St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) knew first-hand the frustration of wanting a vocation closed to her. She made no secret of her
St. Thérèse of Lisieux: not a woman priest, perhaps, but surely a priestly woman.
lifelong desire to be a priest, but she declared it from the safety of her Carmelite convent in Lisieux, Normandy, about 100 miles northwest of Paris. After her death, Catholics, especially priests, put her on a pedestal as a model of obedient Catholic womanhood. In that spirit, she was named a Doctor of the Church in 1997.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux: qualified to be a nun, a saint, and a Doctor of the Church -- but not a woman priest.


In the chilly spring of 1896, during the long, dark night uniting Holy Thursday and Good Friday, Thérèse felt “something very hot and wet” percolate into her mouth. Her handkerchief blood-soaked, she sensed a “fog” around her.

By September 1897 she was “dying of not being able to die.” Months of vomiting, labored breathing, and fainting were taking their toll. Thérèse considered her impending death, at age 24, to be a blessing: had she been male, she would have been ordained to the priesthood later that year. She thanked God for taking her early, to spare her the disappointment of not being a priest.

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