Thérèse Martin was born in Alençon, France. While still young she entered the Carmel of Lisieux, where she lived in the greatest humility, evangelical simplicity and confidence in God. By her words and example, she taught the novices these same virtues, offering her life for the salvation of souls and the spread of the Church. Her autobiography is the popular Story of a Soul and is well known for its relating of her Little Way. St. Thérèse was made a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.