Your Wound Is Not Your Obstacle: St. Thérèse on Grace, Holiness, and the Little Way

Fr. Marc Foley, OCD, guides us through a careful reading of St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s spiritual development, tracing how her childhood wound — the early loss of her mother and the deep attachments it formed — became, under grace, not an obstacle to holiness but the very site where she encountered God most directly. Drawing on Carmelite mystical theology, developmental psychology, and Thérèse’s own writings, Foley shows that spiritual growth does not require us to “get over” our wounds. Holiness is loving God and neighbor with the actual strength available to us — and that is enough.