At the entrance of Little Flower School stands a modest statue of Saint Therese of Lisieux, patroness of the Catholic parish in Bethesda.

The pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade school celebrated the Carmelite nun's centennial on Oct. 1 and planted a rose bush in the circle of flowers surrounding her statue.

On Oct. 19, Pope John Paul II declared Saint Therese a "Doctor of the Church," a rare honor bestowed to canonize saints for holiness, learning and writings and for the impact they have had as "accomplished teachers."

"We are blessed that our school is named after the Little Flower," said principal Sister Rosemaron Rynn. "She models for all of us that the path to holiness consists in doing the ordinary, everyday things of life well."

Saint Therese, who died in 1897 of tuberculosis when she was 24, is the 33rd doctor of the church and only the third female to receive the Papal designation. The other two, her namesake, St. Therese of Avila, and Saint Catherine of Siena, were honored in 1970.

Author of the popular "Story of a Soul," an autobiography that has been translated into several languages, the French nun left behind many written works from prayers and letters to plays and poems.

St. Therese referred to herself as a little flower in "God's Garden." However, Pope John Paul II recognized her "eminent teaching" as among the most "fruitful" of noted Catholic theologians.

"Humble and poor, Therese shows the 'little way' of children who confide in the Father with 'bold trust,'" the pope said last summer, when he announced his intention to confer the designation. "The heart of her message, her spiritual attitude, is for all the faithful."

Born in Alencon, France in 1873, Therese Martin entered the monastic life at age 15. Pope Pius XI canonized her in 1925, 28 years after her death.

Saint Therese joins an illustrious group, which includes Saint Augustine, who wrote "Confessions" and "City of God" during the fourth and fifth centuries; Saint Jerome, who translated the Old Testament from Hebrew to Latin; and the famed scholar Saint Thomas Aquinas. The first doctors of the church were proclaimed in 1298.