I read about the bones of St Therese of Lisieux visiting the church in Filton to be viewed and touched by 15 coach loads of pilgrims, my first thought was "how strange, how macabre!" That kind of spiritual devotion is foreign to me.

It even sounded magical – as though the bones contained a power that could be tapped by touching them.

But perhaps my Protestant tradition makes me prejudiced. After all, I believe in the incarnation, that God is to be found at particular places and seen in special people.

I have just been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and it was a spiritual experience to walk on the stones where Jesus walked.

I go regularly to a convent in the Wye valley, which is my spiritual home, and I also go to see someone for guidance who is a true man of God.

Our Protestant churches, which a few years ago thought of church buildings as functional, now want to create sacred space.

So to see and touch the body of a saint could be a deeply spiritual moment, if it is a focus for personal devotion seeking to follow the pattern of life of the saint. As a Protestant, I am also reminded of the community of faith that stretches beyond death and of the continuing prayers of those who have gone before us.

Why was St. Therese special? She was born in France in 1873 and entered a monastery at 15 years old, dying at 24. The autobiography of her short life revealed an extraordinary faith that has attracted the attention of millions.

She described the pattern of her life as "the Little Way". It was not necessary to do heroic deeds to express love for God, but only to serve Him in ordinary little ways – the small sacrifice, the loving glance or word. She said this was like "scattering flowers".

The scriptures were luminous, a single word opening up infinite horizons, enough to realise her nothingness and give herself like a child into the arms of the good God.

"Prayer is a surge of the heart, a simple look turned towards heaven and a cry of recognition and love. I do as a child who has not learned to read. I just tell our Lord all that I want and He understands."

St Therese suffered a great deal - her mother died when she was only four years old, she was bullied at school, and TB caused her early death.

She found consolation in contemplating the sufferings of Christ, her prayer being: "Make me resemble you, Jesus". At the end, she said: "I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me."

The simplicity of her faith appeals to us in a confusing world. The gospel is at root so simple and we make it so complicated. St Therese's open trust in God and everyday kindnesses take us to the heart of it.

Her experience of suffering makes her very relevant to a generation that has had to face the scourge of AIDS – she is the Patron Saint of AIDS sufferers.

And yet we do know how to read and that raises many difficult questions for faith today. The Bible can speak to us with immediacy, but it can mislead with cruel results. We need to use the mind as well as the heart in faith. Questions and doubts are a proper part of a mature trust in God.

But thank God for St Therese's faith – hers is both the beginning and the end of faith.