The mission of the Society of the Little Flower is to promote devotion to Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, the Carmelite Nun and Doctor of the Church. Through prayers and donations, friends of St. Therese enable Carmelites to continue her "Shower of Roses" in their ministries and in the education of seminarians. St. Therese of Lisieux dedicated her life as a Carmelite Sister to pray for good priests - and she wanted to go to the ends of the earth "to make God known and loved." The Society of the Little Flower was started in Chicago, in 1923 to fulfill her mission - to educate and support the life and missions of the Carmelites throughout the world. Eventually, St. Clara Church on Woodlawn Avenue in Chicago became the National Shrine of St. Therese. It was just one of the places where the amazing "popular canonization" of St. Therese took place. Over eighty years later, it has become the largest organization in the world promoting devotion to St. Therese and teaching her "little way of spiritual childhood." The message of St. Therese's life is timeless. She is a powerful messenger of God's love to the modern world.