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Quote of the day, 2 January: St. Thérèse

One winter’s night in January 1895 in Lisieux Carmel, St. Thérèse was reminiscing about old times with her two sisters Pauline (Mother Agnes of Jesus) and Marie (Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart). Perhaps the occasion was in celebration of Thérèse’s twenty-second birthday ( January 2).

But whatever the occasion may have been, Thérèse so delighted her siblings by telling them stories about her childhood that Marie said to Pauline, who was the prioress, “Mother, what a pity that we don’t have all that in writing.” Pauline recounts what happened next. “‘I couldn’t ask for anything better, I replied. Then turning to Sister Thérèse, who was laughing at what she took to be a bit of leg-pulling, I said, ‘I order you to write down all your childhood memories.’”

Pauline had said these words in jest, but Thérèse had taken them seriously. The following January, Thérèse presented to Pauline a copy-book containing her childhood reminiscences. She had not written them for the general public but only for the eyes of her blood sisters.

Fortunately, however, her reminiscences were published. What was contained in this copy-book became the first eight chapters (Manuscript A) of one of the greatest spiritual testimonies of all time, Story of a Soul. Thérèse began putting down her reflections soon after Pauline had ordered her to do so; perhaps that very night, even though there are reasons to believe that she began her task toward the end of January.

Thérèse did not work from an outline, nor did she go back and rewrite what she had written. With only scraps of time to work, Thérèse put down on paper the memories that came to her mind.

If we read Story of a Soul carefully, we can see the inner process of Thérèse’s mind at work. Just as in conversation, the topic imperceptibly shifts from one subject to another as ideas are triggered in the minds of the speakers, so too did Thérèse’s thoughts as she was writing.

For example, Thérèse begins her work by telling us that she prayed before the statue of Mary “which has given so many proofs of the maternal preferences . . . to our family” (S 13).

The word preferences triggered what follows in the next paragraph. “I wondered for a long time why God has preferences, why all souls don’t receive an equal amount of graces.”

Thérèse’s puzzlement over the mysterious ways of providence breaks through to a resolution in the next paragraph. “Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not take away from the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy.”

We should not interpret this linking of thoughts that we see in Story of a Soul as merely a process of free association. Rather, it is a stream of consciousness guided by the mind of God.

Father Marc Foley, o.c.d.

Story of a Soul Study Edition, chap. 1 study guide

Thérèse & Foley, M 2005, Story of a Soul: The autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Study edn, translated from the French by Clarke, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

#childhood #ManuscriptA #memories #StThérèseOfLisieux #StoryOfASoul

Carmelite Quotes