St. Thérèse Martin and her sisters grew up in a home atmosphere of deep devotion to Our Lord and His saints. Devotions, penances, and pilgrimages were important to them.
Shortly before Thérèse entered Carmel, the Martin family made a pilgrimage to Rome. (This was the same trip on which Thérèse cast herself at the feet of an astonished Pope Leo XIII to ask permission to enter Carmel!)
During their Rome pilgrimage, Thérèse’s group made a visit to the Colosseum. Thérèse and her sister Celine were thrilled—they wanted to kneel and pray on the sand that had received the blood of so many holy martyrs.
The Colosseum
However…when they entered the famous, hallowed building, they found that the main portion of the arena was roped off.
That didn’t stop the two Martin girls! The group followed their guide around the public areas—while Thérèse and Celine slipped under the ropes and ran into the arena.
Kneeling on the arena floor, they prayed to the holy martyrs, gathered some gravel as relics, and ran back to their father. No one else had noticed their brief disappearance, but St. Louis probably gave his daughters a loving, piercing look!
Want to know more about this spunky saint? Learn more about her in her own words in the spiritual classic Story of a Soul. Not only will this beautiful autobiography bring you closer to this wonderful intercessor, but it will guide you along St. Thérèse’s “Little Way of Love,” which is a little way leading right to Heaven! Order your copy of Story of a Soul today from The Catholic Company today!
