The Story of a Soul

On Sept. 30, 1897, at 7:20 p.m., in a provincial French city, a Carmelite nun, age 24, died of tuberculosis. Outside of her religious community and family, she was unknown to the world and yet, in less than 30 years she would be declared a saint and become one of the most popular and beloved saints in the history of the Church. Her name was Therese Martin, or Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.

How did this happen? Most simply, it was because of her memoir, The Story of a Soul, one of the greatest spiritual autobiographies ever. Not initially intended for publication, within a year of her death, it was printed and has inspired countless numbers of people from many different walks of life.

Therese shares her early life as marked by love and suffering. This included the death of her mother, physical sickness and mental challenges. There followed a healing at Christmas 1886 and her desire to enter the Carmelite monastery of Lisieux at the age of 15, where she lived until her death.

In the final chapter Therese

RESOURCES:

Basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux, France https://www.therese-de-lisieux. catholique.fr/en/

A gateway of resources http://www.thereseoflisieux.org/

Institute of Carmelite Studies publications

This resource shares a number of primary and secondary sources of the saint: https://www.icspublications.org/ collections/therese-of-lisieux

Society of the Little Flower https://www.littleflower.org/ st-therese/

Carmelite Monastery of St. Louis, Missouri https://stlouiscarmel.com/ describes The Little Way, which consists of proceeding with an absolute trust in God and an absolute determination to do everything, no matter how small or large, for love of God. Do not be deceived. Little or even simple does not mean easy. Her recounting interactions with her sisters in religious life make this very clear.

Written in a style that can strike modern readers as sentimental or even saccharine, it is important to be patient and move beyond it. This youngest doctor of the Church insists that holiness is possible in the events of daily life. Read The Story of a Soul and let her show you how.

Father Joseph Cisetti is pastor of St. Therese Little Flower Parish [North]