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APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
C’EST LA CONFIANCE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
ON CONFIDENCE IN THE MERCIFUL LOVE OF GOD
FOR THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF
SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS AND THE HOLY
FACE
1. “C’est la confiance et rien que la confiance
qui doit nous conduire à l’Amour”.
“It is confidence and nothing but confidence
that must lead us to Love”. [1]
2. These striking words of Saint Therese of the
Child Jesus and the Holy Face say it all. They
sum up the genius of her spirituality and would
suffice to justify the fact that she has been
named a Doctor of the Church. Confidence,
“nothing but confidence”, is the sole path that
leads us to the Love that grants everything.
With confidence, the wellspring of grace
overflows into our lives, the Gospel takes flesh
within us and makes us channels of mercy for our
brothers and sisters.
3. It is confidence that sustains us daily and
will enable us to stand before the Lord on the
day when he calls us to himself: “In the evening
of this life, I shall appear before you with
empty hands, for I do not ask you, Lord, to
count my works. All our justice is stained in
your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in your
own Justice and to receive from your Love the
eternal possession of yourself”. [2]
4. Saint Therese is one of the best known and
most beloved saints in our world. Like Saint
Francis of Assisi, she is loved by
non-Christians and nonbelievers as well. In
addition, she has been recognized by UNESCO as
one of the most significant figures for
contemporary humanity. [3] We would do well to
delve more deeply into her message as we
commemorate the 150th anniversary of her birth
in Alençon (2 January 1873) and the centenary of
her beatification. [4] Yet I have not chosen to
issue this Exhortation on either of those dates,
or on her liturgical Memorial, so that this
message may transcend those celebrations and be
taken up as part of the spiritual treasury of
the Church. Its publication on the liturgical
Memorial of Saint Teresa of Avila is a way of
presenting Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and
the Holy Face as the mature fruit of the reform
of the Carmel and of the spirituality of the
great Spanish saint.
5. The earthly life of Saint Therese was brief,
a mere twenty-four years, and completely
ordinary, first in her family and then in the
Carmel of Lisieux. The extraordinary burst of
light and love that she radiated came to be
known soon after her death, with the publication
of her writings and thanks to the countless
graces bestowed on the faithful who invoked her
intercession.
6. The Church quickly recognized her great
significance and the distinctiveness of her
evangelical spirituality. Therese met Pope Leo
XIII during a pilgrimage to Rome in 1887 and
asked his permission to enter the Carmel at the
age of fifteen. Not long after her death, Saint
Pius X, sensing her spiritual grandeur, stated
that she would become the greatest saint of
modern times. Therese was declared Venerable in
1921 by Pope Benedict XV, who, in praising her
virtues, saw them embodied in her “little way”
of spiritual childhood. [5] She was beatified a
century ago and then canonized on 17 May 1925 by
Pope Pius XI, who thanked the Lord for granting
that she be the first Blessed whom he raised to
the honour of the altars and the first Saint
whom he canonized. [6] In 1927, the same Pope
declared her the Patroness of the Missions. [7]
Therese was proclaimed one of the patron saints
of France in 1944 by Venerable Pius XII, [8] who
on several occasions developed the theme of
spiritual childhood. [9] Saint Paul VI liked to
recall that he was baptized on 30 September
1897, the day of her death, and on the centenary
of her birth he wrote a Letter on her teaching
to the Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux. [10] On 2
June 1980, during his first Apostolic Journey to
France, Saint John Paul II visited the Basilica
dedicated to her, and in 1997 declared her a
Doctor of the Church. [11] He also referred to
Therese as “an expert in the scientia amoris”.
[12] Pope Benedict XVI returned to the subject
of her “science of love” and proposed it as “a
guide for all, especially those in the people of
God who carry out their ministry as
theologians”. [13] Finally, in 2015, I had the
joy of canonizing her parents, Louis and Zelie,
during the Synod on the Family. More recently, I
devoted one of my weekly General Audience talks
to Saint Therese, as part of a cycle of
catecheses on apostolic zeal. [14]
1. Jesus for others
7. In the name that Therese chose as a
religious, Jesus stands out as the “Child” who
manifests the mystery of the Incarnation, and
the “Holy Face” of the one who surrendered
himself completely on the Cross. She is “Saint
Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face”.
8. The name of Jesus was constantly on her lips,
as an act of love, even to her last breath. She
had also written these words in her cell: “Jesus
is my one love”. It was her interpretation of
the supreme statement of the New Testament: “God
is love” (1 Jn 4:8.16).
A missionary soul
9. As with every authentic encounter with
Christ, this experience of faith summoned her to
mission. Therese could define her mission in
these words: “I shall desire in heaven the same
thing as I do now on earth: to love Jesus and to
make him loved”. [15] She wrote that she entered
Carmel “to save souls”. [16] In a word, she did
not view her consecration to God apart from the
pursuit of the good of her brothers and sisters.
She shared the merciful love of the Father for
his sinful son and the love of the Good Shepherd
for the sheep who were lost, astray and wounded.
For this reason, Therese is the Patroness of the
missions and a model of evangelization.
10. The final pages of her Story of a Soul [17]
are a missionary testament. They express her
appreciation of the fact that evangelization
takes place by attraction [18], not by pressure
or proselytism. It is worthwhile reading her own
words in this regard: “ Draw me, we shall run
after you in the odour of your ointments. O
Jesus! It is not even necessary to say: When
drawing me, draw the souls whom I love! This
simple statement, ‘Draw me’ suffices. I
understand, Lord, that when a soul allows
herself to be captivated by the odour of your
ointments, she cannot run alone; all the souls
whom she loves follow in her train; this is done
without constraint, without effort, it is a
natural consequence of her attraction for you.
Just as a torrent, throwing itself with
impetuosity into the ocean, drags after it
everything it encounters in its passage, in the
same way, O Jesus, the soul who plunges into the
shoreless ocean of your Love, draws with her all
the treasures she possesses. Lord, you know it,
I have no other treasures than the souls it has
pleased you to unite to mine”. [19]
11. In this passage, Therese quotes the words of
the bride to the bridegroom in the Song of Songs
(1:3-4), following the profound interpretation
found in the writings of the doctors of Carmel,
Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the
Cross. The bridegroom is Jesus, the Son of God
who united himself to our humanity in the
Incarnation and redeemed it on the Cross. There,
from his open side, he gave birth to the Church,
his beloved bride, for which he gave his life
(cf. Eph 5:25). What is striking is that
Therese, conscious of her own impending death,
did not approach this mystery merely as a source
of personal consolation, but in a fervent
apostolic spirit.
The grace that sets us free from self-absorption
12. We see something similar when Therese speaks
of the working of the Holy Spirit, which
immediately takes on a missionary hue: “That is
my prayer. I ask Jesus to draw me to the flames
of his love, to unite me so closely to him that
he live and act in in me. I feel that the more
the fire of love burns within my heart, the more
I shall say ‘Draw me’: the more also the souls
who will approach me (poor little piece of iron,
useless if I withdraw from the divine furnace),
the more these souls will run swiftly in the
odour of the ointments of their Beloved, for a
soul that is burning with love cannot remain
inactive”. [20]
13. In the heart of Therese, the grace of
baptism became this impetuous torrent flowing
into the ocean of Christ’s love and dragging in
its wake a multitude of brothers and sisters.
This is what happened, especially after her
death. It was her promised “shower of roses”.
[21]
2. The little way of trust and love
14. One of the most important insights of
Therese for the benefit of the entire People of
God is her “little way”, the path of trust and
love, also known as the way of spiritual
childhood. Everyone can follow this way,
whatever their age or state in life. It is the
way that the heavenly Father reveals to the
little ones (cf. Mt 11:25).
15. In the Story of a Soul, [22] Therese tells
how she discovered the little way: “I can, then,
in spite of my littleness, aspire to holiness.
It is impossible for me to grow up, and so I
must bear with myself such as I am, with all my
imperfections. But I want to seek out a means of
going to heaven by a little way, a way that is
very straight, very short, and totally new”.
[23]
16. To describe that way, she uses the image of
an elevator: “the elevator which must raise me
to heaven is your arms, O Jesus! And for this, I
had no need to grow up, but rather I had to
remain little and become this more and more”.
[24] Little, incapable of being confident in
herself, and yet firmly secure in the loving
power of the Lord’s arms.
17. This is the “sweet way of love” [25] that
Jesus sets before the little and the poor,
before everyone. It is the way of true
happiness. In place of a Pelagian notion of
holiness, [26] individualistic and elitist, more
ascetic than mystical, that primarily emphasizes
human effort, Therese always stresses the
primacy of God’s work, his gift of grace. As a
result, she could say: “I always feel, however,
the same bold confidence of becoming a great
saint, because I don’t count on my merits, since
I have none, but I trust in him who is Virtue
and Holiness. God alone, content with my weak
efforts, will raise me to himself and make me a
saint, clothing me in his infinite merits”. [27]
Apart from all merit
18. This way of speaking is in no way opposed to
the traditional Catholic teaching on the
increase of grace, namely, that once
gratuitously justified by sanctifying grace, we
are changed and enabled to cooperate by our good
works in a process of growth in holiness.
Through this “elevation”, we can possess real
merits by virtue of the development of the grace
received.
19. Therese, for her part, wished to highlight
the primacy of God’s action; she encourages us
to have complete confidence as we contemplate
the love of Christ poured out to the end. At the
heart of her teaching is the realization that,
since we are incapable of being certain about
ourselves, [28] we cannot be sure of our merits.
Hence, it is not possible to trust in our own
efforts or achievements. The Catechism chose to
quote the words that Saint Therese addressed to
the Lord: “I will appear before you with empty
hands”, [29] in order to express that “the
saints have always had a lively awareness that
their merits were pure grace”. [30] This
conviction gives rise to a joyful and tender
gratitude.
20. It is most fitting, then, that we should
place heartfelt trust not in ourselves but in
the infinite mercy of a God who loves us
unconditionally and has already given us
everything in the Cross of Jesus Christ. [31]
For this reason, Therese never uses the
expression, common enough in her day, “I will
become a saint”.
21. Even so, her boundless confidence encourages
all who feel frail, limited and sinful to let
themselves be elevated and transformed in order
to reach greater heights. “If all weak and
imperfect souls felt what the least of souls
feels, that is, the soul of your little Therese,
not one would despair of reaching the summit of
the mount of love. Jesus does not demand great
actions from us, but simply surrender and
gratitude”. [32]
22. This insistence of Therese on God’s
initiative leads her, when speaking of the
Eucharist, to put first not her desire to
receive Jesus in Holy Communion, but rather the
desire of Jesus to unite himself to us and to
dwell in our hearts. [33] In her Act of Oblation
to Merciful Love, saddened by her inability to
receive communion each day, she tells Jesus:
“Remain in me as in a tabernacle”. [34] Her gaze
remained fixed not on herself and her own needs,
but on Christ, who loves, seeks, desires and
dwells within.
Daily abandonment
23. The confidence that Therese proposes has to
do with more than our individual sanctification
and salvation. It has an integral meaning that
embraces the totality of concrete existence and
finds application in our daily lives, where we
are often assailed by fears, the desire for
human security, the need to have everything
under control. Here we see the importance of her
invitation to a holy “abandonment”.
24. The complete confidence that becomes an
abandonment in Love sets us free from obsessive
calculations, constant worry about the future
and fears that take away our peace. In her final
days, Therese insisted on this: “We who run in
the way of love shouldn’t be thinking of
suffering that can take place in the future;
it’s a lack of confidence”. [35] If we are in
the hands of a Father who loves us without
limits, this will be the case come what may; we
will be able to move beyond whatever may happen
to us and, in one way or another, his plan of
love and fullness will come to fulfilment in our
lives.
Fire burning in the night
25. Therese experienced faith most powerfully
and surely in the midst of the dark night and
especially amid the darkness of Calvary. Her
witness culminated in the final months of her
life, in the great “trial against the faith”
[36] that began at Easter of 1896. In her
account, [37] she directly relates this period
of testing to the painful reality of the atheism
of her time. The last years of the nineteenth
century were the “golden age” of modern atheism
as a philosophical and ideological system. When
she wrote that Jesus allowed her soul “to be
invaded by the thickest darkness”, [38] she was
evoking the darkness of atheism and the
rejection of the Christian faith. In union with
Jesus, who took upon himself all the darkness of
the sin of the world when he willed to drink
from the cup of the Passion, Therese came to
appreciate its underlying sense of despair and
sheer emptiness. [39]
26. Yet darkness cannot overcome the light:
Therese had been conquered by the One who came
as light into the world (cf. Jn 12:46). [40] Her
account reveals the heroic nature of her faith,
her triumph in spiritual combat with the most
powerful temptations. She felt herself a sister
to atheists, seated with them at table, like
Jesus who sat with sinners (cf. Mt 9:10-13). She
interceded for them, ever renewing her own act
of faith, in constant loving communion with the
Lord: “I run toward my Jesus. I tell him I am
ready to shed my blood to the last drop to
profess faith in the existence of heaven. I tell
him, too, that I am happy not to enjoy this
beautiful heaven on this earth so that he will
open it for all eternity to poor unbelievers”.
[41]
27. Together with faith, Therese experienced a
deep and boundless trust in God’s infinite
mercy: “confidence that must lead us to Love”.
[42] Even in her darkness, she experienced the
complete trust of a child that finds refuge,
unafraid, in the embrace of its father and
mother. For Therese, the one God is revealed
above all else in his mercy, which is the key to
understanding everything else that can be said
of him: “To me he has granted his infinite mercy
and through it I contemplate and adore the other
divine perfections! All of these perfections
appear to be resplendent with love, even his
Justice (and perhaps this even more so than the
others) seems to me clothed in love”. [43] This
is one of the loftiest insights of Therese, one
of her major contributions to the entire People
of God. In an extraordinary way, she probed the
depths of divine mercy, and drew from them the
light of her limitless hope.
A most firm hope
28. Before entering the Carmel, Therese had felt
a remarkable spiritual closeness to one of the
most unfortunate of men, the criminal Henri
Pranzini, sentenced to death for a triple murder
for which he was unrepentant. [44] By having
Masses offered for him and praying with complete
confidence for his salvation, she was convinced
that she was drawing him ever closer to the
blood of Jesus, and she told God that she was
sure that at the last moment he would pardon him
“even if he went to his death without any signs
of repentance”. As the reason for her certainty,
she stated: “I was absolutely confident in the
mercy of Jesus”. [45] How great was her emotion
when she learned that Pranzini, after mounting
the scaffold, “suddenly, seized by an
inspiration, turned, took hold of the crucifix
the priest was holding out to him and kissed the
sacred wounds three times!” [46] This intense
experience of hoping against all hope proved
fundamental for her: “After this unique grace,
my desire to save souls grows each day”. [47]
29. Therese was conscious of the tragic reality
of sin, yet she remained constantly immersed in
the mystery of Christ, certain that “where sin
increased, grace abounded all the more” ( Rom
5:20). The sin of the world is great but not
infinite, whereas the merciful love of the
Redeemer is indeed infinite. Therese testifies
to the definitive victory of Jesus, through his
passion, death and resurrection, over all the
powers of evil. Filled with confidence, she
dared to explain: “Jesus, allow me to save very
many souls; let no soul be lost today… Jesus,
pardon me if I say anything I should not say. I
only want to give you joy and to console you”.
[48] This now leads us to consider another
aspect of the breath of fresh air that is the
message of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and
the Holy Face.
3. I will be love
30. As “greater” than faith and hope, charity
will never pass away (cf. 1 Cor 13:8-13). It is
the supreme gift of the Holy Spirit and “the
mother and the root of all the virtues”. [49]
Charity as a personal attitude of love
31. The Story of a Soul is a testimonial to
charity, in which Therese offers us a commentary
on Jesus’ new commandment: “that you love one
another as I have loved you” ( Jn 15:12). [50]
Jesus thirsts for this response to his love.
Indeed, he “did not fear to beg for a little
water from the Samaritan woman. He was thirsty.
But when he said ‘Give me to drink’, it was the
love of his poor creature that the Creator of
the universe was seeking. He was thirsty for
love”. [51] Therese wished to respond to the
love of Jesus, to offer him love in return for
love. [52]
32. The symbolism of spousal love emphasizes the
mutual self-gift of the bridegroom and the
bride. Thus, inspired by the Song of Songs
(2:16), Therese writes, “I think that the Heart
of my Spouse is mine alone, just as mine is his
alone, and I speak to him then in the solitude
of this delightful heart to heart, while waiting
to contemplate him one day face to face”. [53]
Although the Lord loves us together as a people,
at the same time charity works in a most
personal way: “heart to heart”.
33. Therese possessed complete certainty that
Jesus loved her and knew her personally at the
time of his Passion: “He loved me and gave
himself for me” ( Gal 2:20). As she contemplated
Jesus in his agony, she told him: “You saw me”.
[54] In the same way, she said to the Child
Jesus in the arms of his Mother: “With your
little hand that caressed Mary, you upheld the
world and gave it life, and you thought of me”.
[55] So too, at the beginning of the Story of a
Soul, she contemplated the love of Jesus for all
humanity and for each individual, as if he or
she were the only one in the world. [56]
34. The act of love – repeating the words,
“Jesus I love you” – which became as natural to
Therese as breathing, is the key to her
understanding of the Gospel. With that love, she
immersed herself in all the mysteries of the
life of Christ, making herself his contemporary
and placing herself within the Gospel together
with Mary and Joseph, Mary Magdalene and the
apostles. Together with them, she penetrated to
the depths of the love of the Heart of Jesus.
Let us take one example: “When I see Magdalene
walking up before the many guests, washing with
her tears the feet of her adored Master, whom
she is touching for the first time, I feel that
her heart has understood the abysses of love and
mercy of the Heart of Jesus, and, sinner though
she is, this Heart of love was not only disposed
to pardon her, but to lavish on her the
blessings of divine intimacy, to lift her to the
highest summits of contemplation”. [57]
The greatest love in supreme simplicity
35. At the end of the Story of a Soul, Therese
presents us with her Act of Oblation to Merciful
Love. [58] Once she surrendered completely to
the working of the Spirit, she received, quietly
and unobtrusively, an abundant outpouring of
living water: “rivers, or better, the oceans of
graces that flooded my soul”. [59] This is the
mystical life that, apart from any extraordinary
phenomena, offers itself to all the faithful as
a daily experience of love.
36. Therese practised charity in littleness, in
the simplest things of daily life, and she did
so in the company of the Virgin Mary, from whom
she learned that “to love is to give everything.
It’s to give oneself”. [60] While preachers in
those days often celebrated Mary’s grandeur in
ways that made her seem far removed from us,
Therese showed, starting with the Gospel, that
Mary is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven
because she is the least (cf. Mt 18:4), the one
closest to Jesus in his abasement. She saw that,
if the apocrypha are full of striking and
amazing feats, the Gospels show us a lowly and
poor life lived in the simplicity of faith.
Jesus himself wanted Mary to be the example of a
soul that seeks him with a simple faith. [61]
Mary was the first to experience the “little
way” in pure faith and humility. Consequently,
Therese did not hesitate to write:
“Mother full of grace, I know that in
Nazareth
You live in poverty, wanting nothing
more.
No rapture, miracle or ecstasy
Embellish your life, O Queen of the
Elect!…
The number of little ones on earth is
truly great.
They can raise their eyes to you without
trembling.
It’s by the ordinary way, incomparable
Mother,
That you like to walk to guide them to
heaven”. [62]
37. Therese does tell us of certain moments of
grace experienced amid the simplicity of daily
life, like the sudden insight she had when
accompanying a sick and somewhat irascible
sister. Even so, those experiences of a more
intense charity came about in the most ordinary
ways. “One winter night I was carrying out my
little duty as usual; it was cold, it was night.
Suddenly I heard off in the distance the
harmonious sound of a musical instrument. I then
pictured a well-lighted drawing room,
brilliantly gilded, filled with elegantly
dressed young ladies conversing together and
conferring upon each other all sorts of
compliments and other worldly remarks. Then my
glance fell upon the poor invalid whom I was
supporting. Instead of the beautiful strains of
music I heard only her occasional complaints,
and instead of the rich gildings I saw only the
bricks of our austere cloister, hardly visible
in the glimmering light. I cannot express in
words what happened in my soul; what I know is
that the Lord illumined it with rays of truth,
which so far surpassed the dark brilliance of
earthly feasts that I could not believe my
happiness. Ah! I would not have exchanged the
ten minutes employed in carrying out my humble
office of charity to enjoy a thousand years of
worldly feasts”. [63]
In the heart of the Church
38. From Saint Teresa of Avila, Therese
inherited a great love for the Church and was
able to plumb the depths of this mystery. We see
this in her discovery of the “heart of the
Church”. In a lengthy prayer to Jesus, [64]
written on 8 September 1896, the sixth
anniversary of her religious profession, the
saint confided to the Lord that she felt driven
by an immense desire, a passion for the Gospel
that no vocation, by itself, could satisfy. And
so, in seeking her “place” in the Church, she
turned to chapters 12 and 13 of the First Letter
of Saint Paul to the Corinthians.
39. There, in Chapter 12, the apostle employs
the metaphor of the body and its members to
explain that the Church embraces a great variety
of hierarchically ordered charisms. Yet this
description was not enough for Therese. She
continued her search and read the “hymn to
charity” in Chapter 13. There she came upon the
eminent answer to her question, and wrote this
memorable page: “Considering the mystical body
of the Church I had not recognized myself in any
of the members described by Saint Paul, or
rather I desired to see myself in them all.
Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I
understood that if the Church had a body
composed of different members, the most
necessary and most noble of all could not be
lacking to it, and so I understood that the
Church had a Heart, and that this Heart was
burning with love. I understood it was love
alone that made the Church’s members act, that
if Love ever became extinct, apostles would not
preach the Gospel and martyrs would not shed
their blood. I understood that Love comprised
all vocations, that love was everything, that it
embraced all times and places… in a word: that
it was eternal! Then, in the excess of my
delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love...
my vocation, at last I have found it… my
vocation is Love! Yes, I have found my place in
the Church, and it is you, O my God, who have
given me this place; in the heart of the Church,
my Mother, I shall be Love. Thus I shall be
everything, and thus my dream will be realized”.
[65]
40. This heart was not that of a triumphalistic
Church, but of a loving, humble and merciful
Church. Therese never set herself above others,
but took the lowest place together with the Son
of God, who for our sake became a slave and
humbled himself, becoming obedient, even to
death on a cross (cf. Phil 2:7-8).
41. This discovery of the heart of the Church is
also a great source of light for us today. It
preserves us from being scandalized by the
limitations and weaknesses of the ecclesiastical
institution with its shadows and sins, and
enables us to enter into the Church’s “heart
burning with love”, which burst into flame at
Pentecost thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit.
It is that heart whose fire is rekindled with
each of our acts of charity. “I shall be love”.
This was the radical option of Therese, her
definitive synthesis and her deepest spiritual
identity.
A shower of roses
42. After centuries in which countless saints
expressed with great fervour and eloquence their
desire to “go to heaven”, Saint Therese could
acknowledge, with utter sincerity: “At the time
I was having great interior trials of all kinds,
even to the point of asking myself whether
heaven really existed”. [66] At another time,
she said: “When I sing of the happiness of
heaven and of the eternal possession of God, I
feel no joy in this, for I sing simply what I
want to believe”. [67] What had happened?
Therese was hearing God’s call to put fire into
the heart of the Church more than to think of
her own personal happiness.
43. The transformation that was taking place
enabled her to pass from a fervent desire for
heaven to a constant, burning desire for the
good of all, culminating in her dream of
continuing in heaven her mission of loving Jesus
and making him loved. As she wrote in one of her
last letters: “I really count on not remaining
inactive in heaven. My desire is to work still
for the Church and for souls”. [68] And in those
very days she said, even more directly: “My
heaven will be spent on earth until the end of
the world. Yes, I want to spend my heaven in
doing good on earth”. [69]
44. In those words, Therese expressed her most
assured response to the singular gift that the
Lord was granting her, the remarkable light that
God was shedding upon her. In this way, she
arrived at her ultimate personal synthesis of
the Gospel, one that began with complete trust
and ended in total abandonment for the sake of
others. She had no doubt about the fruitfulness
of that abandonment: “I think of all the good
that I would like to do after my death”. [70]
“God would not have given me the desire of doing
good on earth after my death, if he didn’t will
to realize it”. [71] “It will be like a shower
of roses”. [72]
45. She had come full circle. “C’est la
confiance”. It is trust that brings us to love
and thus sets us free from fear. It is trust
that helps us to stop looking to ourselves and
enables us to put into God’s hands what he alone
can accomplish. Doing so provides us with an
immense source of love and energy for seeking
the good of our brothers and sisters. And so,
amid the suffering of her last days, Therese was
able to say: “ I count only on love”. [73] In
the end, only love counts. Trust makes roses
blossom and pours them forth as an overflow of
the superabundance of God’s love. Let us ask,
then, for such trust as a free and precious gift
of grace, so that the paths of the Gospel may
open up in our lives.
4. At the heart of the Gospel
46. In Evangelii Gaudium, I urged a return to
the freshness of the source, in order to
emphasize what is essential and indispensable. I
now consider it fitting to take up that
invitation and propose it anew.
The Doctor of synthesis
47. This Exhortation on Saint Therese allows me
to observe that, in a missionary Church, “the
message has to concentrate on the essentials, on
what is most beautiful, most grand, most
appealing and at the same time most necessary.
The message is simplified, while losing none of
its depth and truth, and thus becomes all the
more forceful and convincing”. [74] The luminous
core of that message is “the beauty of the
saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ
who died and rose from the dead”. [75]
48. Not everything is equally central, because
there is an order or hierarchy among the truths
of the Church, and “this holds true as much for
the dogmas of faith as for the whole corpus of
the Church’s teaching, including her moral
teaching”. [76] The centre of Christian morality
is charity, as our response to the unconditional
love of the Trinity. Consequently, “works of
love directed towards one’s neighbour are the
most perfect manifestation of the interior grace
of the Spirit”. [77] In the end, only love
counts.
49. The specific contribution that Therese
offers us as a saint and a Doctor of the Church
is not analytical, along the lines, for example,
of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Her contribution is
more synthetic, for her genius consists in
leading us to what is central, essential and
indispensable. By her words and her personal
experience she shows that, while it is true that
all the Church’s teachings and rules have their
importance, their value, their clarity, some are
more urgent and more foundational for the
Christian life. That is where Therese directed
her eyes and her heart.
50. As theologians, moralists and spiritual
writers, as pastors and as believers, wherever
we find ourselves, we need constantly to
appropriate this insight of Therese and to draw
from it consequences both theoretical and
practical, doctrinal and pastoral, personal and
communal. We need boldness and interior freedom
to do so.
51. At times, the only quotes we find cited from
this saint are secondary to her message, or deal
with things she has in common with any other
saint, such as prayer, sacrifice, Eucharistic
piety, and any number of other beautiful
testimonies. Yet in this way, we could be
depriving ourselves of what is most specific
about her gift to the Church. We forget that
“each saint is a mission, planned by the Father
to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in
history, a certain aspect of the Gospel”. [78]
Indeed, “to recognize the word that the Lord
wishes to speak to us through one of his saints,
we do not need to get caught up in details… What
we need to contemplate is the totality of their
life, their entire journey of growth in
holiness, the reflection of Jesus Christ that
emerges when we grasp their overall meaning as a
person”. [79] This is all the more true in the
case of Saint Therese, since we are dealing with
a “Doctor of synthesis”.
52. From heaven to earth, the timely witness of
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy
Face endures in all the grandeur of her little
way.
In an age that urges us to focus on our
ourselves and our own interests, Therese shows
us the beauty of making our lives a gift.
At a time when the most superficial needs
and desires are glorified, she testifies to the
radicalism of the Gospel.
In an age of individualism, she makes us
discover the value of a love that becomes
intercession for others.
At a time when human beings are obsessed
with grandeur and new forms of power, she points
out to us the little way.
In an age that casts aside so many of our
brothers and sisters, she teaches us the beauty
of concern and responsibility for one another.
At a time of great complexity, she can
help us rediscover the importance of simplicity,
the absolute primacy of love, trust and
abandonment, and thus move beyond a legalistic
or moralistic mindset that would fill the
Christian life with rules and regulations, and
cause the joy of the Gospel to grow cold.
In an age of indifference and
self-absorption, Therese inspires us to be
missionary disciples, captivated by the
attractiveness of Jesus and the Gospel.
53. A century and a half after her birth,
Therese is more alive than ever in the pilgrim
Church, in the heart of God’s people. She
accompanies us on our pilgrim way, doing good on
earth, as she had so greatly desired. The most
lovely signs of her spiritual vitality are the
innumerable “roses” that Therese continues to
strew: the graces God grants us through her
loving intercession in order to sustain us on
our journey through life.
Dear Saint Therese,
the Church needs to radiate the brightness,
the fragrance and the joy of the Gospel.
Send us your roses!
Help us to be, like yourself,
ever confident in God’s immense love for us,
so that we may imitate each day
your “little way” of holiness.
Amen.
Given in Rome, in the Basilica of Saint John
Lateran, on 15 October, the Memorial of Saint
Teresa of Avila, in the year 2023, the eleventh
of my Pontificate.
FRANCIS
[1] SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS AND THE
HOLY FACE, Letter 197 to Sister Marie of the
Sacred Heart (17 September 1896): Letters II, p.
1000. The English citations of the Saint’s
writings are taken from the translations of her
works published by the Institute of Carmelite
Studies (ICS), Washington, D.C.: Story of a Soul
(1996); Letters I: 1877-1890 (1996); Letters II:
1890-1897 (1988); Prayers (1997); Poetry (1996);
Her Last Conversations (1977).
[2] Prayer 6, Act of Oblation to Merciful Love
(9 June 1895): Prayers, p. 54; Story of a Soul,
pp. 276-277.
[3] For the two-year period 2022-2023, UNESCO
recognized Saint Therese as a person to be
celebrated on the 150th anniversary of her
birth.
[4] 29 April 1923.
[5] Cf. Decretum super Virtutibus (14 August
1921): AAS 13 (1921), 449-452.
[6] Homily for the Canonization (17 May 1925):
AAS 17 (1925), 211.
[7] Cf. AAS 20 (1928), 147-148.
[8] Cf. AAS 36 (1944), 329-330.
[9] Cf. PIUS XII, Letter to Mgr François-Marie
Picaud, Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux (7 August
1947); Radio Message for the Consecration of the
Basilica of Lisieux (11 July 1954): AAS 46
(1954), 404-407.
[10] Cf. Letter to Mgr Jean-Marie-Clément Badré,
Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux on the occasion of
the Centenary of the Birth of Saint Therese of
the Child Jesus (2 January 1973): AAS 65 (1973),
12-15.
[11] Cf. AAS 90 (1998), 409-413, 930-944.
[12] Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6
January 2001), 42: AAS 93 (2001), 296.
[13] Catechesis (6 April 2011), L’Osservatore
Romano (7 April 2011), 8.
[14] Catechesis (7 June 2023): L’Osservatore
Romano (7 June 2023), 2-3.
[15] Letter 220 to l’Abbé Bellière (24 February
1897), Letters II, p. 1060.
[16] Ms A, 69v: Story of a Soul, p. 149.
[17] Cf. Ms C, 33v-37r: Story of a Soul, pp.
253-259.
[18] Cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium
(24 November 2013), 14, 264: AAS 105 (2013),
1025-1026.
[19] Ms C, 34r: Story of a Soul, p. 254.
[20] Ibid., 36r:, Story of a Soul, p. 257.
[21] Last Conversations, Yellow Notebook (9 June
1897, 3), p. 62.
[22] Cf. Ms C, 2v-3r: Story of a Soul, pp.
207-208.
[23] Ibid., 2v: p. 207.
[24] Ibid., 3r: p. 208.
[25] Cf. Ms A, 84v: p. 181.
[26] Cf. Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et
Exsultate (19 March 2018), 47-62: AAS 110
(2018), 1124-1129.
[27] Ms A, 32r: Story of a Soul, p. 72.
[28] This was explained by the Council of Trent:
“Whoever considers himself, his personal
weakness, and his lack of disposition may fear
and tremble about his own grace” ( Decree on
Justification, IX: DS 1534). It is taken up by
the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which
teaches that it is not possible to have
certitude by looking to ourselves or our own
actions (cf. No. 2005). The certitude born of
trust does not come from ourselves, nor can our
own consciousness ground that security, which is
not based on introspection. In the words of
Saint Paul: “I do not judge myself. I am not
aware of anything against myself, but I am not
thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me”
( 1 Cor 4:3-4). Saint Thomas Aquinas explains it
in the following way: since grace “does not
perfectly heal man” (ST I-II, q. 109, art. 9, ad
1), “in the intellect there remains the darkness
of ignorance” ( ibid., resp.)
[29] Prayer 6 (9 June 1895): Prayers, p. 54.
[30] Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2011.
[31] This was also clearly stated by the Council
of Trent: “No devout man should doubt God’s
mercy” ( Decree on Justification, IX: DS 1534);
“All should place their firmest hope in God’s
help” ( ibid., XIII: DS 1541).
[32] Ms B, 1v: Story of a Soul, p. 188.
[33] Cf. Ms A, 48v: Story of a Soul, pp.
104-105; Letter 92 to Marie Guérin (30 May
1889): Letters I, pp. 567-569.
[34] Prayer 6 (9 June 1895): Story of a Soul, p.
276.
[35] Last Conversations, Yellow Notebook (23
July 1897, 3): p. 106.
[36] Ms C, 31r: Story of a Soul, p. 250.
[37] Cf. Ms C, 5r-7v: Story of a Soul, pp.
211-214.
[38] Cf. ibid, 5v: Story of a Soul, p. 211.
[39] Cf. ibid., 6v: Story of a Soul, p. 213.
[40] Cf. Encyclical Letter Lumen Fidei (29 June
2013), 17: AAS 105 (2013), 564-565.
[41] Ms C, 7r: Story of a Soul, pp. 213-214.
[42] Cf. Letter 197 to Sister Marie of the
Sacred Heart (17 September 1896): Letters II, p.
1000.
[43] Ms A, 83v: Story of a Soul, p. 180.
[44] Cf. Ms A, 45v-46v: Story of a Soul, pp.
98-101.
[45] Ibid., 46r: Story of a Soul, p. 100.
[46] Ibid.
[47] Ibid., 46v: Story of a Soul, p. 100.
[48] Prayer 2 (8 September 1890): Prayers, p.
38.
[49] Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 62, art. 4.
[50] Cf. Ms C, 11v-31r: Story of a Soul, pp.
219-250.
[51] Ms B, 1v: Story of a Soul, p. 189.
[52] Cf. Ms B, 4r: Story of a Soul, p. 195.
[53] Letter 122 to Céline (14 October 1890):
Letters II, p. 709.
[54] PN 24, 21: Poetry, p. 128.
[55] PN 24, 6: ibid., p. 124.
[56] Cf. Ms A, 3r: Story of a Soul, pp. 14-15.
[57] Letter 247 to l’Abbé Bellière (21 June
1897): Letters II, p. 1133.
[58] Cf. Prayer 6 (9 June 1895): Prayers, pp.
53-55; Story of a Soul, pp. 276-277.
[59] Ms A, 84r: Story of a Soul, p. 181.
[60] PN 54, 22: Poetry, p. 219.
[61] PN 54, 15: ibid., p. 218.
[62] PN 54, 17: ibid., p. 218.
[63] Ms C, 29v-30r: Story of a Soul, pp.
248-249.
[64] Cf. Ms B, 2r-5v: Story of a Soul, pp.
190-200.
[65] Ms B, 3v: ibid., p. 194.
[66] Ms A, 80v: Story of a Soul, p. 173. This
was not a lack of faith. Saint Thomas Aquinas
taught that in faith, both the intelligence and
the will are operative. The adherence of the
will can be very solid and well rooted, while
the intelligence can be darkened. Cf. De
Veritate 14,1.
[67] Ms C, 7v: Story of a Soul, p. 214.
[68] Letter 254 to Père Adolphe Roulland (14
July 1897): Letters II, p. 1142.
[69] Last Conversations, Yellow Notebook (17
July 1897), p. 102.
[70] Ibid. (13 July 1897, 17), p. 102.
[71] Ibid. (18 July 1897, 1), p. 102.
[72] Last Conversations, Yellow Notebook (9 June
1897, 3), p. 62.
[73] Letter 242 to Sister Marie of the Trinity
(6 June 1897): Letters II, p. 1121.
[74] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24
November 2013), 35: AAS 105 (2013), 1034.
[75] Ibid., 36: AAS 105 (2013), 1035.
[76] Ibid.
[77] Ibid., 37: AAS 105 (2013), 1035.
[78] Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate
(19 March 2018), 19: AAS 110 (2018), 1117.
[79] Ibid., 22: AAS 110 (2018), 1117.
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