YouTube video by MOVIE NIGHT

YouTube video by MOVIE NIGHT

Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897), also known as the Little Flower of Jesus, was a French Discalced Carmelite nun who is widely venerated today. Deeply inspired by the patriotic deeds of French heroines, especially Joan of Arc, Thérèse felt a strong desire to emulate them in her own spiritual life. She wrote plays and poems about Joan of Arc, drawing parallels between Joan's suffering in prison and her own struggles with illness. On January 21, 1894, she presented her first play to the Carmelite community, followed by a more ambitious production a year later. Between January 21 and March 25, 1895, Thérèse’s sister, Céline, photographed her five times dressed as Joan of Arc in the convent courtyard. Thérèse wore a brown wig over her Carmelite habit and a gold-paper costume. Tragically, these photographs were later misused by a con artist, Leo Taxil, who invented a fictional character, Diana Vaughan, to ridicule the Church. Taxil even used Thérèse's image in a public demonstration mocking religious believers, just months before she died of tuberculosis in 1897. Despite this exploitation, the photograph has become one of the most beloved images in Catholic history, symbolizing devotion, suffering, and sainthood. Both Joan of Arc and Thérèse of Lisieux are now canonized saints, forever linked by faith and courage.