The Story of a Soul

Summary

The Story of a Soul is the autobiography of Thérèse Martin, a young Carmelite nun of Lisieux in Normandy, written at the request of her superiors in the last years of her short life and published a year after her death. In the library text, Thomas N. Taylor's 1912 translation, it is arranged in eleven chapters addressed to her sister Pauline, by then Mother Agnes of Jesus, and framed by a prologue on her parents and birth and an epilogue on her final illness. Thérèse explains at the outset that she is writing the story of the little flower gathered by Jesus, and that God has made great saints like lilies and roses and lesser ones like violets and daisies, each beautiful in its place. She recalls a happy early childhood at Alençon as the youngest of nine children, five of whom lived, and her cry as a small girl that she chose everything God willed. Her mother dies of illness in August 1877, when Thérèse is four, and her father Louis moves the family to Les Buissonnets in Lisieux. When her sister Pauline, whom she had chosen as a second mother, enters the Carmel in 1882, Thérèse falls into a strange illness of tremors, fears and frightening visions, from which she is cured in May 1883 when, she writes, a statue of the Virgin smiled at her. She makes her First Communion, suffers a long period of scruples, and on Christmas Eve 1886 receives what she calls her conversion, the grace to master her excessive sensitivity. She prays for the condemned murderer Pranzini and rejoices when he kisses the crucifix before his execution. Determined to enter Carmel at fifteen, she travels with her father and sister Céline on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1887 and, against instructions, asks Pope Leo XIII for permission; he tells her she will enter if it is God's will. She enters on 9 April 1888 and makes her profession on 8 September 1890. Later chapters describe the trial of her father's long illness, her work with the novices, her small daily acts of patience with difficult sisters, and her discovery of the little way: since she is too small to climb the stairway of perfection, she will let the arms of Jesus be the lift that raises her. In the final chapter she finds her vocation in the heart of the Church: to be love. The epilogue tells of the hemorrhage on Good Friday 1896, her trial of faith, her suffering from tuberculosis and her death on 30 September 1897, with her last words of love. Mother Agnes edited the manuscripts for the first edition, Histoire d'une âme, printed in 1898; Taylor's volume adds counsels and reminiscences, letters, poems and prayers.

Plot or Argument

• Prologue and Chapter I: Earliest memories

  Her parents Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin, her birth at Alençon in 1873, the image of the flowers of God's garden, and her childish choosing of everything.

• Chapters II-III: A Catholic household and Pauline's departure

  Her mother's death in 1877, the move to Les Buissonnets, school at the Benedictine abbey, Pauline's entry into Carmel, the strange illness and the smile of the Virgin in 1883.

• Chapters IV-V: First Communion and vocation

  First Communion and Confirmation, the years of scruples, the Christmas grace of 1886, prayers for Pranzini, and her resolve to enter Carmel at fifteen.

• Chapter VI: A pilgrimage to Rome

  The journey through Switzerland and Italy with her father and Céline, the Colosseum and the catacombs, and her plea to Leo XIII at the papal audience.

• Chapters VII-VIII: Entry and profession

  Entry into the Lisieux Carmel in April 1888, the first trials of convent life, her father's illness, and her profession in September 1890.

• Chapters IX-X: The night of the soul and the new commandment

  The little way and the image of the lift, her offering to merciful love, the beginning of her illness and trial of faith, and her teaching on charity toward the sisters who try her patience.

• Chapter XI: A canticle of love

  Her longing for every vocation, priest, apostle, martyr and missionary, resolved in the discovery that her vocation is love in the heart of the Church.

• Epilogue and additional writings

  Her last illness and death in 1897, followed by counsels to novices recorded by her sisters, letters to Céline, Mother Agnes, Marie and missionary priests, poems and prayers.

Characters

• Thérèse Martin (Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus), author and narrator

  Youngest daughter of a devout Norman family who enters Carmel at fifteen and dies at twenty-four.

• Louis Martin, father

  Gentle, devout watchmaker who calls her his little queen and gives her to Carmel.

• Zélie Guérin Martin, mother

  Lacemaker of Alençon who dies when Thérèse is four.

• Pauline (Mother Agnes of Jesus), sister and prioress

  The sister Thérèse chose as her second mother, later prioress; the story is written at her request.

• Marie (Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart), eldest sister and godmother

  Nurses Thérèse through her childhood illness and later enters the same Carmel.

• Céline, sister

  Closest in age, her companion on the Rome pilgrimage, and finally a nun beside her.

• Léonie, sister

  The middle sister, whose difficult path leads her to the Visitation at Caen.

• Leo XIII, pope

  Receives her plea at the 1887 audience and tells her she will enter if God wills.

Lessons

• The little way

  Thérèse feels too small to climb the stairway of perfection, so she seeks a lift: the arms of Jesus, who invites the little ones to come to Him. Holiness, for her, lies not in great deeds but in trusting God like a child and doing small things with great love.

  • Why does Thérèse compare the way to God with a lift in a modern building?
  • Which two verses of Scripture does she find that answer her search?
  • What small act of patience or kindness could you offer today in the spirit of the little way?

• Every flower in its place

  At the start of her story Thérèse explains that God makes some souls like lilies and roses and others like violets and daisies, and that the garden would lose its beauty if all wished to be roses. Each person's call is beautiful because God chose it.

  • Why does Thérèse say the lowly flowers do not lessen the beauty of the rose?
  • How does this image help her accept that she will not be a great saint in the usual sense?
  • Is it hard to be content with a small place? Why?

• Growing out of over-sensitivity

  Thérèse admits that after her mother's death she cried at the smallest thing and was tormented by scruples. On Christmas Eve 1886 she receives the grace to hold back her tears and think of others first, and she calls this her conversion. Maturity, in her story, is a gift received and a habit practiced.

  • What happened on Christmas Eve 1886, and why did it matter so much to her?
  • How did her scruples affect her, and who helped her through them?
  • What does her story suggest about how a young person grows stronger?

• Love as a vocation

  In Chapter XI Thérèse longs to be a priest, apostle, missionary and martyr all at once. Reading St. Paul on the body of Christ and the greater gift of charity, she discovers that love holds every vocation together and that her place is to be love in the heart of the Church.

  • Why can Thérèse not be satisfied with any single vocation?
  • How does 1 Corinthians 12-13 resolve her longing?
  • Can a hidden life in a convent help the work of missionaries far away?

Context

Thérèse grew up in the provincial Catholic France of the Third Republic, a time of strong devotional life in families and parishes alongside growing tension between the Church and the anticlerical state. Lisieux, a small Norman town, had a Carmel founded in 1838 that lived the strict enclosed rule of Teresa of Avila's reform, with fasting, silence and long hours of prayer. Her family's piety, with its devotion to the Sacred Heart, the Virgin and the saints, was typical of the age, and her pilgrimage to Rome in 1887 was organized for the priestly jubilee of Leo XIII. Tuberculosis was then one of the leading causes of death among young adults in France.

Composition

Thérèse wrote three manuscripts: an account of her childhood and early religious life for Mother Agnes in 1895, a letter to her sister Marie in September 1896 that became Chapter XI, and a continuation for the prioress Mother Marie de Gonzague in June 1897. After her death Mother Agnes edited and joined them as if all were addressed to one prioress, and the Lisieux Carmel printed Histoire d'une âme in 1898 for circulation to other Carmels. Thomas N. Taylor's English translation, part of the volume Soeur Thérèse of Lisieux (London, 1912), follows that edited text; the original manuscripts were published in facsimile in 1956.

Reception

The book spread rapidly across France and then the world, with many editions and translations within a decade, and reports of favors attributed to Thérèse's intercession led to her canonization by Pius XI in 1925, only twenty-eight years after her death. She was named co-patron of the missions with Francis Xavier in 1927 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997. The little way has shaped Catholic spirituality and devotion to her is worldwide; the basilica built in her honor at Lisieux became a major place of pilgrimage.

Comparisons

• life-of-st-teresa-of-jesus

  Thérèse belonged to the Carmelite reform that Teresa of Avila began, and both wrote their lives at their superiors' command; Teresa describes visions and a great reform, Thérèse a way of littleness open to anyone.

• confessions

  Augustine and Thérèse both tell their lives as prayer and praise, recalling childhood faults with great seriousness and tracing grace through ordinary events.

• practice-of-the-presence-of-god

  Brother Lawrence, like Thérèse, finds holiness in small tasks done for love of God rather than in extraordinary penances.

• the-story-of-my-boyhood-and-youth

  Muir and Thérèse both recall nineteenth-century childhoods with devout parents and find God's hand in flowers; Muir studies them as a botanist, Thérèse takes them as an image of souls.

• golden-legend-popular-saints

  The medieval Golden Legend tells of saints known for miracles and martyrdom; Thérèse sets beside them a saint whose greatness lies in small hidden acts.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The image of the garden of flowers at the start of Chapter I and how it returns throughout the book.
• The losses of Chapters II-III, her mother's death and Pauline's departure, and how they affect her.
• The Christmas Eve of 1886 in Chapter V, which Thérèse calls her conversion.
• The audience with Leo XIII in Chapter VI and what she does when told not to speak.
• The image of the lift in Chapter IX and the discovery of her vocation in Chapter XI.

Key terms and names

Carmel

The enclosed convent of the Carmelite nuns at Lisieux, following the reformed rule of Teresa of Avila.

The little way

Thérèse's path to holiness through childlike trust in God and small acts done with love.

Les Buissonnets

The family's house in Lisieux after the move from Alençon in 1877.

Profession

The ceremony in which a nun makes her vows; Thérèse made hers on 8 September 1890.

Scruples

Constant, anxious fear of having sinned when one has not, which troubled Thérèse after her First Communion.

Mother Agnes of Jesus

Thérèse's sister Pauline, prioress of the Lisieux Carmel, at whose request the story was begun.

Offering to merciful love

Thérèse's act of 9 June 1895 giving herself to God's love as a victim, described in Chapter VIII.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension What did Thérèse say as a small girl when her sister Léonie offered a basket of doll's things to choose from, and how does she apply it later?
2. Comprehension What did Thérèse ask the Pope, and what did he answer?
3. Comprehension What is the lift that Thérèse says will raise her to Heaven?
4. Interpretation Why does Thérèse call the Christmas Eve of 1886 her conversion, when she had always been devout?
5. Interpretation Why does Thérèse describe herself as a little flower rather than a great saint?
6. Interpretation How does reading St. Paul help Thérèse find her vocation in Chapter XI?
7. Big Question Can small, hidden acts of love matter as much as great public deeds?
8. Big Question How should a Christian face suffering and death, if Thérèse's example is a guide?

Faith Connections

• Matthew 18:1-4 (Scripture)

  Jesus says the one who becomes like a little child is greatest in the kingdom. Thérèse's little way is built on this teaching.

• Isaiah 66:12-13 (Scripture)

  God promises to carry His people and comfort them as a mother comforts her child. Thérèse quotes this passage in Chapter IX when she finds her lift.

• 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13 (Scripture)

  Paul shows the more excellent way of love. Reading these chapters, Thérèse discovers in Chapter XI that her vocation is love.

• Teresa of Avila, The Life, Chapter VIII (Great Conversation)

  Teresa defines prayer as friendship with God. Thérèse, her spiritual daughter in Carmel, describes prayer in Chapter X as a simple glance toward heaven, continuing that teaching in a childlike key.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: God would not inspire a desire for holiness that could not be fulfilled. Thérèse is too small to reach holiness by great efforts. Therefore there must be another way, and Scripture shows it: God Himself carries the little ones who trust Him, so she must stay little and let Him lift her.

Rhetorical device: analogy. In Chapter IX Thérèse compares the stairs of perfection with the new lifts in rich people's houses, and Jesus' arms with the lift that raises her to Heaven.

Debate: Resolved: that the little way asks more of a person than heroic deeds do.

Memory Work

O Jesus, my Love, at last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love!

With me prayer is an uplifting of the heart; a glance towards heaven; a cry of gratitude and love, uttered equally in sorrow and in joy.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Thérèse calls herself a little flower. Using the garden image of Chapter I and the lift of Chapter IX, explain what she means by littleness and why she thinks it is a strength.

Comparison with The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus: Compare how Teresa of Avila and Thérèse of Lisieux describe prayer. What does each say a person should do when prayer is dry or difficult?

Medical Lens

The book contains a careful patient's account of two illnesses. In 1883, after her sister Pauline left for Carmel, the ten-year-old Thérèse suffered a weeks-long illness that she describes as tremors, seeming delirium with retained awareness, torpor in which she could still hear the least whisper, and terrors in which nails in the wall looked like blackened fingers and her father's hat took a horrible shape; she attributes her sudden cure on 13 May 1883 to the smile of a statue of the Virgin. Retrospective readings have ranged from a nervous illness provoked by grief and separation to an infection; these are speculative, and the text presents the episode in religious terms. She also describes about two years of scruples after her First Communion, which she calls a terrible disease, and her sensitivity after her mother's death at four. The epilogue and Chapter IX record pulmonary tuberculosis: a first hemoptysis on the night of Holy Thursday to Good Friday 1896, received with joy as a call from Christ, continued austerities, progressive weakness, the doctor's remark that he had never seen anyone suffer so intensely with such joy, and her death on 30 September 1897. Her trial of faith in the last eighteen months, a darkness about heaven that she endured while continuing to act in faith, is a spiritual rather than a medical category and should be read as she presents it.

• Chapter II

  Her mother's death in August 1877, the Extreme Unction she witnessed, and the change in her temperament afterward.

  Grief Death Dying
• Chapter III

  The illness of 1883 with terrors, apparent delirium and torpor, Marie's nursing, and the cure she attributes to the smile of the Virgin.

  Altered States Neurosis Anxiety
• Chapter IV

  The years of scruples after her First Communion, which she calls a terrible disease.

  Neurosis Anxiety
• Chapter IX

  The first hemorrhage from the lungs on the night before Good Friday 1896, which she receives as the first call of her Beloved.

  Tuberculosis Consumption
• Epilogue

  The final months in the infirmary, the doctor's visits and remedies, her suffering and her death on 30 September 1897.

  Tuberculosis Consumption Pain Physicians Doctors Death Dying

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Draw a garden of flowers as Thérèse describes it in Chapter I, labeling each flower with the kind of soul or saint it might stand for.

• Essay

  Explain the little way in your own words, using the image of the lift in Chapter IX and one example of her small acts of charity in Chapter X.

• Fiction

  Tell the story of the papal audience in Chapter VI from the point of view of Céline, who stood behind her sister.

Further Reading

• Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Thérèse of Lisieux, trans. John Clarke

  A translation from the original manuscripts rather than the 1898 edited text.

• The Hidden Face: A Study of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Ida Friederike Görres

• Thérèse of Lisieux: God's Gentle Warrior, Thomas R. Nevin

• The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, Teresa of Avila

  The autobiography of the founder of the Carmelite reform.