Therese: A Life of Therese of Lisieux

by Dorothy Day

...the fruit of much research and study on Dorothy's part, captures the heart of the message of Saint Therese of Lisieux and reveals also the depth of Dorothy's own spirituality. At the time when Dorothy wrote about her, she was already known to the world as the Saint of the Little Way; in the April 1952 CW Dorothy also called her "the saint of the responsible." Dorothy reflected in her book that while Therese's popularity was great, the "social implications of her teachings are yet to be written." Since the time that Dorothy wrote about her, St. Therese has become even better known and is now a Doctor of the Church.

--Houston Catholic Worker

Genres: Biography, Catholic, Nonfiction, Book Club, Spirituality, Christianity, Theology

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Dorothy Day was an American journalist, social activist and anarchist who, after a bohemian youth, became a Catholic Christian without in any way abandoning her social and anarchist activism. She was perhaps the best-known political radical in the American Catholic Church. In the 1930s, Day worked closely with fellow activist Peter Maurin to establish the Catholic Worker movement, a nonviolent, pacifist movement that continues to combine direct aid for the poor and homeless with nonviolent direct action on their behalf.

A revered figure within the U.S. Catholic community, Day's cause for canonization was recently open by the Catholic Church.

Reviews

[Elisabeth Wilkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this more out of a recent interest in Dorothy Day because I thought it was so strange that Day would be inspired by a Saint who did not seem to match her personality at all. In fact, Day even claims that when she was first told she should read Therese, she was surprised because the Saint had seemingly little to offer her. But I liked learning about Therese through Day because I always see Day as a dynamic and holy person, but not sentimentalized. You see her seams and I liked that she showed Therese's seams too. It was an inspiring read to learn not only about the growth of Therese, but the people around her. I also like learning from Day why Therese has so much to offer us and how we don't have to do huge grand things for God, just do what we are called to do well and with humility.

[Kelsey Kersting · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad Well Read Mom helped bring this back into print and had it on their reading list this year. A very digestible biography of an incredible saint that I haven’t spent much time getting to know, presented by Dorothy Day.

If Story of a Soul seems too spiritually rich for the moment, this is an excellent way to become acquainted with this Saint and learn her “little way” of holiness.

From p. 182:

“To be little…is…not to attribute to ourselves the virtues we practice, not to believe ourselves capable of practicing virtue at all. It is rather to recognize the fact that God puts treasures of virtue into the hands of his little children to make use of them in time of need, but they remain always treasures of the good God. Finally, to be a little means that we must never be discouraged over our faults, for children often fall but they are too small to harm themselves very much.”

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love St Therese, I usually like Dorthy Day’s writings but this was horrible. I only completed it because it was WRM’s March Read. It was like a book report on St Therese and a badly edited one at that. it would have been better to just read A Story of a Soul.

[Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed Dorothy Day's commentary on the life of St. Thérèse, especially as it focused more on the background of her family life and younger years. There's only a few chapters concerning her time at Carmel. I feel as though I got to know the saint better through this work, although I am glad that I'd read Story of A Soul before this as context. Day writes in a simple and accessible style that lends itself to a near narrative format. Only cried a few times because I love St. Thérèse so much and this book definitely drew me nearer to her.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, unpretentious, beautiful and inspiring. Exactly what it needed to be.

[Kami S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fine book. However, it was written more as the author's own thoughts about Therese and her family. It's really nothing new if you've read other books about St Therese. There was a little more time spent about her parents and siblings which I did find interesting.

[Jenny Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the beginning most when Dorothy gave more of her own thoughts amidst the intimate family workings of the Martins. But the end gave me much more insight into Therese herself towards the end of her short life. Having read Story of a Soul in high school I still had a rosy school girl image of Therese in my head. This book combined the testimony of her sisters during her last years and really opened my eyes to the powerhouse and very real and amazing saint she was.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely lovely, even the writing style somehow spoke of Therese. It is not a deep or luxuriating biography, but a simple and beautiful telling of Therese and her family. The second last chapter on the dark night of the soul, is beautiful. Only love, only love, only love. What a testament to God.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really taken by St. Therese's autobiography The Story of a Soul, and have always been vey interested in Dorothy Day's life. Now reading about Therese de Lisieux through the eyes of Dorothy Day, I admire both women immensely. For some reason, Therese's "little way" speaks softly to me.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A day late and a dollar short, but whatcha gonna do? Most of the women in our group are not Catholic, and I had never heard of St. Therese before; she had written her own memoirs prior to her death in 1897, and Day excerpted a lot of Therese's own words, which usually irritates me - because why would I want to read Day telling me about Therese's writing if I can just read Therese in her own words? We collectively agreed that this maybe wasn't the best introduction to the saint, though one of our members who had read Therese's memoir said that it doesn't include much about her family and early life, so I dunno.

It took a long time to get into this because you don't actually start hearing about Therese herself until like 40% in, because there's so much about her family (her mother and father originally wanted to become a nun and a monk, but were rejected by the convent and monastery, so instead got married and had a whole bunch of daughters, all of whom ended up becoming nuns). I'm torn because, some of this was interesting, and then I'd look at the percentage on my Kindle and go, we're 30% in and Therese hasn't even been BORN? and then the end also felt really rushed, considering she died of TB at like age 24. So I alternated between being really into it and being bored and skimming sections that were just Day expounding on Therese's own words.

So I don't know if I'm glad I read it, necessarily, but I'm glad it was a good discussion. 2.5 stars.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d already read “Story of a Soul” by the time I read this book, so I already knew a lot about St. Therese, but Day still sheds new light on the life of this saint and I really liked how much Day talked about the saint’s parents and sisters, because they really do influence her life a lot, and it was interesting to hear about their lives, especially Zelie Martin’s life and her incredible faith. What I found most interesting about the book is when Day connects the themes of St. Therese’s life with what’s happening in the world contemporarily and Day’s own semi-Marxist, more progressive beliefs.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent short biography on Saint Theresa. I really enjoyed learning more about her family, Saints come in many different, personalities. My favorite part was when Dorothy Day’s voice pops out of the narrative to comment on Mr. Martin. She points out that he is retired and seemingly not helping about the household very much. Yet she gives him the benefit of the doubt and implies that we really don’t know the Martin’s relationship and Mr. Martin’s relationship to God.

[Elizabeth Rahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My women’s group is reading this right now and I knew I was in for a treat when I saw Dorothy Day’s name flash across the list of the books for the year. Therese is also one of my favorite saints since childhood, but my devotion to her has waxed and waned. Dorthy Day’s last chapter explains her motives for writing this book of reaching the commoner. Dorothy did just that for me, it was a quick, frank, but deep read.

[Michelle Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

St. Therese is one of my favorite saints, inspiring me to try to grow in love and holiness in my daily life. The lives of her parents, too, lead me to want to be more holy. This was an interesting biography by the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, Dorothy Day on the life of St. Therese.
Some chapters I'd rate a 4 star and others a 5 star, but overall because of my love for St. Therese, I'll rate the book a 5 star.

[Theresa Deschler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this read. It’s not as spiritually powerful as A Story of a Soul, but it greatly enhanced my understanding of St. Therese, her family, the Carmelite order she was a part of, the events of her life, and her sufferings. Dorothy Day offers a wonderful perspective of Therese and explains why her little way is for all of us!

[Ann Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love loved this book - I loved the family stories and am, dare I say - inspired to live the little way a little better. I just love St Therese, and this book really gave a beautiful snapshot into her life.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Day’s presentation of the life of Therese. Her prose is straightforward but also illuminating. She’s not afraid to remind the reader of her activity as biographer (the sifting of information and interpretation of events and patterns), which I greatly appreciate. She conveys a convicting picture of the Martins and of Therese that inspires in me a sincere earnestness for holiness. Therese is a difficult saint for me to feel affinity with, and while Day's biography didn't solve that situation, it helped me to understand her much much better.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful retelling of Saint Therese’s life for the everyday person. It made me love her all the more!

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful biography of a beautiful saint. This book was so accessible to me, and gave me insights into Therese and the little way that I hope to be able to put into practice. Praise God for good books and great saints!!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it! Really brief though and I wish it spent more time on St. Therese’s life. But as a intro to the saint, I really enjoyed it and want to learn more about her.

[Sarah Winslow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned more about St. Therese and her family, and did enjoy picking the book up, but I just am not a huge fan of the biography genre.

[Lori Hatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot has been written about St Therese! I appreciate how much time this biography spent on her family and home life prior to entering Carmel.

[Hannah Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This is the shower of roses, the spiritual force released by this saint of our day. The beauty of a rose, seemingly fragile and certainly nothing to rely on, defies the ancient lie as seductive today as it was in Eden. The lie is that Love means nothing, it has no power, it is not a reality, it is not efficacious, it is stupid, little and weak, it will be dissolved and forgotten forever…” -John C. Cavadini, Afterward

In this beautiful biography of St. Therese of Lisieux, Dorothy Day reminds the reader what Therese herself taught, that anyone can be a saint, even (and perhaps most especially) the poorest, littlest, weakest, most sinful among us. Why? Because anything can be offered to Love, in Love, and for Love, and Love is powerful. And this “Little Way,” simple as it is, is all that is necessary for holiness. For we are but children, and what more is to be expected of children than much ignorance and many mistakes? Yet coupled with this troublesomeness is sincere repentance, a desire to make amends, and an unrelenting love and generosity for all we meet. This is the way to Heaven that Therese teaches us and that Dorothy reintroduces to “the masses” of today.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorothy Day first learned of St.Therese, the Little Flower, in the maternity ward of Bellvue Hospital after the birth of her daughter. In this compact and mighty book she studies the short and intense life of Therese Martin, born to a religious family in Alençon, Normandy, west of Paris, in 1873. Therese's father was a watchmaker and her mother made lace famous in that region. She was the youngest of the Martin's five daughters. The Martins had wanted sons for the priesthood but their male children did not survive. Both parents worked from home. There was a wonderful garden behind their home where she played and learned. Her mother was very accomplished and adored her littlest one. Despite some remedies she got sick and passed from breast cancer when Therese was four. Her father and older sisters cared for and spoiled her. Her mother had left wishes that her sister would care for her family so for a time the family stayed with their aunt. Therese was beautiful and had a good sense of humor. Her sister Celine was still home and they were good companions. Her father traveled often on religious pilgrimages so Therese and her sisters joined him on a month-long pilgrimage to Rome. At an audience with the Pope Leo XIII Therese defiantly asked that she be allowed to join the Carmelie order even though she was only fourteen. As the book moved along Therese's dedication despite her difficulties made me wish to get through it as quickly as possible. I was glad it's a small book because I might not have been able to persevere. The more she suffered physically the more she kept dedicated to doing her chores and doing 'little things' to please God. I remembered the horrors of her tuberculosis which I had read about when I was as a child and had aspirations of being a nun. Therese hid her suffering from others embracing the fact that her death would bring her everlasting life and bring joy to others. Her mother had actually found joy as her own breast cancer progressed because it would lead her to everlasting life. When Therese was accepted as a novice she was challenged by an unpleasant mother superior who was especially hard on her because of her youth, yet Therese prevailed. Carmeltie nuns sleep on two planks of wood with a layer of straw. That convent was cold! Day wrote about a period of time after Theresa's mother died that Mr Martin suffered from mental Illness and went to a sanitarium for a time. He healed and continued on pilgrimages that he so enjoyed. Therese would be joyful every time she vomited blood because it would bring her closer to god. She continued to do her chores and little things every day to please God so others would see the way to do little things to honor others and embrace the spirituality of life. Celine was able to bring a camera into the Carmelite convent so Therese is the first saint of the modern age who we can see in photographs. Her book was published after her death and the public proclaimed her a saint. It has been translated into dozens of languages and help to inspire many. I don't want to give any spoiler alerts. As Dorothy Day has earned similar recognition it's easy to understand the expression, "it takes one saint to know one."

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful insights into the life of this cloistered religious by renowned acivist.

[Lanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Well Read Mom.

“I dutifully read The Story of a Soul and am ashamed to confess that I found it colorless, monotonous, too small in fact for my notice. What kind of a saint was this who felt that she had to practice heroic charity in eating what was put in front of her, in taking medicine, enduring cold and heat, restraint, enduring the society of mediocre souls, in following the strict regime of the convent of Carmelite nuns which she had joined at the age of fifteen?” - by Dorothy Day, from the preface to Thérèse

Having always been intimidated by The Story of a Soul, for reasons similar to what Day mentions above, I loved learning about St. Thérèse’s life and her little way in the accessible writing of Dorothy Day. The background on St. Thérèse’s mother and father, Zelie and Louis, was particularly interesting. The realization that this literal family of saints had struggles too was so profound and reading this book helped me realize that The Story of a Soul is more accessible than I think. Everyone wants to be an earth shattering saint like Joan of Arc on the front lines of battle, however, most of us aren’t called to that radical life and are to attain holiness more along the lines of St. Thérèse’s little way in our everyday, ordinary lives as wives, mothers, etc.

However, I did struggle with this book given the recent use of Day’s work to attempt to justify radical ideologies in the church. Day’s “takes” and some of her interpretations and commentary throughout this book were really distracting esp her hints at her pro-communist/socialist leanings that really wouldn’t have factored into Thérèse’s life. Not surprising given Day’s audience and background but it detracted from the book overall.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Day said she labored over the book and never could quite get it right. This is reflected in the stilted style that took me out of the narrative. Nevertheless, Cavadini’s afterword provided the lens for me to view Day’s biography of one of my favorite saints. “A ‘classic’,” he writes, “might not fully release the challenge that Dorothy Day’s Therese does. Something as ‘big’ as a ‘classic’ might balk at asking us whether, if we are embarrassed by a saint so little as Therese, we are simply embarrassed by the Gospel itself.” Therese’s little way of love shows us a life suffused with grace. Every consolation and every suffering is a gift of love. Therese’s life is a challenging demonstration of this, especially in Day’s description of the tuberculosis that killed her.

I also appreciated the description of her childhood and family life. The Martins are saints, but had real family problems, worked hard, had disobedient children, and still were faithful.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful introduction to St. Therese if you’re not yet ready to bite off her autobiography, “Story of a Soul”. I enjoyed all of the history of her family, especially since her parents are now saints as well. Day paints a beautiful picture of the family of St. Therese. The devotion of her sisters to her and to their parents, the industriousness of her mother, her deeply devoted father - all of it brought St. Therese’s “little way” into clearer focus for me. She didn’t just happen to wake up and be this way. Yes, it was God’s design but the family unit and structure wholly contributed to who St. Therese was and became. I understand a bit more clearly why she is beloved by so many people, young and old. Day wonderfully captured her story…upbringing and time at Carmel, without making reader feel like it was just another take on the saint’s autobiography.

[Kate Rooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

As is always the case with Day, this work was well written and succinctly presented. I didn't necessarily think that this added a lot to the perhaps oversaturated list of biographies regarding the life of St. Therese. That being said, it was very interesting having Dorothy Day present the life of St. Therese with such admiration, as a lot of people might unfairly pit them and their lives as antithetical to each other. This work allows the reader to contemplate Day and Therese as two threads in a great tapestry.

I particularly enjoyed the introduction and closing chapter, as it was fascinating to hear Day present her own commentary, something she refrained from doing in the biographical text. I also enjoyed Day's presentation of the lives of Therese's parents, as a great deal of those details were new to me.

Overall, I recommend this book! Succinct, well presented, and informative.

[Paul Jellinek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read Therese of Lisiuex's own autobiography and was somewhat baffled, and even put off, by it--as, I later learned, others have been, including Bishop Robert Barron, who strikes me as an unusually astute Catholic thinker. So I was hoping that Dorothy Day, a very thoughtful Catholic writer who tried during her life to put the Church's teachings into practice among the poor of New York City, could help me to understand what it is about Therese of Lisieux that the Church and many Catholics find so compelling. As always, I loved reading Dorothy Day's prose, which for me is her distinctive voice, but having read the book, I still don't fully "get" Therese and her "little way." Or maybe I do, and I just don't understand what's so different or special about it. See what you think.