Our Patron
Our farm is dedicated to St. Therese of Lisieux, commonly knonw as "the little flower". We were attracted to St. Therse for her simplicty and her trust in God. St. Therese's spirituality is simple and she calls it her "little way." She believed and taught us that life presents enough challenges and opportunities for grace. She teaches us that God is everywhere - in every situation and person - and in the ordinary, simple details of life.
St. Therese
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, also called St. Teresa of the Child Jesus or the Little Flower, was a Carmelite nun whose service to her Roman Catholic order, although outwardly unremarkable, was later recognized for its exemplary spiritual accomplishments.
Thérèse was the youngest of nine children, five of whom survived childhood and was raised in a deeply religious atmosphere of her home, her piety developed early and intensively. All four of her elder sisters became nuns, and at the age of 15 she entered the Carmelite convent at Lisieux, having been refused admission a year earlier. The story of Thérèse’s spiritual development was related in a collection of her epistolary essays, written by order of the prioresses and published in 1898 under the title Histoire d’une âme (“Story of a Soul”). Her popularity is largely a result of this work, which conveys her loving pursuit of holiness in ordinary life. St. Thérèse defined her doctrine of the Little Way as “the way of spiritual childhood, the way of trust and absolute surrender.” She was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925.
"True Charity consists in bearing with all the defects of our neighbor, in not being surprised at his failings, and in being edified by his least virtues; Charity must not remain shut up in the depths of the heart, for no man lighteth a candle and putteth it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. (Cf. Matthew 5:15). It seems to me that this candle represents the Charity which ought to enlighten and make joyful, not only those who are dearest to me, but all who are in the house." Story of A Soul, Chapter IX