The Life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux: The Original Biography Commissioned by Her Sister
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
This remarkable biography of Thérèse of Lisieux, one of the most popular Catholic saints of all time, was commissioned by her sister and religious superior and was the first published in English in 1928. Msgr. August Pierre Laveille was able to portray Thérèse, as well as her parents Zélie and Louis who were canonized in 2015, with exquisite detail, having interviewed those who knew them best.
When the autobiography of the life of Thérèse of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, was first published a year after her death in 1898, the response was immediate and overwhelming, with tens of thousands of copies of her book sold in just a few short months. It was decided that an official biography should be written from the documents that had been gathered on the life of Thérèse Martin, whose cause for canonization was taken up without the customary fifty-year waiting period.
First published in French in 1925, the first English edition became available in 1928. This exhaustive record of the life of one of the most beloved of all Catholic saints includes biographical information about her parents and grandparents, her early years at home, her years in the cloister, her illness and death, and information about the miracles attributed to her after her death, when she made good the promise on her deathbed that she would “spend her heaven doing good on earth."
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- Includes small personal details about Thérèse
- Contains information about the miracles attributed to her after her death
- Offers not just a remarkable reporting, but also a meditation resource on the beauty of faith
- Ancestral Origin—Alençon—The Father and Mother of Thérèse Martin
- Early Infancy of "Little Thérèse"
- Growing Virtue of Thérèse—Her First Great Trial
- Lisieux—Les Buissonnets
- The Benedictine Convent—Strange Malady—First Communion—Sudden Spiritual Transformation
- Vocation to Carmel—Struggle against Exterior Obstacles which Restrained Her—Journey to Italy
- The Carmel of Lisieux—Thérèse As Postulant and Her Reception—Terrible Trial—Progress in Detachment
- Profession—Apparent Severity of God and the Disinterested Love of His Servant—Gracious Gift of Jesus to Thérèse—Poetry of the Young Carmelite—Correspondence on Spiritual Matters—Céline's Entrance
- Interior Life at the Carmel—Divine Love the Source of All Thérèse's Perfection—Qualities of This Love and Its Principal Manifestations—Thérèse's Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints
- Charity of St. Thérèse de l'Enfant Jesus towards Her Neighbour—Her Devotion to the Novices under Her Direction—Her Spiritual Help to Two Missionaries
- Suffering's Role in the Providence of God Discerned and Interpreted by Thérèse—Her Perfect Practice of Monastic Virtues Properly So Called: Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience—Her Love of the Cross the Condition and Consequence of Her Love for Jesus
- Idea Advantages and Necessity of the "Little Way of Spiritual Childhood"
- The Virtues of the "Little Way" in Practice: Humility, Simplicity Spiritual Poverty. Confidence—Thérèse's Consecration to Merciful Love and Its Effect on Her Life
- Beginning of Her Illness—The Histoire d'une Ame—The "Novissima Verba"—End of Exile—Funeral Ceremonies
- First Phases of Her Glorification—Continuous "Rain of Roses"—Soeur Thérèse de l'Enfant Jesus Raised to the Altar
What is it that accounts for the perennial appeal of this gem of a biography, which is at once both timely and timeless? The author shows how simple, childlike souls, like that of Thérèse, bring superior intelligence to bear on the truths of faith.
From the foreword by Susan Muto, Author of Twelve Little Ways to Transform Your Heart
This new edition of Msgr. Laveille's biography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux is a welcomed addition to the literature about her because it offers a window into how Thérèse ;was presented to the world at the time of her canonization.
Maureen O'Riordan, Curator of Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway
Once again the vivid and penetrating biography of this luminous soul by Msgr. Laveille is made available. … Msgr. Laveille has drawn back the curtain and shown us the beauty of this soul as seen from without. Many details not mentioned by the Saint herself, either out of humility or not considered as coming under the scope of the work commanded by her superiors, are here seen for the first time. A detailed account of her early childhood and family life are given. It at once becomes evident where the seeds were planted which were to bloom forth so gloriously and thus illuminate the path for other little souls to follow.
Dominicana Journal (1952)
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Rev. Paul L. Vasquez
9/1/2021
It isn’t clear from this entry, so I went to Ave Maria’s site and found this is not a contemporary translation but rather the translation of Fr. Michael Fitzsimons of 1929. This is thus a reprint.