The relics of a much-loved saint are to visit England and Wales for the first time in 2009 and will be present at London’s Westminster Cathedral from Monday 12th to Wednesday 15th October 2009.
St. Therese was born in Alençon, Normandy in 1873 and at an early age entered the Carmelite convent of Lisieux. She became assistant novice-mistress in 1893 and took special responsibility for the junior sisters. She died of tuberculosis on 30 September 1897. Canonisation followed in 1925; she is most famed for the spirituality that she lived by, which is called the ‘Little Way’. St. Therese is ‘Patroness of the Missions’ of the Catholic Church and a “Doctor of the Church”.
Immediately after her burial, miracles of healing began to take place at St. Therese’s tomb, fulfilling her prophecy that she would “let fall a shower of roses on the earth” after her death. In her notebooks she wrote: “I would like to be a missionary, not just for a few years, but till the end of time.” Wherever her relics have gone, millions of people have prayed beside them and experienced many graces of healing, conversion and vocation.
