The Story of a Soul - Aquinas Press Classics

“I want to seek the means of going to heaven by a little way that is very straight, very short, a completely new way.” // Saint Therese of Lisieux

The Story of a Soul is just that - the journal of Saint Therese of Lisieux’s journey from a very happy early childhood through the loss of her mother at the age of 3, the subsequent departure of her sisters Pauline and Marie for the convent, her own long-awaited profession as a Carmelite, the loss of her father, and her untimely death to tuberculosis in 1897 at age 24.

In what amounts to her autobiography, written in obedience to her superiors, Therese shares her joys and blessings as well as her fears, sorrows, and interior trials. In the end, Therese loves Jesus with all her heart, evidenced by her uncomplaining attitude during the extended suffering and agony of her last months. She lives out her obedience to God, as she faithfully loves - with a sometimes spontaneous abandon - all who cross her path. In all this, Saint Therese shows the reader how to walk in the deepening peace of God, helping us see that God, who is not a respecter of persons, is calling each of us is intimacy with Himself.