Thérèse of Lisieux

As a child, the patron saint of pilots and people with AIDS shared a room with a large wire cage housing finches and canaries. She sought entry into the convent as early as age 9, following her sister, but was deemed too young. Fifteen years later, in 1897, Thérèse had achieved her monastic dream but lay on her deathbed — a flock of birds landed on the infirmary window and sang her away. When the body of the “Little Flower,” as she called herself, was exhumed many years later, the room  filled with the scent of violets. In her hand was a sprig of palm, still fresh.