1 October 2024 (MIA)

Macedonian Orthodox Church Calendar

St. Eumenes

Bishop called a “Wonder Worker.” The bishop of Gortyna, on Crete, he died in exile. Eumenes was known for his many miracles and mystical gifts.

Catholic Calendar

Saint Therese of Lisieux

Generations of Catholics have admired this young saint, called her the “Little Flower”, and found in her short life more inspiration for own lives than in volumes by theologians. Yet Therese died when she was 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years. She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, never performed great works. The only book of hers, published after her death, was an brief edited version of her journal called “Story of a Soul.” But within 28 years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was canonized.

Over the years, some modern Catholics have turned away from her because they associate her with over-sentimentalized piety and yet the message she has for us is still as compelling and simple as it was almost a century ago. After she died, everything at the convent went back to normal. One nun commented that there was nothing to say about Therese. But Pauline put together Therese’s writings (and heavily edited them, unfortunately) and sent 2,000 copies to other convents. But Therese’s “little way” of trusting in Jesus to make her holy and relying on small daily sacrifices instead of great deeds appealed to the thousands of Catholics and others who were trying to find holiness in ordinary lives.