A good friend on the way to conversion choose Saint Therese of Lisieux as his patron saint.

This is his testimony.

“The little flower” St. Therese of Lisieux.

I have for some time been in contemplation of who to choose for my patron saint

as I approach confirmation at this year’s Easter vigil. My mind originally

gravitated towards St. Joseph, the foster father of our Lord, of who’s prayer I was

initially so enraptured in the earliest course of my Catholic prayer life on my

journey to Rome. Too, I felt a pull towards St. Thomas Aquinas whose

intellectual nature appealed to mine and seemed fitting to my journey.

However, at the behest of a dear friend, whom God has mercifully worked

through to enlighten my path towards the fullness of truth and who had recently

made pilgrimage to Lisieux, I read A story of a Soul.

My how my soul has been endeared toward this “little” saint. I use the term “little”

as the title by which she herself regarded and that of her earthly father St Louis

Martin bestowed in my “little queen.” For St. Therese is anything but little in the

perseverance of her earthly ministry or in Glory of which she now resides in the

eternal love of almighty God.

I am but a poor sinner who struggles mightily with the conditions of the flesh

among which of course is the sin of pride and the desire to cling to things of this

world. St. Therese is a model of one who shunned the trappings and comforts of

this world, picked up her cross and bore it for Christ’s sake and the sake of all

souls, and whom did so humbly. Throughout her diary you perceive that even

while on earth St. Therese lived wholly for heaven. She implored in her “little

way” that we seek the love of Christ and live for Christ in all our actions, even the

“little” ones. It is for these reasons chiefly that I make her my patron. To assist

me as I grow in my love for Christ, to seek to live for Christ in all facets of my life,

and to humbly cling to Christ in all things.

Although those reasons mentioned above reign supreme in my choice of

patronage, I would be remiss if I did not address a few other areas that the

patronage of St. Therese seems to fit my life in every respect.

I have always been enraptured by history and politics. A specific area of history

that has been most compelling is that of the period leading up to and including

World War I. I will not dive deeply into the reasons for this as that is not the

purpose of this letter, however, suffice it to say that St. Therese had a profound

and miraculous influence on many of those who suffered the tragedies and

horrors of this period.

St. Therese famously said, “I will spend my Heaven doing good upon earth.”

The following is a but one account from the soldiers of World War I, that of

French aviator, Léon Bourjade in his war time flight notebook.

“I saw streams of bullets now to my right, now to my left, above and

below—add to the celebration the bursts of cannon fire…

So I admit that I drew in my elbows a little to make myself ‘smaller’…

But Sister Thérèse flies with me.”

These accounts and the experiences of them exceedingly influenced the public in

the cause of St. Therese’s beatification and canonization.

Fitting still, that French aviator Leon Bourjade would go on to become a priest

and missionary to Papua New Guinea in the last years of his life, as St. Therese

was to become a patroness of missionaries at her canonization in 1925.

Her saintly role in this period and especially in aviation is where I again draw

relevancy to the patronage of St. Therese. A lesser-known patronage of St.

Therese of Lisieux is that of aviators, drawn principally from her being a special

favorite of French aviators during the war and the examples of her intercession

on their behalf. I have had a lifelong passion for aviation and myself am an

aviator having earned my pilot’s license. While I will never engage in the type of

flying of those courageous men such as Leon Bourjade it is of great blessing and

comfort to think of St. Therese ever present in this endeavor.

Finally, I spoke of an original inclination towards St. Aquinas. In choosing St.

Therese how appropriate that she be one of only thirty-eight Doctors of the

Church in our nearly 2000 years.

I will conclude with the final words of St. Therese of Lisieux,

“(while looking at her crucifix), Oh!... I love him... My God!, I Love Thee!”

May we all seek to love Christ with the love that St. Therese possessed. With

her intercession, the intercession of all the Holy Saints, and our Blessed Mother,

and through the Power and Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we

all one day dwell in glory and eternal bliss.

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!

Here is an article about the aviator he references.

Below are some videos I took in Lisieux. I hope you enjoy them.