Female: Something about her temper maybe she was a little bit of a brat at times?

Kevin: That's right very good point. First of all the first four years of her life she was a very lively girl, very fun, very confident. Then at the age of four and half things changed she became very introverted, very shy. And do you know, do you know what happened at four and half?

Male 6: Her mother died.

Kevin: That's right her mother. And so she remained in this period of shyness and kind of removed from people to us a sense of liveliness and even be mischievous and that lasted for how long does anyone know, how long?

Male 7: Was it three years?

Kevin: A little bit longer actually almost ten years. And do you know what event took place to change her?

Female: She got sick

Kevin: Well there is a story with that...

Female: This will be the last year and we will have to fill the stockings.

Kevin: Exactly on Christmas Eve night St. Teresa, she was walking up the stairs and she overheard her father say, "I am glad that this is the last year we will have to fill her stockings." Which was a tradition here in France Christmastime. And Teresa, (now remember she was a very shy) she had become a very shy girl very sensitive and normally she would burst out in two years when she would heard a comment like that. However rather than crying she felt a sudden change and she said, "It was like the grace of leaving her childhood." And she regained all that liveliness and confidence and said that was a big turning point. That then led her she then felt ready to enter the convent and specifically the Carmelites but there was one problem about entering at that time do you know what was?

Group: Age 

Kevin: Exactly she was 14. At that time do you know what age at the enter into Carmel? 21 that's right. So she was 14 so big problem. Well her father was going down pilgrimage to round with some other friends she joined him and when they went down to round they had a private audience with the Holy Father. And does anyone know what happened there? That's right you were saying?

Female: She asked him if she would go in and he said, "When it's time, you will enter."

Kevin: Exactly. She first of all it was a private audience I don't know exactly how many people were there but only so many. They were told not to say anything to the Holy Father at the time when they would go up and kneel before him and kiss his ring. And she went ahead and spoke up remembers she regained her confidence and liveliness. And she asked his holiness is he would grant her permission to enter Carmel at age 15. And he said, "If it's God's will you will enter." And she didn't like that and she asked again and he gave her the same response. And in fact she started burst out in to tears and the Swiss guards had to come up and carry her out and she was in tears as they took her out and that is a true story. But what took place within the next year? 

Kevin: That's right the local bishop to give her permission to enter Carmel at the age of 15. And going back to your point does anyone heard about the Virgin of the Smile, and what is that in reference to?

Tonya: When St. Teresa was really sick like our deathbed she had a statue of Our Lady at the foot of her bed and she saw the statue smile at her or she's not sure it was a statue or an apparition.

Kevin: Why did she get sick? Or when did it occur? Okay Yeah. Her older sister Pauline had just entered the convent and in fact she lost her mother at 4 1/2 and here it was six years or so later and Pauline had become like her second mother. Now it was like losing a second mother and she became very ill and then like Tonya said she was praying in front of the statue it was either in operation or the statue itself became animated and smiled at her and she was cured.

Kevin: When she was in the convent she wrote – well first of all what is the name of the book that gained her popularity? Does anyone know? That is right "Story of a Soul." As it always been name that? Do you know what the first title of the book was? Autobiography of a Saint, now she didn't give it that title but the people who gave her books out did. How did it come about her writings? Did she just decide one day and going to write a book? Obedience, and...

Male 6: Her sister told her to write her story.

Kevin: That's right her sister was what was her position in the...

Male 6: Mother Superior in the order

Kevin: That's right and she asked in 1895 when Teresa was 21or  22 to begin writing about her life. And there are how many manuscripts to her book? There are 3. And she read the first one in 1895 the second 1896 in the last one in 1897. The first one probably one of the biggest things they came out was she spoke about her vocation not the vocation in the religious life as a Carmelite by kind of like a vocation in a vocation. And what was the vocation that she had found? That's right, love. She said my vocation is love. 

Now most of us are familiar with the Bible and how it speaks about were all part of one body. So you have the hands, you have the feat, and the eyes well body must have a heart and what is a heart represent love. And what happened with Teresa was she wanted to, she wanted to be a doctor of the Church she wanted to be – she had all these thoughts coming to her she just wanted to be everything within the Church. 

She wanted to be a missionary, she wanted to be a martyr she went to accomplish all these things or not accomplish she wanted to do these things for the Church. But she knew she couldn't do all these things hence, she continued to think about what vocation she wanted the vocation within the vocation and to be what part of the body of Christ, and that's when she hit upon the heart that is to be love. 

Tonya: Did she always want to be a missionary?

Kevin: That's right, she always wanted to be a missionary and in fact she is now the Co-patron of missionaries she was named that in 1927. And does anyone know who the other patron is? No, St. Francis Xavier. So yes she was name that in 1927. And another thought when she went to Carmel do you know what two things, you know why she was going to Carmel?

Female 4: Pray for priests

Kevin: Pray for priests and save souls and pray for priests. So she died she died in 1897 at the age of 24. Her Superior they gathered her writings and they actually put it into more of a book format and made 2,000 copies and passed them out mostly to other, like Carmelite convents. Everyone just loved her writings right away and so just in a few years word spread. In fact it's amazing at her funeral less than 30 people were there yet less than 30 years later when she was named the saints in the Catholic Church she had I believe over half-million people present at her canonization ceremony. So she is really gained in popularity. 

So that's, that's a quick overview of her life. Today while the opportunity to visit the Basilica. This was they laid the first do in 1929 and it was completed or was consecrated in 1954. So we'll have an opportunity to visit this and then we'll visit her family home have an opportunity to walk through that. And then after that we'll continue to the Carmelite chapel where her relics are. And then all of you will have an opportunity to pray in front of her relics as well as this also a little museum there with other relics such as when hair was cut off and they have the gift shop there as well. So they’re some of the sites we'll be seen this morning.