Denis McNamara of the Liturgical Institute says: "The reason this painting should be studied carefully is the expression of the saint herself. This is not the china-doll porcelain face of sentimental nineteenth-century holy cards. This is the look of one who contemplates the face of God. The gaze of the painting is not at the viewer, but beyond the viewer. Though we recognize her from her photographs, this is not a portrait but an icon in Western, three-dimensional style: perfected, divinized, with just enough of a "dry" gaze to know that her perceptions are not of the things of this world even as she has a hint of a smile. Masterful work indeed."
“St. Therese, the Little Flower, please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me with a message of love. Ask God to grant me the favor I thee implore and tell him I will love him each day more and more. “