The Story of a Soul

St. Therese of Lisieux was born at Alencon, France in 1873. She was the last of nine children born to Louis and Zelie Martin. (who have been declared venerable). At the age of 15 she entered the Carmelite convent at Lisieux, where she remained until her death in 1897. She was canonized only 17 years after her death and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997. Pope St. Pius X called her “the greatest saint of modern times.”The success of this book is one of the most amazing stories in publishing history, for St. Therese died at only age 24, after a nine-year hidden life as a cloistered Carmelite nun. Translated into many languages, The Story of a Soul quickly had a phenomenal reception and millions of copies were distributed worldwide.Written under obedience, the book conveys her secrets of great holiness achieved in ordinary life, teaching the “Little Way of Spiritual Childhood” her “elevator” to Heaven, as she called it. She continually shows us in this book how her “Little Way of love and confidence: comes straight from Sacred Scripture. This method has since been approved and promulgated by Pope Pius XI as a way of holiness for all.No Catholic should be ignorant of the mighty “little” Therese on her little Way. The Story of a Soul is a book that belongs in every Catholic home.