St Thérèse of Lisieux and what 'intellectuals' need to learn from her
St Thérèse's 'Little Way' is not sentimental or childish, but profound and challenging – particularly importance for 'intellectuals,' according to 'ferocious opponent' of modernism, Mgr Baudrillart.
Editors’ Notes
Published in gratitude to St Thérèse of Lisieux.
After St Thérèse’s death, Mgr August Pierre Laveille published a biography of the saint, with the blessing and commission of her sister and religious superior Mother Agnes of Jesus (Pauline Martin).
Laveille was the Vicar-General of Mieux. His biography of the saint was written with the help of the canonisation documents, and contained much more than St Thérèse was able to include in her own autobiography – including edifying details about her parents, Louis and Zélie.
It was translated into English in 1928 and it proved to be very popular. Dom Eugene Boylan included a long extract in his modern classic This Tremendous Lover.
Before Laveille’s biography was translated, however, it received a ‘Letter-Preface’ from the anti-modernist Mgr Alfred Baudrillart.
Baudrillart was the Oratorian rector of the Institut catholique de Paris (ICP – also known as the Catholic University of Paris), and was a “ferocious opponent” of modernism.1 He was made a Cardinal by Pope Pius XI in 1935, and died in 1942.
Baudrillart’s Letter-Preface contains some moving comment on what St Thérèse can teach those of more intellectual or academic inclinations.
In fact, he shows that such persons have a special need for this “little” saint and the lessons she has to teach us.
Mgr Alfred Baudrillart’s Letter-Preface
From
The Life of St Thérèse of Lisieux
August Pierre Laveille
[Mgr Baudrillart begins by praising Mgr Laveille, and then proceeds:]
The unique and “original” status of St Thérèse in our day
… Surely all these reasons point you out for the delicate task of depicting a life original in its extreme simplicity. You are indeed in a position to understand it completely.
That the word “original” will be disputed I have no doubt. In the opinion of many, original is but a polite word for eccentric.
Original it is, however, amongst all the lives of the saints, because in it the development of the interior life is not supported by a chain of external events of notable importance or of actions capable of attracting attention.
What could be more disconcerting than this to the historian who is merely an historian? “Where shall I begin – what facts are there to take hold of?” he anxiously asks himself.
Encouragement for those living ordinary lives
Neither are there in evidence those extraordinary trials which call forth the special talent of the psychologist or theologian. A “little way of confidence and abandonment” lovingly followed for a few years under the guidance of a very holy rule; that is all.
All, yes; but how priceless that all! What consolation is to be found therein for the thousands whose lives are spent without events worthy of notice, but not without trial and suffering.
What consolation, what example, and what comfort, too. What a blessing it is that the lessons of such a life should be brought to light by a master-hand.
Baudrillart’s personal gratitude to St Thérèse
Do not expect from me, dear Monseigneur, what is called a letter of approbation for your work. It would be of no advantage, and I would not presume to write thus to you. I have allowed my admiration for the author and for his undeniable talent to dictate these lines.
This is not, however, the only motive which has determined me to write them, and to authorize their publication if you judge proper.
The Rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris [Baudrillart himself] knows that he owes a particular debt of recognition to St Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus. He would hold himself ungrateful if he did not seize every opportunity of proclaiming the singular blessings, “the shower of roses” which, in times of difficulty, the dear little saint has shed over the University he directs.
He has experienced her immediate protection, and even at the risk of astonishing certain intellectuals, he will ever continue to proclaim the fact.
Likewise, he will meditate, and incite others to meditate, on the lessons which the life of St Thérèse directly holds for “intellectuals.”
The lesson of simplicity. I do not deny that there are men of superior intelligence, accustomed to the highest studies and most learned research, whose souls remain as simple as that of a child in presence of religious truths. In the measure that they remain simple before men, are they so before God.
These, unfortunately, are exceptions. The greater number esteem themselves too great and too strong to submit their intelligence. Or, on the other hand, they require so many arguments, and place so many conditions, that they are never satisfied.
Let them turn their eyes to this sweet child, white and straight as a lily, whose gaze is fixed peacefully on the highest truths, where candour of soul brings with it light to the understanding.
The lesson of faith amid trials to that faith. Whatever the candour and good will of a soul, it is almost impossible in a time like ours that a man who studies and thinks, who by force of circumstances and the necessities of his work finds himself confronted with many diverse systems, is not at some time or other tried in his faith.
God, then, in His infinite wisdom ordained that this same child should experience in the midst of severe physical sufferings the anguish of this trial of faith, and that though living in the very heart of the supernatural, she should feel doubts about the reality of the supernatural.
And withal her faith never wavered, any more than that of St Vincent de Paul when severely tempted in faith regarding the Blessed Eucharist.
Lessons of confidence, too, in the ultimate effects, distant perhaps, yet certain, of all work done for God.
How many times we have felt that we work in vain, that we speak and write without result. Our work remains obscure, or we appear to bear no fruit whatever. And still we labour for God and our neighbour. Why, then, such poor result?
Listen to little Sœur Thérèse. When about to die at the age of twenty-four, she uttered these astonishing words: “I feel that my mission is now to begin.”
God will choose the moment when He will draw from our efforts the good He desires; nothing that has been done for Him will be definitely lost. Sometimes even glory, the glory so dear to those who seek to influence the minds of men, will come abundantly.
And I speak not only of the glory which in heaven is the fruit of grace, the crown of a saintly life. Is there, humanly speaking, in the world today a glory equal to that of our humble Carmelite? What name is more frequently on men’s lips – what hero’s portrait has been so rapidly multiplied, so widely scattered?
Her effect on the town of Lisieux
Her renown carries the name of the little town in which she lived to the ends of the earth.
Beautiful town of Lisieux, long appreciated by those who know it, charmingly situated in the midst of rich and fragrant valleys and tree-studded plains, possessed of the most beautiful and artistic monuments in Normandy, its old houses jealously preserved; astir, too, with industrial activity, thus joining modern life to history without taking away any of its beauty – what more was wanting to this town?
And yet, how few visited it, how few even mentioned its name!
The name became united with that of Thérèse, and behold, Lisieux has become a world-city equal to the most celebrated. As Teresa and Avila, Angela and Foligno, Francis and Assisi, so Thérèse and Lisieux have become inseparable names.
Pilgrims come in crowds, and Lisieux takes its place for the centuries to come, among the holy cities of the world.
May your book, dear Monseigneur, maintain and even increase the glory of Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus here below; may it multiply the number of souls eager for her powerful intercession, and at the same time increase our love of Him for whom she wished to live and die.
Alfred Baudrillart
Bishop of Himéria
Member of the French Academy
Further Reading
On St Thérèse of Lisieux:
St Thérèse of Lisieux – Story of a Soul
Mgr Laveille – The Life of St Thérèse of Lisieux
Fr Petitot – St. Thérèse of Lisieux – A Spiritual Renascence
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Institut Catholique de Paris, Le Livre du Centenaire, p 95. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UHnK3KLjJYMC&pg=PA396&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false