Film director Leonardo Defilippis, who is on a mission to fund a film based on the life story of St. Therese of Lisieux, found a groundswell of support waiting for him when he paid a visit to Sacramento in July, which included a stop at an ice cream parlor owned by one of the saint’s biggest fans.

David Leatherby, owner of Leatherby’s Family Creamery, organized the fund-raising event during which financial backers watched film clips from “Therese” by Defilippis, whose nonprofit firm, Luke Films, produced the film.

Although “Therese” drew a standing ovation from Catholic dignitaries associated with mission work during a private Vatican screening in May 2003, it has not created a stir among the public and the project has been difficult to fund. So Defilippis is making film history by asking for $2 million in donations to bring the film to select theaters nationwide.

Leatherby, who plans to donate about $10,000 for the film, said the 19th century French nun, adored by millions for doing small things with great compassion, has literally changed his life.

“I’m a Catholic and my family is Catholic because of St. Therese,” said Leatherby, who recalled he first heard about the saint nearly 40 years ago when a close friend showed him a photo of the Carmelite nun and requested he place the saint’s picture in his wallet.

Three years after Leatherby began carrying the St. Therese’s photo, his wife Sally and their five children were baptized in the Catholic Church.

“Therese has played a very big role in my lifeÖthrough the ups and downs in business, and the many blessings that my family has received,” he said.

Now the father of 10, Leatherby counts among these blessings the healing grace the family received from the prayers of Carmelite Sisters following the death of his eight-year-old daughter, Theresa.

Leatherby became excited about the film when he was present for a showing of the film during a visit to Rome in February. He believes “Therese” has the potential to follow in the footsteps of the enormously successful Christian film “The Passion of the Christ.”

“This movie, about a simple girl whose relics (now on tour) have attracted millions of people, is powerful in a deep and loving way,” Leatherby said.

The story of St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower, is of a young girl whose mother died when she was just four. After her sister, who was like a mother to Therese, left to join a Carmelite monastery, the young girl developed a close relationship with God. At 14, she made a trip to the Vatican and received permission to enter a Carmelite religious order even though she was technically too young to do so.

While her life was not filled with dramatic moments, St. Therese of Lisieux was proclaimed a saint by Pope John Paul II in 1997 for having lived simply, sacrificing for others with unconditional love.

Defilippis said the film “Therese” has the feel of an impressionistic painting come alive, a romantic movie that reflects the beauty of the heart of a remarkable young woman.

“Artistically we tried to make it like a European film with moving musical scoresÖa movie about a beautiful woman with a passion within herself in her love of God,” he said. “It is a movie that touches the heart and people are supporting the movie because they love her.”

Maria Totushek and her eight-year-old daughter Madison were among those present at the Leatherby fund-raiser.

Madison, a member of Divine Savior Parish in Orangevale, has been “on fire for St. Therese” ever since she read the Carmelite nun’s autobiography, “Story of a Soul.”

“She’s pretty cool,” Madison Totushek said. “If someone really needed something, like a homeless man on the street was really hungry, she would sacrifice a meal for him.”

When Maria Totushek told her daughter the producers of a movie about St. Therese needed some money to show the film, Madison became an overnight entrepreneur. She opened a lemonade stand in her neighborhood in May, and with the support of her sisters Makena and Mikayla, began selling pink lemonade and licorice sticks like mad.

By July 7 Madison had made over $70, which she presented to Defilippis at the fund-raiser.

The eight-year-old is also working with her mother as part of a grassroots campaign to help collect 30,000 signatures bring the movie to theatres in Sacramento.

Madison has received permission to provide information to parishioners following all Masses at Divine Savior on Aug 28-29, so those interested can register their support for “Therese” by signing petitions or by going to the Web site, www.theresemovie.com.

Totushek shares her daughter’s passion for a film in which the star is someone parents would want their child to emulate.

“Here is this little girl barely out of childhood who realizes there is so much beauty in the ordinary,” she said. “She was an ordinary girl doing extraordinary things, but her biggest gift to us was that she helps us realize God loves us perfectly the way we are right now.”

Verna Verspieren, a member of St. Mel Parish in Fair Oaks, is also among those involved in a local campaign that is enlisting the support of Catholics at about 20 parishes for “Therese.”

Verspieren, a convert to Catholicism, made a pilgrimage a few years ago to Lisieux with her husband, who is a native of northern France. The Verspierens visited St. Therese’s family home and church and the Carmelite monastery where she lived after becoming a nun.

“I love the simplicity and holiness of (St. Therese of Lisieux’s) message,” said Verspieren, who is using the saint’s advice to “offer up little things every day” in raising her own six children “to live their faith.”

“Therese” is scheduled to be released in theaters across the country Oct. 1. For more information, call 1-800-683-2998 or write to St. Luke Productions, P.O. Box 761, Beaverton, OR 97075.

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