Even though she is a Doctor of the Church, St. Thérèse of Lisieux is more well-known for being the little flower of Jesus. Through her little way, she has inspired many Catholics to love God simply, devoutly, and with great love. St. Thérèse believed that no act of faith is too small for God. Loving God in this way wasn’t always easy for St. Thérèse, but even through her suffering and death at age twenty-four she tried to love God with all her heart. In her autobiography, Story of a Soul ( L’Histoire d’une Âme ), St. Thérèse shares the story of her little way and helps us see God in his smallest creations. John Cleary uses passages from Story of a Soul to inspire us to embrace our own smallness this Advent and Christmas and see past the glamour and hype of a material Christmas to the small miracle that comes on December 25.|John Cleary was the director of development at Catholic Charities of St. Louis before becoming an instructor of senior-year religion at St. John Vianney High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in theological studies from Saint Louis University. Formerly an acquisitions editor at Liguori Publications, he is the author of 15 Days of Prayer With Saint Faustina Kowalska