St. Thérèse of Lisieux is one of the greatest and most loved saints in the Catholic Church. She is, in fact, a doctor of the Church and is most well known for her “Little Way.” 

But even if you have a great devotion to this beloved saint, whom Pope Pius X called “the greatest saint in modern times,” and even if you are already trying to follow her Little Way, you will gain great insights and inspiration when you tune into EWTN’s Sacred Stories: St. Thérèse of Lisieux. (This is one of four outstanding episodes in the ongoing Sacred Stories series available for free at EWTN On Demand.)

The program is only 30 minutes, but every word is gold. Writer/host Shane Page and producer Gabriel Castillo make it easy for viewers by boiling down much of this little saint’s wisdom into five lessons. 

They are 1.) the importance of a holy family life; 2.) the “Little Way” of St. Thérèse; 3.) devotion to the Virgin Mary; 4.) love and desire for Jesus in the Eucharist; and 5.) suffering and sacrifice.

If these sound to you like “the usual” pious prescriptions, you need to hear about them from the mouth of the saint who this program convincingly argues is most like the Blessed Virgin Mary! We don’t have room here to talk about all of the lessons above. Because of the emphasis on the Eucharistic renewal right now, we considered focusing on that lesson or suffering since it is so pervasive in our time. Instead, we will look at what we think you will find most surprising because it concerns the one thing most of us think we already know. 

The “Litte Way” of St. Thérèse is often boiled down to the prescription of “doing little things with great love,” and that’s true, but this program contends that it is much more than this. To understand this point, the program outlines what led Thérèse to develop this idea. You won’t be surprised to learn that Thérèse spent a great deal of time meditating on the Gospels, and she took all Our Lord’s commands very seriously. 

Every year in church, we hear at least once that Jesus said: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Because we know we are sinners, we may think this is an unattainable ideal; something for which we can only strive.  Not Thérèse. She knew she was weak. In fact, she saw herself as the weakest of all creatures. 

However, Thérèse also knew and trusted Jesus more than most people, which is why she is not only a great saint but a doctor of the Church. She reasoned that Jesus would never command his people to do the impossible. But how was Thérèse able to reconcile her weakness with God’s command to be perfect? And how can we do the same?

The answer is deep and it’s something upon which we can all meditate in prayer. This program tells us that the saint’s own meditations upon Scripture led her to the following conclusion:

“… I need a shortcut. I need a lift. And if I throw myself into the arms of Jesus, He will be my lift and He will raise me up to Himself.”

“The Little Way is more than a set of practices and methods,” says the narrator. “It’s more than just doing little things with great love. It is a way of being. It is a disposition of the heart. It is acknowledging that, on our own, we are nothing and we can do nothing without Christ. … [She reasoned if] God wanted her to have faith, hope and love, then God was going to have to be faith, hope and love in her.”

Said in another way: “[W]e do not have the strength to become saints on our own. Instead, we can throw ourselves into the arms of God, our Father, like a little child to its parent, and allow God and God’s life to live in us. ‘Lord, you can love in me and through me.’ That is the essence of the Little Way.”

When we think about this we realize, the so-called Little Way, this complete self-abandonment to God, is really what our faith is all about. 

Sound hard? 

Let us turn to St. Thérèse, who tried so fervently to imitate Our Lady’s love for her Son, and to Our Lady herself, who was and always will be the most perfect follower of her Son — and ask for their help. 

You will not want to miss this program. Tune in to get the full story of how you, like Thérèse, can learn to become even more pleasing to Jesus by becoming more like his beloved Mother.

Michelle Laque Johnson is director of communications at the EWTN Global Catholic Network; this is a reprint from the “EWTN Wings” weekly programming email. To have info about EWTN shows and specials sent directly to your inbox, sign up at EWTN.com/wings.