{"id":1586,"date":"2017-10-01T05:00:09","date_gmt":"2017-10-01T09:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmetheology.wpengine.com\/?p=1586"},"modified":"2017-10-01T05:00:09","modified_gmt":"2017-10-01T09:00:09","slug":"book-review-the-story-of-a-soul-by-st-therese-of-lisieux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/book-review-the-story-of-a-soul-by-st-therese-of-lisieux\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review – The Story of a Soul, by St Th\u00e9r\u00e9se of Lisieux"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today we celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se of Lisieux. So, I thought it appropriate to share a bit of what I learned about this beloved saint by reading her book, The Story of a Soul<\/em>. From the title alone, we garner a peek at this beloved saint\u2019s humility, as if the story could be about any soul \u2013 very non-descript. Yet, Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se of Lisieux was anything but non-descript!<\/p>\n

Th\u00e9r\u00e9se will grip your heart from the very beginning, right up to her last breath, as she tells you the story of her life \u2013 her \u201clittle way.\u201d She lived for only 24 years, but in that time, she accomplished so much. Th\u00e9r\u00e9se made the quality of her life, a gift to God; in thanksgiving for His creation of her. Raised in a devout Catholic home, in France, in the late 1800\u2019s, Th\u00e9r\u00e9se seemed to intuitively understand, at a very young age, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux\u2019s teaching that we are to love God for God\u2019s sake, not our own. I found this attribute of Th\u00e9r\u00e9se to be awe-inspiring. How many of us, today, can say that we truly love God, for God\u2019s sake, and not our own?<\/p>\n

As Th\u00e9r\u00e9se grew from child to adult, she remained small in stature, and humble in nature. She dreamed of one day becoming a Carmelite nun. Her desire to give back to God, in service to Him, out of love for Him, was born from her sufferings and challenges. She lost her mother to breast cancer at the age of four. Then as her sisters grew to adulthood, each one of them entered the convent, leaving her behind to live without them. So, she suffered much loss, but found great solace in her friendship with Jesus. Even as a child, she was astute enough to know<\/p>\n

\u2026that in order to become a Saint, one must suffer much, always seek the most perfect path, and forget oneself<\/em> (p. 24).<\/p>\n

With that in mind, Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se grew up wanting to enter the convent, like her sisters. She saw that as her perfect path to sainthood. She was so adamant, that she pestered her father and uncle to get the Bishops\u2019 permission for her to enter before the minimum age. When their efforts failed, she took it upon herself to speak to the Pope about it, when her father took her on a trip to Rome. Eventually, Th\u00e9r\u00e9se won out, and entered the Discalced Carmelite convent at the young age of 15.<\/p>\n

Throughout her life. she never lost her sense of humility; always seeing herself as small. She equated her sense of humility to God\u2019s garden. Th\u00e9r\u00e9se saw herself as one of God\u2019s little flowers.<\/p>\n

He has been pleased to create great Saints who may be compared to the lily and the rose, but He has also created lesser ones, who must be content to be daisies or simple violets, flowering at His Feet, and whose mission it is to gladden His Divine Eyes when He deigns to look down on them. And the more gladly they do His Will the greater is their perfection<\/em> (p. 4).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What a beautiful way to depict our souls \u2013 full of color, variety, and size, in God\u2019s garden! Saint Ther\u00e9s\u00e9 of Lisieux would place herself in the violet category. Yet, we all know that she is one of God\u2019s roses, as she has been declared a Doctor of the Church. She is also considered one of the most beloved saints to modern man. Many people pray to Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se for her intercession. These same people ask for a sign that she has heard their prayer and will pray for them. That sign is a rose. I know, because it happened to me! One day I prayed, asking Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se to pray for me, and I asked for a sign. I told no one of this prayer. A few days later, my husband walked in the door with a yellow rose \u2013 my favorite! Apparently, the sign on the Florist Shop said that if today your name is Nicholas, you get a free rose. So, he stopped in to get one, and brought it home to me. I knew Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se was praying for me, and that filled my heart with joy!<\/p>\n

As Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se of Lisieux lay on her death bed, she declared that she felt that her mission was only beginning. She vowed to spend her eternity doing good on earth. Her mission is to help us love God for God\u2019s sake, as Th\u00e9r\u00e9se loves God, with complete trust and absolute self-surrender. Oh, what was that prayer I prayed to Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se for which I received the yellow rose? I asked her to show me how to love God for God\u2019s sake, with complete trust and absolute self-surrender. She has been teaching me every day since. I am seeing my trust in Jesus grow. My self-surrender increases day-by-day.<\/p>\n

Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se, please pray for us! Help us all to love God for God\u2019s sake, to trust in Him completely, and to give all of ourselves, in service to Him, for the love of God. Amen.<\/p>\n

If you would like to read The Story of a Soul<\/em>, and learn how to become a Saint, then click here<\/a> to get your copy.<\/p>\n

Virginia Lieto<\/strong>\u00a0teaches theology for Saint Joseph\u2019s College Online. She is the author of\u00a0children\u2019s book\u00a0Finding Patience<\/a>\u00a0and blogs at\u00a0www.virginialieto.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Th\u00e9r\u00e9se of Lisieux. So, I thought it appropriate to share a bit of what I learned about this beloved saint by reading her book, The Story of a Soul. From the title … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,23,1],"tags":[281,290],"class_list":["post-1586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-saints","category-spirituality","category-uncategorized","tag-st-therese-of-lisieux","tag-the-story-of-a-soul"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}