The religious experience of Saint Therese of Lisieux and the appropriation of quotidian elements to express the ineffable

Abstract

Saint Therese of Lisieux was a carmelite nun who lived in the context of France at the end of the 19th century. After a troubled childhood, at the age of 15, she joined the Discalced Carmelites Order, where she remained until the age of 24, when she died of severe pneumonia. In a short time, Therese of Lisieux achieved spiritual marriage, the prestige of one of the most popular saints in the world and the title of Doctor of the Church, as an expert in Scientia Divini Amoris. She wrote three autobiographical manuscripts which, when compiled, are known as the Story of a Soul. In these pages you can find Teresa's deep spirituality that elevated her to the altars and the doctrinal greatness that made her the third woman among doctors. Faced with the ineffable of mysticism – understood as the encounter between the self and the Absolute Other – the faith and the man seek to understand what they experience, and for this they use the language that is capable of making the inexpressible feasible, achievable only through the use of the language of symbols, icons, analogies and allegories. This study verified the spirituality of Saint Therese of Lisieux and the use of quotidian elements to express her mysticism and doctrine in her main work, the Story of a Soul. It was noticed that the Carmelite makes great use of elements from her daily life to transmit her inspirations, mainly comparisons with the realities present in nature.