October 1 -- Feast of Saint Therese of Lisieux

On a previous post, I mentioned that Susan Conroy (South Portland '83, Dartmouth '87) is an internationally recognized expert on (and published author-translator of) two saints: Mother Teresa and Therese of Lisieux.  There's lots to be said about Therese of Lisieux -- too much to fit here.  Instead, let me just offer some thoughts about institutions and their value to individuals. 

Therese as Joan of Arc

The desire to be saved is not widely admired in my neck of the woods.  Most of the folks I know, especially those who take pride in their intellect, look down upon the faithful as superstitious fools or shallow self-deceivers.  They view God as an imaginary friend for adults.  Their scorn is all the greater for folks who dedicate their life, labor, and resources to institutions which advance religion.  Such institutions are viewed very skeptically, as if they are all manipulative cults led by hucksters who take advantage of the hopes and fears of the feeble-minded. 

To counter this, I would offer Therese of Lisieux, a woman who yearned for sainthood but barely had the constitution to be a nun.  She sought to join the Carmelites, the same outfit two of her four sisters had joined, but was rejected as too young.  She appealed to the bishop, who affirmed the convent's decision.  Her dad and sister took her to Rome, where she broke all protocol by pleading her case during an audience with the Pope.  Audience, in this case, referred to the visitor; having been told to remain quiet, she was forcibly removed by two Swiss guards.   However, a senior prelate observed her fervor and she was soon after admitted. 

Therese as a less fortunate Joan of Arc

She joined the same convent as two of her sisters.  Because it was such a small house, internal politics led her oldest sister, the prioress, to ask that Therese remain perpetually a novice rather than rising to the rank of full sister.  It was asking a lot of someone who aspired to a holy life, but then again to demand such humility is in itself an opportunity to demonstrate virtue. 

Therese was beloved in the convent, eventually becoming director of the novices even though she was a novice herself.  She contemplated the mysteries of faith, wrote a journal of her life and thoughts, and even wrote some plays about religious matters to be performed for the sisters.  The photos of Therese are from her portrayal of Jeanne d'Arc, about whom she wrote two dramas.  Susan Conroy has translated the plays and published them in English for the first time.  

So here's my point.  Therese harbored ambitions that most of us don't share.  Some of the most progressive folks I know would disdain her choice but it offered an avenue for her to achieve her goals.  I figure there are personalities that need to have an institution to which they can devote everything, personalities for whom total dedication is its own reward.  Narrow-minded folks may scorn such folks and such institutions in favor of their own concepts of individuality and self-actualization, but they run the risk of being even more coercive than the sects and cults they criticize.