Therese desired to always do God's will & not her own & thus attain Heaven.   I think that SG must be confusing her with Sr. Faustina who seemed to have a magnified importance of herself.
St. Therese also knew her place & had a deep respect for the priesthood which would cause her to have a desire to be a priest IF she could, BUT knew that this was not God's will. She also wanted to be a missionary if she could, and even a martyr.  

As far as her writings - she did not write because she simply wanted to.  She wrote only under obedience.  Her sister IRL, who was also a sister in the convent and her Superior, told her to write her story and she did.    

Quote from: soulguard

If you read the accounts of the sister of St Therese who was in the convent, she tells of what Therese said while she was close to death. She did say she was a saint.

Then maybe you can quote her sister; not quite the same though.

I don't have the book anymore, but I speak the truth.

While I await SG's post of when & where St. Therese said that she WAS a saint,

You'll be waiting forever because she never uttered the words, nor did she write them.

let me say that St. Therese desired to always do God's will & not her own & thus attain Heaven.   I think that SG must be confusing her with Sr. Faustina who seemed to have a magnified importance of herself.

That would be just stupid if it was supposed to be another person.  In her final hours St. Therese was terrified that she might commit a mortal sin and lose her salvation.  She was extremely scrupulous, to a fault, so attested her confessor, of course, without revealing any details, because she had made no secret of her torments over scruples for many years, talking to her family members about it.  She was anxious to get workable answers to a deep-seated problem.  But she ended up bearing that cross to the bitter end, and did so with joy, if that makes any sense.  She was actually joyful in her sufferings.  And that is not something that human nature can understand, without the grace of God.

St. Therese also knew her place & had a deep respect for the priesthood which would cause her to have a desire to be a priest IF she could, BUT knew that this was not God's will. She also wanted to be a missionary if she could, and even a martyr.  

Her own confessor testified to the Church that he was of the opinion that St. Therese had never committed even ONE mortal sin in her whole life.

This raises a theological question, whereby the doctrine comes into play, that God sets a limit on the number of mortal sins you can commit, before you "run out" of His mercy.  Some children beyond the age of reason commit one mortal sin, and then die.  Their fate is sealed.  Those who die BEFORE they reach their limit, and receive absolution for their past sins or somehow achieve perfect contrition at the time of death, are saved.  But those who commit more mortal sins than their limit are generally damned.  And almost no one knows what his own limit is, or whether he has already passed it.  Some of the saints may have known.  But in the case of St. Therese, even if her LIMIT had been ONE, she did not fail the test!  

The Church has awarded her the honor of being the official PATRONESS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS, even though she never traveled outside of her native land for the purpose of evangelizing in missionary work.  Her life of prayer as a religious in a convent was her way of helping the missions.  There have been other women saints who were really missionaries, such as Mother Cabrini, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, but they did not get to be named Patroness of Foreign Missions.

So in the end, she got her wish of being a missionary because of the title she posthumously received, a first in the history of the Church, and likewise, she did achieve a kind of martyrdom, albeit a dry one, for she suffered to the last moment with joy and willing submission to the will of God.  There is no finer example of this to be found, IMHO.

As far as her writings - she did not write because she simply wanted to.  She wrote only under obedience.  Her sister IRL, who was also a sister in the convent and her Superior, told her to write her story and she did.    

True, that.  When she wrote what would become A Story of a Soul, she had no idea it would ever be published.  That was a series of private letters addressed actually, to her sister, mostly, which she wrote, as you say, under obedience.  It would have been a cause of much anxiety for her to have anticipated they would be published later.  And it was this innocence of private intercourse with her own real life sister that bestows such an abiding intimacy in the words, and is then a big part of why the book was such an instant, worldwide sensation.  It remains even today one of the most popular books of all time.


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