Therese Of Lisieux: Her Spirituality and Its Relevance to The Mission of The Church In Contemporary Africa
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Date
2003
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
The main objective of this essay is to make Therese of Lisieux better known and
to make our contemporary world much more conversant with her teaching, which is so
rich and relevant to our age. To meet our _objective, we will divide the essay into three
chapters.
In the first chapter we will study Therese from a biographical perspective with
the aim of providing the historical context within which she developed, practised and
taught her little way of spiritual childhood. We will divide her life into three phases or
periods. The first period (1873-1877) which begins with her birth and concludes with
her Mother's death, is a period in which Therese was surrounded by love and was full of
life and happiness.
The second period of her life (1877-1886) starts with her mother's death, which
made her so timid, retiring and hypersensitive that she could not bear the company of
people other than her family members. This second period came to an end on the
Christmas day of 1886 when she was relieved from her touchiness. She became strong,
courageous, and other-centered. The Christmas grace gave way to her third period,
which spreads from 1886-1897—the period in which her spirituality came into being
and took shape. The second chapter constitutes the heart of the whole study. In it, we will
present the spirituality of Therese of Lisieux. We will divide our chapter into two major
parts: The discovery of the little way of spiritual childhood, and the essential elements
of this way. We will focus on Therese's religious experience, that is, her self-image in
the light of the mystery of salvation and then look into the discovery itself. We will
study in detail the essential elements of the little way of spiritual childhood, which are:
confidence (filial trust), prayer, fraternal charity and missionary spirit.
In our third chapter, we will present the relevance of Theresian spirituality to the
mission of the Church in today's Africa. We do this by first examining what the mission
of the universal Church entails. Secondly, we will look into the African situation and
the challenges that it poses. Finally, we will present the Theresian response to Africa by
briefly exploring the implications of her spirituality of communion, which are:
commitment to works of charity, pursuit of reconciliation and peace, and interreligious
and ecumenical dialogues.
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Keywords
Therese Of Lisieux, Spirituality, Church