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Simply Surrender: 30 Days with Thérèse of Lisieux
Meet Therese of Lisieux, one of the modern world's best-loved saints and spiritual guides. Each day you will discover the profound truths in the “Little Way” and the insights about prayer and holiness that this great saint shared in her autobiography, The Story of a Soul.
Each book in the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.
Each book in the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.
128 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2008
51 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Thérèse of Lisieux
201 books367 followersSaint Thérèse de Lisieux or Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, born Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin, was a French Carmelite nun. She is also known as "The Little Flower of Jesus". She was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church May 17, 1925.
She felt an early call to religious life, and overcoming various obstacles, in 1888 at the early age of 15, became a nun and joined two of her older sisters in the enclosed Carmelite community of Lisieux, Normandy. After nine years as a Carmelite religious, having fulfilled various offices, such as sacristan and novice mistress, and having spent the last eighteen months in Carmel in a night of faith, she died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. The impact of her posthumous publications, including her memoir The Story of a Soul was great, and she rapidly became one of the most popular saints of the twentieth century. Pope Pius XI made her the star of his pontificate. She was beatified in 1923, and canonized in 1925. The speed of this process may be seen by comparison with that applied to a great heroine of Thérèse, Joan of Arc, who died in 1431 but was not canonized until 1920. Thérèse was declared co-patron of the missions with Francis Xavier in 1927, and named co-patron of France with Joan of Arc in 1944. On 19 October 1997 Pope John Paul II declared her the thirty-third Doctor of the Church, the youngest of all Doctors of the Church, and only the third woman Doctor. Devotion to Thérèse has developed around the world.
Thérèse lived a hidden life and 'wanted to be unknown' yet through her writings—as well as her spiritual autobiography she left letters, poems, religious plays, prayers and various notes, and her last conversations were recorded by her sisters—and thanks to the photographs taken inside the Lisieux Carmel by her sister Céline, she became known to, and later seen by, millions of men and women. According to one of her biographers, Guy Gaucher, after her death, "Thérèse fell victim to an excess of sentimental devotion which betrayed her. She was victim also to her language, which was that of the late nineteenth century and flowed from the religiosity of her age." Thérèsè herself said on her death-bed : "I only love simplicity. I have a horror of pretence", and she spoke out against some of the Lives of saints written in her day :" We should not say improbable things, or things we do not know. We must see their real, and not their imagined lives." The critic Marina Warner observed that the excesses sometimes associated with her cult should not blind one to the heroism of her, "struggle to be good, and the radical affirmation of ordinary lives that her sainthood stands for."
The depth of her spirituality, of which she said "my way is all confidence and love," has inspired many believers. In the face of her littleness and nothingness, she trusted in God to be her sanctity. She wanted to go to Heaven by an entirely new little way. "I wanted to find an elevator that would raise me to Jesus." The elevator, she wrote, would be the arms of Jesus lifting her in all her littleness.
The Basilica of Lisieux is the second greatest place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes.
She felt an early call to religious life, and overcoming various obstacles, in 1888 at the early age of 15, became a nun and joined two of her older sisters in the enclosed Carmelite community of Lisieux, Normandy. After nine years as a Carmelite religious, having fulfilled various offices, such as sacristan and novice mistress, and having spent the last eighteen months in Carmel in a night of faith, she died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. The impact of her posthumous publications, including her memoir The Story of a Soul was great, and she rapidly became one of the most popular saints of the twentieth century. Pope Pius XI made her the star of his pontificate. She was beatified in 1923, and canonized in 1925. The speed of this process may be seen by comparison with that applied to a great heroine of Thérèse, Joan of Arc, who died in 1431 but was not canonized until 1920. Thérèse was declared co-patron of the missions with Francis Xavier in 1927, and named co-patron of France with Joan of Arc in 1944. On 19 October 1997 Pope John Paul II declared her the thirty-third Doctor of the Church, the youngest of all Doctors of the Church, and only the third woman Doctor. Devotion to Thérèse has developed around the world.
Thérèse lived a hidden life and 'wanted to be unknown' yet through her writings—as well as her spiritual autobiography she left letters, poems, religious plays, prayers and various notes, and her last conversations were recorded by her sisters—and thanks to the photographs taken inside the Lisieux Carmel by her sister Céline, she became known to, and later seen by, millions of men and women. According to one of her biographers, Guy Gaucher, after her death, "Thérèse fell victim to an excess of sentimental devotion which betrayed her. She was victim also to her language, which was that of the late nineteenth century and flowed from the religiosity of her age." Thérèsè herself said on her death-bed : "I only love simplicity. I have a horror of pretence", and she spoke out against some of the Lives of saints written in her day :" We should not say improbable things, or things we do not know. We must see their real, and not their imagined lives." The critic Marina Warner observed that the excesses sometimes associated with her cult should not blind one to the heroism of her, "struggle to be good, and the radical affirmation of ordinary lives that her sainthood stands for."
The depth of her spirituality, of which she said "my way is all confidence and love," has inspired many believers. In the face of her littleness and nothingness, she trusted in God to be her sanctity. She wanted to go to Heaven by an entirely new little way. "I wanted to find an elevator that would raise me to Jesus." The elevator, she wrote, would be the arms of Jesus lifting her in all her littleness.
The Basilica of Lisieux is the second greatest place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 5, 2024
A slender little volume that presents a selection of writings from St. Thérèse in the form of poetry and prayers for deeper reflection and meditation.
As St. Thérèse’s new biggest fan, I found Simply Surrender to be a great method of pouring over small passages and details from Story of a Soul that I might have missed/passed over upon first reading. This being said, I find the decision to not include the passage references for each day a bit baffling--if this were my first time reading Thérèse, I would be at a loss to track down the source of her writing or contextualize her thoughts.
Simply Surrender is nevertheless a great supplement to Story of a Soul, being simple, approachable, and meditative. I know I have benefitted from praying through it this past month or so.
4.5 stars.
As St. Thérèse’s new biggest fan, I found Simply Surrender to be a great method of pouring over small passages and details from Story of a Soul that I might have missed/passed over upon first reading. This being said, I find the decision to not include the passage references for each day a bit baffling--if this were my first time reading Thérèse, I would be at a loss to track down the source of her writing or contextualize her thoughts.
Simply Surrender is nevertheless a great supplement to Story of a Soul, being simple, approachable, and meditative. I know I have benefitted from praying through it this past month or so.
4.5 stars.
January 26, 2025
This is the second volume in the Great Spiritual Teachers series I have read, Last year I read Born to Do This: 30 Days with Joan of Arc by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, and loved it and the concept of the series. I have read much by and about Thérèse of Lisieux and was excited to work my way through this volume. I picked this as the second in the series to read because of an already growing devotion to Saint Thérèse.
The description of this volume states:
“Meet Thérèse of Lisieux one of the modern world's best-loved saints and spiritual guides. Each day you will discover the profound truths in the "Little Way" and the insights about prayer and holiness that this great saint shared in her autobiography, The Story of a Soul.”
About the series we are informed:
“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”
I believe there are 15 volumes in this series currently in print, and a number that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the mid 90’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series. I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added a number of them to my ‘to be read list’. I love the most recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes. But back to this work.
While reading this I only highlighted a few passages, they were:
“A mystical renaissance is at work in our world. Like a subtle field of grace that surrounds our world, individuals everywhere are exploring the seductive invitation to develop a joyful and intimate relationship with God. In keeping with the nature of this mystical awakening, more and more people are discovering the need to develop a more refined spiritual path. This new path that so many are drawn to today embodies characteristics once so familiar to the great mystics of the medieval and Renaissance eras. These mystics, our great spiritual teachers, include Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, St. John the Evangelist, Meister Eckhart, Francis de Sales, Catherine of Siena, Thérèse of Lisieux, Evelyn Underhill, and Mother Teresa in modern times.
Simply described, these mystics drew their strength from a devotion to prayer, contemplation, and self-reflection. They knew that a daily practice of time alone with God was required to review the day and reflect upon the well-being and harmony of their souls. Today, we are rediscovering the way in which they knew God. For all their differences, the common ground these mystics shared was a devotion to prayer and an unyielding faith in their mystical relationships with God.”
“In keeping with the nature of this mystical awakening, more and more people are discovering the need to develop a more refined spiritual path. This new path that so many are drawn to today embodies characteristics once so familiar to the great mystics of the medieval and Renaissance eras. These mystics, our great spiritual teachers, include Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, St. John the Evangelist, Meister Eckhart, Francis de Sales, Catherine of Siena, Thérèse of Lisieux, Evelyn Underhill, and Mother Teresa in modern times.”
“Simply described, these mystics drew their strength from a devotion to prayer, contemplation, and self-reflection. They knew that a daily practice of time alone with God was required to review the day and reflect upon the well-being and harmony of their souls.”
“All over the world ordinary readers came to recognize, accept, and develop their potential for sanctity by adopting what Thérèse called her “little way.” At its heart this “little” way of Thérèse’s spirituality is driven by a powerful metaphor. In our relationship with God we are very small children. We always will be. There is no need to be anything else. On the contrary it is essential that we never try to be anything else.”
“This book was created to be nothing more than a gateway—a gateway to the spiritual wisdom of a specific teacher, and a gateway opening on your own spiritual path. You may decide that Thérèse of Lisieux is someone whose experience of God is one that you wish to follow more closely and deeply, in which case you should get a copy of the entire text of her autobiography and pray it as you have prayed this gateway journey. You may decide that her experience has not helped you. There are many other teachers. Somewhere there is the right teacher for your own, very special, absolutely unique journey of the spirit. You will find your teacher; you will discover your path. We would not be searching, as St. Augustine reminds us, if we had not already found.”
A sample reflection is:
“DAY THIRTEEN
My Day Begins
When our Lord
gave us his new commandment,
his own commandment,
he not only required us
to love our neighbors
as ourselves,
but would have us love them
even as he loves them,
as he will
until the end of time.
My Jesus,
you never ask
what is impossible.
You know better than I
how frail and imperfect I am.
You know that
I shall never love others
as you have loved them,
unless you love them yourself
within me.
It is because you desire
to grant me this grace,
that you have given us
a new commandment,
one that I cherish dearly.
It proves to me
that it is your will to love in me
all those you bid me to love.
When I show charity to others,
I know that it is Jesus
who is acting within me,
and the more closely I am united to him,
the more truly I love others.
All Through the Day
When we love one another,
our Father is acting within us.
My Day Is Ending
Loving Father,
you have commanded me to love others
as you love them.
You never ask
what is impossible.
But you know better than I
how frail and imperfect I am.
You know that
I shall never be able to fulfill
your commandment to love others
as you have loved them
unless you love them yourself
within me.
When I show charity to others,
let me not forget that you
are acting within me,
and the more closely I am united to you
the more truly I love others.
Come, then, my loving Father,
you have blessed all my days;
bless me still
as this day ends
and the night begins.”
I must admit I engaged much more deeply with the first volume I read in this series but as the quote above states, keep trying. I have at least a half dozen other books in this series I want to read. And Will likely do a volume a month over the next year. I did enjoy this volume. I just did not add any of the prayers to my daily prayers.
This is a great volume that any Catholic would benefit from reading. I can easily recommend this volume and look forward to reading others in the series.
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
The description of this volume states:
“Meet Thérèse of Lisieux one of the modern world's best-loved saints and spiritual guides. Each day you will discover the profound truths in the "Little Way" and the insights about prayer and holiness that this great saint shared in her autobiography, The Story of a Soul.”
About the series we are informed:
“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”
I believe there are 15 volumes in this series currently in print, and a number that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the mid 90’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series. I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added a number of them to my ‘to be read list’. I love the most recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes. But back to this work.
While reading this I only highlighted a few passages, they were:
“A mystical renaissance is at work in our world. Like a subtle field of grace that surrounds our world, individuals everywhere are exploring the seductive invitation to develop a joyful and intimate relationship with God. In keeping with the nature of this mystical awakening, more and more people are discovering the need to develop a more refined spiritual path. This new path that so many are drawn to today embodies characteristics once so familiar to the great mystics of the medieval and Renaissance eras. These mystics, our great spiritual teachers, include Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, St. John the Evangelist, Meister Eckhart, Francis de Sales, Catherine of Siena, Thérèse of Lisieux, Evelyn Underhill, and Mother Teresa in modern times.
Simply described, these mystics drew their strength from a devotion to prayer, contemplation, and self-reflection. They knew that a daily practice of time alone with God was required to review the day and reflect upon the well-being and harmony of their souls. Today, we are rediscovering the way in which they knew God. For all their differences, the common ground these mystics shared was a devotion to prayer and an unyielding faith in their mystical relationships with God.”
“In keeping with the nature of this mystical awakening, more and more people are discovering the need to develop a more refined spiritual path. This new path that so many are drawn to today embodies characteristics once so familiar to the great mystics of the medieval and Renaissance eras. These mystics, our great spiritual teachers, include Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, St. John the Evangelist, Meister Eckhart, Francis de Sales, Catherine of Siena, Thérèse of Lisieux, Evelyn Underhill, and Mother Teresa in modern times.”
“Simply described, these mystics drew their strength from a devotion to prayer, contemplation, and self-reflection. They knew that a daily practice of time alone with God was required to review the day and reflect upon the well-being and harmony of their souls.”
“All over the world ordinary readers came to recognize, accept, and develop their potential for sanctity by adopting what Thérèse called her “little way.” At its heart this “little” way of Thérèse’s spirituality is driven by a powerful metaphor. In our relationship with God we are very small children. We always will be. There is no need to be anything else. On the contrary it is essential that we never try to be anything else.”
“This book was created to be nothing more than a gateway—a gateway to the spiritual wisdom of a specific teacher, and a gateway opening on your own spiritual path. You may decide that Thérèse of Lisieux is someone whose experience of God is one that you wish to follow more closely and deeply, in which case you should get a copy of the entire text of her autobiography and pray it as you have prayed this gateway journey. You may decide that her experience has not helped you. There are many other teachers. Somewhere there is the right teacher for your own, very special, absolutely unique journey of the spirit. You will find your teacher; you will discover your path. We would not be searching, as St. Augustine reminds us, if we had not already found.”
A sample reflection is:
“DAY THIRTEEN
My Day Begins
When our Lord
gave us his new commandment,
his own commandment,
he not only required us
to love our neighbors
as ourselves,
but would have us love them
even as he loves them,
as he will
until the end of time.
My Jesus,
you never ask
what is impossible.
You know better than I
how frail and imperfect I am.
You know that
I shall never love others
as you have loved them,
unless you love them yourself
within me.
It is because you desire
to grant me this grace,
that you have given us
a new commandment,
one that I cherish dearly.
It proves to me
that it is your will to love in me
all those you bid me to love.
When I show charity to others,
I know that it is Jesus
who is acting within me,
and the more closely I am united to him,
the more truly I love others.
All Through the Day
When we love one another,
our Father is acting within us.
My Day Is Ending
Loving Father,
you have commanded me to love others
as you love them.
You never ask
what is impossible.
But you know better than I
how frail and imperfect I am.
You know that
I shall never be able to fulfill
your commandment to love others
as you have loved them
unless you love them yourself
within me.
When I show charity to others,
let me not forget that you
are acting within me,
and the more closely I am united to you
the more truly I love others.
Come, then, my loving Father,
you have blessed all my days;
bless me still
as this day ends
and the night begins.”
I must admit I engaged much more deeply with the first volume I read in this series but as the quote above states, keep trying. I have at least a half dozen other books in this series I want to read. And Will likely do a volume a month over the next year. I did enjoy this volume. I just did not add any of the prayers to my daily prayers.
This is a great volume that any Catholic would benefit from reading. I can easily recommend this volume and look forward to reading others in the series.
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
Read
November 28, 2023"Only by becoming a child again can I stand tall enough to reach my goal." pg. 40
"Finally I realized that love includes every vocation, that love is all things, that love is eternal, reaching down through the ages and stretching to the uttermost parts of the earth. I have found my vocation at last- my vocation is love. I have found my place in the bosom of the body of Christ. In his body I shall be love." pg. 46
"If you were to judge by the poems that I write you might think that I have been inundated with spiritual consolation, that I am a child for whom the veil of faith is almost rent asunder. But it is not a veil. It is a wall which reaches to the very heavens shutting out the starry skies. I cannot exaggerate the night of my soul." pg. 55
"It is better for your soul's growth to stumble in the night on a stony road and still go on, than to walk comfortably in the full light of day on a path carpeted with flowers." pg. 91
"Finally I realized that love includes every vocation, that love is all things, that love is eternal, reaching down through the ages and stretching to the uttermost parts of the earth. I have found my vocation at last- my vocation is love. I have found my place in the bosom of the body of Christ. In his body I shall be love." pg. 46
"If you were to judge by the poems that I write you might think that I have been inundated with spiritual consolation, that I am a child for whom the veil of faith is almost rent asunder. But it is not a veil. It is a wall which reaches to the very heavens shutting out the starry skies. I cannot exaggerate the night of my soul." pg. 55
"It is better for your soul's growth to stumble in the night on a stony road and still go on, than to walk comfortably in the full light of day on a path carpeted with flowers." pg. 91
April 5, 2019
Superb
A well thought out lost of thirty meditations. Can't wait to read her autobiography. She speaks to out souls in a simple and deep way.
A well thought out lost of thirty meditations. Can't wait to read her autobiography. She speaks to out souls in a simple and deep way.
August 9, 2023
A wonderful little book. So many good quotes.
March 19, 2025
Beautiful, humble, simple, and memorable. I read this by accident, meaning to order the other book in the series by Teresa of Avila. And this ended up being great, really inspiring and humbling.
October 7, 2012
Though I am not yet finish with this book, I find it quite nice to have this 30-day reflections on the prayers and words of St. Therese of Lisieux. It is interesting to note that these reflections anyone can relate to considering how many years have passed since of this writing by St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897).
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews