Why has Saint Therese of Lisieux paradoxically been called the patron saint of agnostics and atheists?

Answer 1

Therese of Lisieux is not a patron saint of agnostics nor atheists. In fact, I have checked the Patron Saint Index and there are no such patron saints.

Therese suffered from a common malady of many saints - Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to name a few. All experienced what is described as a "Darkness of the Soul." All suffered both physical and spiritual anguish and often felt that they had been abandoned by God. They all remained faithful until the end, however. All lived much in the tone of the following quote from Albert Camus.
"I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is."

Neither Therese of Lisieux nor any of the other aforementioned saints can be considered as agnostics for this anymore than we could consider Jesus Christ an agnostic for his final words from the cross:
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

When every ounce of our intellect finds something improbably or impossible to believe yet we continue to believe, it is defined as faith.

Answer 2

For Therese it had been completely incomprehensible that anyone could not believe. Then, during a long period of illness, she passed through what she saw as a trial of faith. Her doubts in the existence of heaven, which had been repressed, gathered strength in her unconscious, then came through to her consciousness. Therese found that she could not simply dismiss these doubts, leaving her in an anxious state. She compensated by dreams of mother figures, that comforted her.

As a result of her 'trial of faith', Therese came to call agnostics and atheists her brothers. In 1897, the year she died, St Therese of Lisieux wrote to he mother superior, "When I sing the happiness of Heaven, the eternal possession of God, I feel no joy in this, for I sing simply what I want to believe." It seems that she herself died an agnostic after a lifetime spent in the service of the faith.

Answer 3

Saint Therese of Lisieux has been called the patron saint of agnostics and atheists because of her belief in God's unconditional love and mercy, which can resonate with those who struggle with doubts about their faith or with the existence of God. She was known for her "little way" of seeking God in everyday life, which can be appealing to individuals who may not adhere to organized religion but still seek spiritual guidance and comfort.