St Thérèse’s Forgotten Connection to St Francis of Assisi

St Thérèse of Lisieux was buried on the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, and her mother, St Azélie-Marie Martin, was a Franciscan Tertiary.

From Aleteia

By Philip Kosloski

The Little Flower's funeral and burial was on October 4 and her parents had a close connection to the Franciscans.

While St. Thérèse of Lisieux was a professed Carmelite nun and was fully Carmelite in her spirituality, she also had a close connection to St. Francis of Assisi that is not always remembered.

Date of burial

One of her most direct connections to St. Francis of Assisi is the date of her funeral and burial.

St. Thérèse died on the evening of September 30, 1897, and it took a few days to arrange everything for her funeral. The funeral Mass was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on October 4, 1897, which is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

Additionally, not only was she buried on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, but her mother Zelie Martin, was a professed Secular Franciscan.

Franciscan Mother

The book, Story of a Family, recalls Zelie's Franciscan spirituality:

Since her youth [Zelie] had regularly visited the monastery of the Poor Clares, close to her home...It was there that [Zelie] used to come to the parlor to confide her troubles and beg for novenas and prayers. In this chapel she had made her profession as a Franciscan Tertiary, and she regularly attended the meetings of the Chapter...More than any other [Zelie] was prepared to understand and live this Tertiary Rule.

This exposure to the Franciscans had an impact on Thérèse's sister, Leonie Martin, who initially wanted to become a Poor Clare.

Louis Martin, Thérèse's father, was a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, and it does not appear that he was a fully professed Secular Franciscan.

It should be noted that technically Thérèse's full name was Marie Françoise-Thérèse, but the "Françoise" part of it (Frances in English) was in honor of St. Francis de Sales.

Thérèse personally admired St. Francis of Assisi, especially his humility, as she relates in her autobiography, "The vocation of a Priest! With what love, my Jesus, would I bear Thee in my hand, when my words brought Thee down from Heaven! With what love would I give Thee to souls! And yet, while longing to be a Priest, I admire and envy the humility of St. Francis of Assisi, and am drawn to imitate him by refusing the sublime dignity of the Priesthood."

While Thérèse was certainly fully Carmelite, she had a variety of connections to St. Francis and the Franciscan Order which are not always remembered.