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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
There's something very humanizing about reading a saint's life in their own words. The title can sometimes strip someone of their capacity to be human, in the sense of experiencing doubt, pain, or general difficulty. Without these personal narratives, there's a tendency to believe that every moment in one's life had been leading to them being canonized, which runs counter to the seeming mission of canonization to elevate the best of humanity rather than make people seem more than human or having done something unattainable by any other.
Enjoyable read! It's a very intimate autobiography that wasn't intended to be read by a wide audience, but Therese's use of figurative language and anecdote is really charming and successfully humanizes one of the most austere and regimented sects of Christianity. She just seems like a real sweetheart, at times the book is funny and at times heartbreaking. Since it was never really intended as a "literary work" in the eyes of the author and was written almost stream-of-consciousness, often it isn't very stylish and it can drift away and lose sense of its own narrative. Even these drifts can be a highlight, though.
reflective
medium-paced
St. Thérèse is one of the saints I have witnessed others have a strong devotion to but never truly understood. Listening to her biography helped me see how beautiful her faith was even if I still think her level of piety would be very challenging to obtain!
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
This book is a juxtaposition between what we want and what we should want to be. We must strive to empty ourselves of selfishness by filling ourselves with sacrifice and the desire to love just a little deeper and with greater sacrifice. I will always long to be more like this beloved and innocent Saint.
This book is a life changer. I never thought it would be so powerful. I truly need to be a flower in the field or a drop of dew.
When she writes about her love for Jesus and her search for the way of perfection, she does so with frailty and strength. For so young, 15 when she became a novice and died of tuberculosis at 24, to have dedicated herself and her life to Christ is amazing, beautiful and awe inspiring. As well as for her not to be blinded that it isn't merely sinners who faulter shows, for me, how wise she was. Though at times she writes as a child or the little girl she deep down was, even then her words are lovely and hold substance. I am glad and grateful that God had put it in the hearts of her superiors to urge her, rather insist, that she write her story. Even more grateful that her love for God was one of purity, not by mere acceptance but by searching and longing. She knew that God was this love that transcends and she did all she could to immerse herself in his love. You don't have to be a nun to do what she did, you just have to try to be a good Christian and place God's will and He before everything else, and even for the best of us it is far from easy to do. So to see someone so young to find the way is beautiful.
I was surprised that I didn't enjoy St. Therese's autobiography as much as I thought I might. Her perfection, while admirable, made her feel less accessible to me. However, I was inspired by her passionate appreciation for things that others might take for granted.
It's hard to understand how such a simple little book can pack so much emotion and wisdom in. I can't pinpoint anything about it, except that every word, every moment of Therese's life, is spent in adoration and Jesus has suffused the whole. This is one to return to again and again.