Little St. Theresa

How come someone so little gets so big?
She died at twenty-four--to start our search--
“the greatest saint of modern times--bigwig!
--this “Little Flower” named Doctor of the Church.*

She earns that title from her “Little Way,”
an unknown nun who said, “Love’s my vocation,”
that we can offer up our little day,
and sinners save no matter what our station.

From heaven she promised us a shower of roses,
her little miracles done for her friends,
her “Little Way of Love” that she proposes
made her my favorite saint for all she sends.

“Jesus,” she prayed, “make me Your little toy”
to play with or to test, let’s not be terse--
for here to celebrate her feast with joy,
I write this sonnet with an extra verse.

So as her little molehills turn to mounts,
she tells us how: “It’s love alone that counts.”

                         by Pete Voelz     9/30/13

* Only three other women have been named
Doctor of the Church--St. Catherine of Siena,
St. Theresa of Avila, and St. Hildegard of Bingen.