CHAPTER I: EARLIEST MEMORIES
ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX
THE STORY OF A SOUL (L’HISTOIRE D’UNE ÂME): THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX
SOEUR THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, THE LITTLE FLOWER OF JESUS
A NEW AND COMPLETE TRANSLATION OF L’HISTOIRE D’UNE ÂME, WITH AN
ACCOUNT OF SOME FAVOURS ATTRIBUTED TO THE INTERCESSION OF SOEUR
THÉRÈSE
EDITED BY T. N. TAYLOR: PRIEST OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF GLASGOW:
WITNESS BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL OF THE BEATIFICATION
BURNS, OATES & WASHBOURNE LD.
CONTENTS
DEDICATION
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I. Earliest Memories
II. A Catholic Household
III. Pauline Enters the Carmel
IV. First Communion and Confirmation
V. Vocation of Thérèse
VI. A Pilgrimage to Rome
VII. The Little Flower Enters the Carmel
VIII. Profession of Soeur Thérèse
IX. The Night of the Soul
X. The New Commandment
XI. A Canticle of Love
EPILOGUE: A VICTIM OF DIVINE LOVE
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE SERVANT OF GOD, SOEUR THÉRÈSE, IN
THANKSGIVING FOR GRACES OBTAINED, AND TO HER “PETITE MÈRE,” MOTHER
AGNES OF JESUS, IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF INNUMERABLE KINDNESSES
EXTENDING OVER MANY YEARS
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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SOEUR THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, ENTITLED BY
HERSELF: “THE STORY OF THE SPRINGTIME OF A LITTLE WHITE FLOWER”
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CHAPTER I
EARLIEST MEMORIES
It is to you, dear Mother, that I am about to confide the story of
my soul. When you asked me to write it, I feared the task might
unsettle me, but since then Our Lord has deigned to make me
understand that by simple obedience I shall please Him best. I
begin therefore to sing what must be my eternal song: “the Mercies
of the Lord.”[1]
Before setting about my task I knelt before the statue of Our Lady
which had given my family so many proofs of Our Heavenly Mother’s
loving care.[2] As I knelt I begged of that dear Mother to guide
my hand, and thus ensure that only what was pleasing to her should
find place here.
Then opening the Gospels, my eyes fell on these words: “Jesus,
going up into a mountain, called unto Him whom He would
Himself.”[3]
They threw a clear light upon the mystery of my vocation and of my
entire life, and above all upon the favours which Our Lord has
granted to my soul. He does not call those who are worthy, but
those whom He will. As St. Paul says: “God will have mercy on whom
He will have mercy.[4] So then it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.”[5]
I often asked myself why God had preferences, why all souls did
not receive an equal measure of grace. I was filled with wonder
when I saw extraordinary favours showered on great sinners like
St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Mary Magdalen, and many others, whom
He forced, so to speak, to receive His grace. In reading the lives
of the Saints I was surprised to see that there were certain
privileged souls, whom Our Lord favoured from the cradle to the
grave, allowing no obstacle in their path which might keep them
from mounting towards Him, permitting no sin to soil the spotless
brightn