Story of a Soul (l'Histoire d'une Ame): The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux by Thérèse de Lisieux
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Story of a Soul is a most edifying book! If one wishes to learn how a saint truly lived her life, there is no better source or textbook to use as reference than to read her autobiography. St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, shows us how easy, and yet so difficult, it is to live the humble life; more importantly, she offers compelling reasons why we should wish to focus on this virtue.
St. Thérèse claims to be a simple soul who hones her devotion by entering a Carmelite convent. Her life is guided by two principles: 1) to adhere to Jesus' claim that one must be like a child to enter the kingdom of Heaven, and 2) to follow Jesus' example and to humble herself. Towards that end, no task at the convent is too menial for her to perform and offer to God. She wishes to earnestly live her life in childish simplicity, yet she combines that simple outlook with a faith worthy of, well... a saint.
Story of a Soul, besides offering an insight into the life of a saint, is strewn with references from the three texts St. Thérèse relied on to keep her humble: The Bible, writings of St. John of the Cross, and Thomas A Kempis' Imitation of Christ.
This version of St. Thérèse's Story of a Soul can be found here for free: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/therese/autobio.html.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment