This article shows how St. Therese teaches us to turn our daily hurts and disappointments into love for Jesus.
Praise be to Jesus Christ
Depression has become one of the most common struggles of the time. Even small disappointments, an unexpected transfer at work or a sickness, a stressed relationship, a minor failure, can leave people feeling crushed, hopeless, and broken. Many, in the modern time, live under the weight of unmet expectations and inner wounds. At these moments utter confusion and tension, the life of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, and shines with extraordinary relevance. Though her life was very short, twenty-four years, and never left her Carmelite convent, once she joined, she encountered repeated experiences that could easily have led her into deep discouragement and depression. Yet instead of giving way to despair, she transformed these moments into stepping stones toward holiness.
One of the most touching examples comes from her meetings with her father, Louis Martin. Entering Carmel meant separation from him, yet their deep bond never weakened. The rules of Carmel were strict: visitors were allowed only limited time, measured by an hourglass of sand. When her two sisters, Pauline, and Marie, also became Carmelites, the visitation time had to be divided. The elder sisters often took more of the precious minutes with their father. By the time it was Therese’s turn, the sand had nearly run out. Many times, just as she began to speak to her father, the visit ended, and the grille was closed. Imagine the pain of such a moment: her heart longed to pour out her love, to receive his blessing, to enjoy his presence, but the rule allowed no exceptions. This could easily have been a cause of silent bitterness, even depression. A young woman deprived of her father’s affection, seeing her moments cut short again and again, might have felt rejected or forgotten. Yet Therese never complained. She accepted the rule as God’s will, offering the sacrifice with silent love. Her obedience was not a lifeless submission but a conscious choice to let love triumph over self-pity. The sandglass, which could have symbolized disappointment, became for her a reminder that every second could be sanctified.
Another trial came when Mother Agnes of Jesus, her sister and prioress, asked her to compose a little play for recreation. Therese poured herself into writing and preparing the performance, choosing a story that reflected the heart of the Gospel: the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt, attacked by robbers who, in the play, were unexpectedly moved to mercy. Therese herself acted in the role, radiating her conviction that love could transform even the hardest hearts. But as the play unfolded, Mother Agnes interrupted it abruptly. She was displeased by the depiction of robbers showing mercy, feeling it did not fit the spirit she wanted conveyed. The play was stopped halfway, in front of the whole community. For Therese, this was a deeply painful moment. She had laboured with great enthusiasm, acted with passion and devotion, and suddenly everything was dismissed. Many of us, without any doubts, would have felt humiliated and discouraged. Such an experience could easily have planted the seeds of depression in the heart of an ordinary person, “my work is not valued, my gifts are not accepted, my voice is silenced and I am humiliated before others.” Yet Therese responded differently. She bowed her heart in obedience. She accepted the humiliation as an offering to Jesus. The wound of being stopped mid-act became an opportunity to live her “Little Way”, doing even this great suffering with great love, without bitterness or complaint. What the world might have seen as a crushing blow, she embraced as a hidden source of grace.
These moments from Therese’s life tell us something important. Many times depression begins when our hopes are not met, when we feel ignored, or when we think nobody cares for us. Undoubtedly, St. Therese also went through such struggles. She could not always speak with her father as she wished, and sometimes her efforts were not accepted by others and many other similar incidents took place in her life. These things could have made her bitter or sad or even she could have fallen into depression. However, she chose another way and turned them into chances for surrender, patience, and quiet love. She shows us that holiness is not in doing big things, but in the way we live our ordinary daily life, with its small joys and pains. The secret is not to run away from hurts, but to change them into love. Therese did this every day. She did not allow sadness to rule her heart. She simply offered her hurts to Jesus with love.
Today many of us feel depressed even when small troubles come our way. St. Therese shows us another path. She teaches us to look at our wounds with faith. Every pain can either close us in like a prison or become a gift we offer to God. If we see it only with our human eyes, it will crush us. But if we see it with the eyes of faith, it can make us holy. St. Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17). Therese lived this truth. She did not let her hurts or humiliations rule her life. In Christ, she turned every trial into a chance to love.
She never denied her pain; she carried it in silence, but she also let it become a channel of grace. What might have been the seed of depression became the soil of sanctity. She proves that holiness is not about escaping suffering but about transfiguring it. Her message is urgently needed today. In a world where depression often grows out of unhealed wounds and frustrated desires, Therese shows us another path: the Little Way of love, where no suffering is wasted if united with Christ. When we feel overlooked, interrupted, or cut short, let us remember her sandglass conversations and her interrupted play. What crushed others made her holy. What saddened others lifted her toward heaven. To follow her way is to believe that even in our smallest frustrations, God is present, and every trial, however hidden, can become an opportunity to love.
