SW News: The Church in France has announced a jubilee year of St Teresa of Lisieux marking her 150th birth anniversary and the centenary of her canonization. On January 8, Bishop Jacques Habert of Bayeux and Lisieux Diocese ceremonially opened the Holy Doors of the Basilica of Lisieux symbolizing the beginning of the jubilee year.

In Alencon, the birthplace of the saint, who is also a Doctor of the Church, a similar act was carried out to announce the start of the jubilee year. Bishop Habert offered Holy Mass for pilgrims and announced the indulgences attached to the Basilica during the jubilee year. The jubilee year will come to a close on Sunday, January 7, 2024.

The motto of the jubilee year is “For Trust and Love” which are the last words of the Carmelite saint’s autobiography “The Story of a Soul”. The jubilee year also coincides with UNESCO’s celebration of the 150th birthday of one of the greatest saints of all time. The UN body voted on Nov. 11, 2021, to recognize the spiritual, cultural and education contributions of this French Carmelite to humanity.
The Catholic Church has 36 Doctors of the Church and out of the four women in the lot, St Teresa of Lisieux has found a place. It was Pope St John Paul II who declared her a Doctor of the Church in October 1997. The other women Doctors of the Church are St Hildegard of Germany, St Catherine of Siena of Italy and St Teresa of Avila hailing from Spain.

Pope Francis has great admiration for St Teresa and he once described her science of love as something that requires “Trust like that of a child who abandons himself into the hands of God.”

Born on Jan 2, 1873, St Teresa joined the Discalced Carmelites in 1888 at a very young age after obtaining a papal dispensation. After a life marked by suffering and intense mystical experiences, she passed away on Sep. 30, 1897, at the age of 24. Pope Pius XI canonized her in 1925 and Pope St John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church in Oct. 19, 1997. She is also the co-patron of missionaries along with St Francis Xavier.