We return to the altar rail, this time guiding you to the opposite side of the Basilica, near the altar of the Sacred Heart. Here we see an anachronistic image of Thérèse kneeling before the Madonna and Child. Thérèse stretches out her hand as if to stroke the Child’s face.

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus is among the most popular and most beloved saints in the Catholic Church. However, many have the mistaken idea that her life was easy and romantic and that her message can be reduced to the cute slogan: “Do little things with great love.”

Three of the altars of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower stand behind a Communion rail embellished with small mosaics of the Life of St. Thérèse. These small treasures are easily missed when the grandeur of the high altar dominates the view.

This beautiful stained glass window of the Child Jesus cannot be found by the average visitor to the Basilica today. This is a relic of our past which currently resides in storage.

In her writings, St. Thérèse used the rose to signify both love and sacrifice. This mosaic, then, is uniquely suited to both the Easter season and the Basilica itself.

First-class relics are contained within a ring on the left hand of the statue of Thérèse in the tomb chapel of the Basilica of the Little Flower.