Teresa Martin was born in Alençon, France, on January 2, 1873. Two days later she was baptized in the Church of Notre-Dame, receiving the names of Maria Francisca Teresa. Her parents were Luis Martin and Celia Guérin, both saints already today. After the death of her mother, on August 28, 1877, Teresa moved with her entire family to Lisieux.
At the end of 1879 he received the sacrament of Penance for the first time. On the day of Pentecost 1883, she received the special grace of being cured of a serious illness through the intercession of Our Lady of Victories (the Virgin of the Smile). Educated by the Benedictines of Lisieux, she received her first communion on May 8, 1884, after intense preparation, culminating in a strong experience of the grace of intimate communion with Christ. A few weeks later, on June 14 of the same year, she received her Confirmation, fully aware of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit through a personal participation in the grace of Pentecost.
His desire was to embrace the contemplative life, like his sisters Pauline and Maria, in the Carmel of Lisieux, but his young age prevented him from doing so. During a trip to Italy, after having visited the Holy House of Loreto and the places of the Eternal City, on November 20, 1887, in the audience granted by Pope Leo XIII to the pilgrims of the diocese of Lisieux, he asked the Pope with filial audacity authorization to be able to enter Carmel at the age of 15.
On April 9, 1888, he entered the Carmel of Lisieux. He took the habit on January 10 of the following year and made his religious profession on September 8, 1890, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.
In Carmel began the path of perfection traced by the Mother Foundress, Teresa of Jesus, with authentic fervor and fidelity, and fulfilling the different offices that were entrusted to her (she was also mistress of novices). Enlightened by the Word of God, and tested especially by the illness of her dearest father, Luis Martin, who died on July 29, 1894, she undertook the path to holiness, inspired by the reading of the Gospel and putting love at the center of her life. all. Teresa has left us in her autobiographical manuscripts not only her memories of her childhood and adolescence, but also the portrait of her soul and the description of her most intimate experiences. She discovers and communicates to the novices entrusted to her care the path of spiritual childhood; She receives as a special gift the task of accompanying two missionary brothers (Fr. Roulland, missionary in China, and Fr. Belliere) with prayer and sacrifice. She penetrates more and more into the mystery of the Church and she feels her apostolic and missionary vocation grow to draw others with her, moved by the love of Christ, her Only Spouse.
On June 9, 1895, on the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, she offered herself as an immolated victim to the merciful Love of God. She then wrote her first autobiographical manuscript, which she gave to Mother Inés on her name day, January 21, 1896.
A few months later, on April 3, during the night from Thursday to Good Friday, she suffered hemoptysis, the first manifestation of the disease that would lead to her death, and which she welcomed as a mysterious visit from the divine Spouse. She then entered into a test of faith that would last until the end of her life, and to which she offers moving testimony in her writings. During the month of September she concludes the manuscript Bwhich impressively illustrates the degree of holiness to which he had reached, especially for the discovery of his vocation in the heart of the Church.
While his health worsens and the time of trial continues, in the month of June the manuscript C, dedicated to Mother Maria de Gonzaga; meanwhile, new graces from her lead her to fully mature in perfection and she discovers new lights for the diffusion of her message in the Church, for the good of the souls that will follow her path. On July 8, she was taken to the infirmary, where other nuns recorded her words, while the pain and trials became more intense, which she patiently endured until her death, which occurred on the afternoon of September 30, 1897. , at 7:20 p.m. “I do not die, I enter life” he had written to his missionary spiritual brother, Fr. Mauricio Bellière. his last words, “My God, I love you”seal a life that was extinguished on earth at the age of 24, to enter, according to his desire, into a new phase of apostolic presence in favor of souls, in the communion of Saints, to pour out a “rain of roses” over the world (rain of favors and benefits, especially to love God more).
She was canonized by Pius XI on May 17, 1925, and the same Pope, on December 14, 1927, proclaimed her Universal Patron of the Missions, along with Saint Francis Javier.
His doctrine and his example of holiness have been received with great enthusiasm by all categories of the faithful of this century, and also beyond the Catholic Church and Christianity.
On the occasion of the Centenary of her death, Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church for the solidity of her spiritual wisdom, inspired by the Gospel, for the originality of her theological insights, in which her eminent doctrine shines, and for the worldwide reception of his spiritual message, spread through the translation of his works in fifty different languages. Her naming ceremony took place on October 19, 1997, precisely on the Sunday on which World Mission Day was celebrated.