Book Review: The Story of a Soul (The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux)

Wow, what a book! It's such a beautiful help. It comes to our rescue as we continue our relationship with our beloved Jesus Christ! Although St. Therese wrote her autobiography not because she wanted to or even imagined anyone would ever read it, but because her older sister, Pauline, who was also a carmelite nun with her, told her to write. Her thoughts flow on each page as a beautiful poem, sometimes getting caught up in the moment that she begins writing to Jesus. She is not only a role model for us Christians that want to love God. She paves her "little way" so that we may also be little and humble in our own daily lives. Her story and her character is so similar to ours..

Good quotes from the book:

" I had wondered for a long time why God had preferences and why all souls did not receive an equal amount of grace. ...Jesus saw fit to enlighten me about this mystery. He set the book of nature before me and I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendour of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realised that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay. "

"It is just the same in the world of souls --which is the garden of Jesus. He has created the great saints who are like the lilies and the roses, but He has also created much lesser saints and they must be content to be the daisies or the violets which rejoice His eyes whenever He glances down. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being that which He wants us to be."

"The sun shines equally both on cedars and on every tiny flower. In just the same way God looks after every soul as if it had no equal. All is planned for the good of every soul, exactly as the seasons are so arranged that the humblest daisy blossoms at the appointed time."

"Well instructed in all I had to say and do, I entered the confessional and knelt down, but when Father Ducellier opened the shutter he couldn't see anyone. I was so small that my head came below the arm rest. He told me to stand up. I obeyed at once and turned to face him so that I could see him better. I made my confession like a big girl and received his blessing with great devotion, for you had told me that, at that moment, the tears of Jesus would cleanse my soul."

"Then, with Leonie and celine, [Marie] knelt by my bed. They gazed towards the statue of the Blessed Virgin and prayed to her with all the passion of a mother asking for the life of her child. Marie got her desire. I could find no help on earth, so I also turned to my heavenly Mother and beseeched her to have pity on my. Suddenly the Blessed Virgin glowed with a beauty beyond anything I had ever seen. Her face was alive with kindness and an infinite tenderness, but it was her enchanting smile which really moved me to the depths. My pain vanished and two great tears crept down my cheecks --tears of pure joy."

(first communion)

"Oh, how sweet the first kiss of Jesus was! It was a kiss of love. I knew that I was loved and I declared: "I love You and I give myself to You forever!" Jesus made no demand on me; He asked for no sacrifices. For a long time Jesus and little Therese had gazed at each other and they understood each other. On that day it was no longer a matter of gazing: it was a union. There were no longer two of us. Therese had disappeared like a drop of water lost in the depth of the ocean. Only Jesus remained --as Master and King."

(confirmation)

"How happy was I! Like the apostles, I awaited with joy the coming of the Holy Ghost. I rejoiced that I should soon be a full Christian, with my forehead marked for ever with the mystic cross drawn there by the bishop as he administers this Sacrament."

"The moment came at last. I felt no rushing wind when the Holy Ghost descended, but, instead, that gentle breeze whose murmur Elias heard on Horeb. And on that day I acquired the strength to suffer. The martyrdom of my soul was soon to start."

"Suppose the son of a clever doctor fals over a stone in the road and breaks his leg. His father rushes to the spot and, with loving care, uses every ounce of his skill to heal him. His son is soon healed and is grateful. There's no doubt the boy is quite right to love such a father. But now let us suppose that the father learns that a dangerous stone lies in the road, goes there before his son, and, unseen by anyone, takes away the stone. Now the boy, who knows nothing of the mishap he has been spared by his father's loving foresight,, will show him no particular gratitude and will love him less than if he had been healed by him. Yet if the boy knew the danger he had escaped, would he not love his father more? Well, now, I am that child, protected by the foreseeing love of a Father who sent His Son "to call sinners, not the just." He wants me to love Him because He has forgiven me not just a great deal, but everything. Without waiting for me to love Him with a great love like St. Magdalene, He has made me understand that He loved me first and with a full, all-seeing love, so now I adore Him even unto folly."

"One Sunday when I was looking at a picture of Our Lord on the Cross, I saw the Blood coming from one of His hands, and I felt terribly sad to think that It was falling to the earth and that no one was rushing forward to catch It. I determined to stay continually at the foot of the Cross and receive It. I knew taht I should then have to spread It among other souls. The cry of Jesus on the Cross-- "I am thirsty"-- rang continually in my heart and set me burning with a new, intense longing. I wanted to quench the thirst of my Well-Beloved and I myself was consumed with a thirst for souls. I was concerned not with the souls of priests but with those of great sinners which I wanted to snatch from the flames of hell."

(praying for priests)

"Another discovery I made concerned priests. Until then I hadn't been able to understand the main purpose of Carmel. I loved praying for sinners, but I was astounded at having to pray for priests. I thought their souls were without blemish. It was in Italy that I came to understand my vocation, and it wasn't too far to travel to learn that. I met many holy priests during the month I was away, but I saw that some of them were still men, weak and subject to human frailty, even though the sublime dignity of the priesthood raised them above the angels. Now if prayers are needed for those holy priests whom Jesus called "the salt of the earth," how much more is it needed for priests of lukewarm virtue. For did not Jesus also ask: "if salt loses its taste, what is there left to give taste to?" What a wonderful vocation we Carmelites have! It is up to us to preserve the salt of the earth. We offer our prayers and penance for God's apostles and we are their apostles, while, by word and deed, they bring the Gospel to our brethren. "

(Carmel)

"Daddy suggested I should go on another pilgrimage, this time to Jerusalem. I felt a natural longing to visit the places sanctified by the steps of Our Lord, but I was weary of earthly pilgrimages. I wanted nothing but the splendours of heaven and, in order that I could give them to other souls, I wanted to become a prisoner in Carmel as soon as possible. I felt certain that I should still have to struggle and suffer before the doors of this blessed prison would open to receive me."

"Above all, I tried to do my small good deeds in secret."

"O Jesus, let my baptismal robe remain for ever white. Take me, rather than let me stain my soul by the slightest deliberate fault. Let me neither look for nor find anyone but You and You alone. Let all creatures be as nothing to me and me as nothing to them. Let no eartly things disturb my peace. O Jesus, I ask only for peace--peace and above all LOVE that is without measure or limits. May I die as a martyr for You. Give me martyrdom of soul or body. Ah! rather give me both! Enable me to fulfil all my duties perfectly and let me be ignored, trodden underfoot, and forgotten like a grain of sand. To You, my Beloved, I offer myself so that You may fulfill in me Your holy Will without a single creature placing any obstacle in the way."

(suffering in secret)

"For is there any greater joy than to suffer for love for You? The more intense and hidden the suffering is, the more pleasing it is to You."

"I no longer want anything except to love until I die of love."

"But now I realise that true charity consists in putting up with all one's neighbour's faults, never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the least of his virtues. "

"O Jesus, I know You command nothing that is impossible. You know how weak and imperfect I am, and You know only too well that I could never love the other nuns as You Yourself did not love them within me. It is because You wish to grant me this grace that You have given a new commandment. How I cherish it, for it assures me that it is Your will to love in me all those whom You command me to love."