Name: Patrick Kitaka Musyimi O.Carm
Reg. No. 11123T
Book Title: Story
of A Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux
 |
| She like me was a Carmelite! |
St. Therese Martin, The Little Flower, was born on 2nd
January, 1873 at Alencon in Lisieux, France. She is the 9th child
(last born) of Her father Louis Martin who was a watchmaker and her mother
Zelie Guerin. Out of the nine children, only five girls survived but their two
boys and two girls died at their infancy. She sought permission from her
father, prioress, Bishop but when it seemed difficult she went even to Pope to
obtain permission to join the Carmelites Nuns when she was 14. At last, by
grace of God she joined the Carmelite convent at Lisieux when she was 15years
old. She took a new religious name of Sr. Therese of the Child Jesus and the
Holy Face. In carmel she lived a normal life as a nun, sacristan and assistant
novice directress. Her life was short
lived but to the full in absolute trust to God despite her bad health. She died
of Tuberclosis at age of 24, on 30th September, 1897. She was
canonized on 17th May, 1925 by Pope Pius XI and in 1997 Pope John
Paul II declared her as a Doctor of the church. The church holds her highly as
the Patroness of Missions.
My Motivation for choosing the spiritual classic of The Story of a Soul: the Autobiography of
St. Therese of Lisieux, is that as a Carmelite she inspires me to walk in
the path she walked and live the Carmelite way of life she lived. Her persue of
life dream of becoming a saint since she
was a child invites me to embrace the call to sainthood: “He who called you is
holy, be holy yourself in every aspect of your conduct” (1Pt. 1:15). This I will achieve by consecrating myself totally to God like the Little Flower did.
In a special way I’m touched and motivated by her spirituality which marked her
whole life which entails: confidence and love, the Little Way, abandonment to
God’s Merciful love, and love as her vocation in the Church.
Reflection: ‘I choose all’ St. Therese’s Fundamental
choice (23rd September)
I was
touched by the fundamental choice of The Little Flower, when she said: “I
choose all… I do not want to be saint by halves.” St. Therese is teaching me
that I should make the right choice as
regards the priorities in life. Like her, I should choose all, that is to make
a fundamental option for Jesus who is the all in all because with him, I will
have everything and lacking nothing. This I can realise by living my vocation
in Carmel of living in allegiance to Jesus Christ. I should not double deal in serving two masters not to give Jesus half
of myself and the other to the world but to completely give myself to Jesus as
St. Therese did all her life.
The
Little Flower of Carmel is challeging me
to examine and purify my motivation of joining Carmel. For St. Therese, her
only motivation to join Carmel was
Jesus, nothing more nothing less. In the same case, my joining religious life
in carmel should not be tied to hidden ajendas; for instance, seeking security
in life, to lead a good life or for personal glorification. But the only
motivation should be Jesus alone whom I am to live for, serve and love him all
the days of my life.
Therese’s
vocation was love. She lived with love in love for Jesus and this was her
central focus in her life. She surrendered totally to Jesus in love by being a
victim of his love. A reality she embraced by her act of oblation to the
merciful love of Jesus on 9th June, 1895. She is drawing me to
dedicate myself and respond to the unconditional love of God since love is
repaid by love as St. Therese says. Her vocation of love too has to be mine, to
give myself to Jesus like herself, who has loved me first and to serve him.
This aspect is crowned by Therese’s words: “It was love alone that made the Church
members act, that if love ever became extinct, Apostles would not preach the Gospel and Martyrs would not shed their blood…” I here by, inspired by the
Little Flower proclaim together with her: “O Jesus, my love… my vocation at
last I have found it… my vacation is love.” Therefore, I have learnt from St.
Therese that I should freely opt for
Jesus my all, as my fundamental option.
lastly, love is my vocation too and should be my motivation and inspiration for
everyday that I have to live.
Story of A Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux
1.0 Introduction
This
paper is a summary and reflection on St. Therese’s autobiography, ‘Story of a
Soul.’ I will first present the person of Therese, give a brief summary of her
autobiography, which has three sections: manuscript A, manuscript B, maniscript
C, highlighting only her central themes
of her spirituality and lastly give my reflection basing on how she has touched
me.
2.0 The Person of Therese of Lisieux
St. Therese Martin, The Little Flower, was
born on 2nd January, 1873 at Alencon in Lisieux, France. She is the
9th child (last born) of her father, Louis Martin who was a
watchmaker and her mother Zelie Guerin. Out of the nine children, only five
girls survived but their two boys and two girls died at their infancy.
She
sought permission to join Carmel from her father, prioress, Bishop. When it
seemed difficult, she went even to Pope to obtain permission to join the
Carmelites Nuns when she was 14 years. At last, by grace of God she joined the
Carmelite convent at Lisieux when she was 15years old. She took a new religious
name of Sr. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.
In Carmel she lived a normal life as a nun,
sacristan and assistant novice
directress. Her life was short lived but to the full in absolute trust
in God despite her bad health. She died of Tuberclosis at age of 24, on 30th
September, 1897. She was canonized on 17th May, 1925 by Pope Pius XI
and in 1997 Pope John Paul II declared her as a Doctor of the church. The
church holds her highly as the Patroness of Missions.
3.0 Manuscript A
Manuscript
A is about “story of a little white flower.”[1]She
sees herself as a little flower gathered by Jesus hence she surrenderd whole
heartly to him. According to the
confessions of St. Therese, this first section, she dedicated it to her blood
sister Rev. Mother Agnes of Jesus. She did it in obedience to her after she had
requested her to write about her chilhood mommories (experiences). In it she
hightlights the following aspects of her spirituality:
3.1 Her Desires
St.
Therese in this story of a Soul, presents her deep desires which directed her
whole life. They are: life of Sactity, to love Jesus, to do the will of God,
passion for souls, to suffer for the sake of Christ, become a martry of Love
and to be a saint. Her fundamental decision to become a saint was her great
desire which is clearly manifested in her own words when she said, “My God I
choose all! I do not want to be a saint by halves.”[2]
She sets the path of realising this goal by embracing self denial of her own
will to embrace the will of God. This is what she means in choosing all.
3.2 Abandonment
The Little
Flower presents doctrine of abandonment as totally surrendering oneself to the
Child Jesus as His playing-thing. This is manifested in her words to Jesus, “
use me as little ball of no value which
he could throw on the ground, push with his foot, pierce it, leave it at the
corner, or to press to his heart if it pleased him.”[3]
Thus, abandonment is giving yourself without reserve to Jesus.
3.3 Act of Oblation to Merciful Love
St.
Therese’s life dream was fullfilled when at last she joined Carmel on 9th
April, 1988 despite meeting many objections but persevered until the end. The
climax was at the day of her profession which she describes it as “ the
beatiful day of wedding” where by she united herself with Jesus he beloved
spouse.
Deep within herself she wanted to be consumed
by God’s love to completely transform and cleanse all her sins. She viewed herself as victim of
God’s love that is the recipient of love of God. In this act of oblation to
merciful love of God, she takes the place of the souls closed to God’s love and
stands on behalf of them. Hence she becomes victim of those souls by taking all
the love that was poured to this souls who were closed to received it and also
takes all panishment due to these souls apon herself.
4.0 Manuscript B
This
Maniscript is a letter St. Therese which she wrote to her elder sister Marie of
the Sacred Heart who had requested her to explain her spiritual discoveries, especially
the doctrine of the ‘little way.’ In it she bringsforth the following aspect of
her spirituality:
4.1 Therese’s Vocation is Love
Therese
realised deep within her that Jesus is her love and love is her vocation. This
fact is revealed in her testimony when she says, “O Jesus, My love… My
vocation, at last I have found it…my vocation is love!”[4]
St. Therese teaches us that this Love is the main motivation of the Church in
all her activities. This is because “It was love that made the Church members
act, that if love ever became extict, Apostles would not preach the gospel and
martyrs would not shed their blood.”[5]
4.2 The Little Way
The
little way is a way of Spiritual childhood which has its roots in the words of Prophet
Isaiah when he said, “As nurselings, you shall be carried in her arms,and
fondled in her lap; a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you…” (Is.
66:12-13). Therese in establishing doctrine of the little way, she was also
inspired by the saying of Jesus when he said: “Let the little children come to
me” (Mk. 10:13-15). She views herself as a little child carried in her mothers
arms and if she has to continue being carried then she has to remain little.
Her
little way, is a way of love and
confidence. Just as a child lifts her hand in a gesture of confidence in order
to be carried, we have to abandon ourselves in the hands of Jesus. The image of
St. Therese of being caried implies that, first we have to trust in the person
who is carrying us that he has the strength and believe he will bring us to our
destination. Secondly, we pressume that the person carrying us knows the the
way. Lastly, we have to surrender to the one carrying us, that is to give up
contol. In this case, just like St. Therese we have to surrender in confidence
and trust in Jesus. This is because he knows the way and at the same time he is
the way to our final destination that is the union with God.
5.0 Manuscript C
St.
Therese addressed this maniscript to Mother Marie de Gonzague in which she presents
following main themes:
5.1 The Divine Elevator
From St. Therese’s self
knowledge, she discovered that she could not do anything by herself. For
instance, she is not able to climb the rough stairs of perfection because of
her limitations and the fact that she is small.[6]
For this reasons, she discovers that she needs an elevator which she says is
the arms of Jesus who is the divine elevator, the shortest way to heaven.[7]
In this respect she also sees herself as a bird that only know how to lift its
wings but doesn’t know how to fly. The lesson she is teaching us here is that
we need to stretch our hands to Jesus and he will carry us to the bossom of God
our Father.
5.2 Therese’s Prayer
Therese defines prayer
as “an aspiration of the heart, it is a
simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the
midst of trial as well as joy; it is something great, supernatural, which
expands my soul and unite me to Jesus.”[8]
6.0 Personal Reflections and Impact of St. Therese in my Life
My
Motivation for choosing the spiritual classic of The Story of a Soul: the Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux,
is that as a Carmelite she inspires me to walk in the path she walked and live
the Carmelite way of life she lived. Her persue of life dream of becoming a
saint since she was a child invites me
to embrace the call to sainthood: “He who called you is holy, be holy yourself
in every aspect of your conduct” (1Pt. 1:15). This I will achieve by consecrating myself totally to God like the Little Flower did.
I was
touched by the fundamental choice of The Little Flower, when she said: “I
choose all… I do not want to be saint by halves.”[9]
St. Therese is teaching me that I should make the right choice as regards the priorities in life. Like
her, I should choose all, that is to make a fundamental option for Jesus who is
the all in all because with him, I will have everything and lacking nothing.
This I can realise by living my vocation in Carmel of living in allegiance to
Jesus Christ. I should not double deal
in serving two masters so as not to give Jesus half of myself and the
other to the world but to completely give myself to Jesus as St. Therese did
all her life.
The
Little Flower of Carmel, is challeging
me to examine and purify my motivations of joining Carmel. For St. Therese, her
only motivation to join Carmel was
Jesus, nothing more nothing less. In the same case, my joining reliligious life
in carmel should not be tied to hidden ajendas; for instance, seeking security
in life, to lead a good life or for personal glorification. But the only
motivation should be Jesus alone whom I am to live for, serve and love him all
the days of my life.
Therese’s
vocation was love. She lived with love in love for Jesus and this was her
central focus in her life. She surrendered totally to Jesus in love to be a
victim of love. A reality she embraced by her act of oblation to the merciful
love of Jesus on 9th June, 1895. She is drawing me to dedicate
myself and respond to the unconditional love of God since “love is repaid by
love alone”[10]
as St. Therese says.
Her
vocation of love too has to be mine, to give myself to Jesus like herself, who
has loved me first and to serve him. This aspect is crowned by Therese’s words:
“It was love alone that made the church members act, that if love ever became
extinct, Apostles would not preach the gosple and martyrs would not shed their
blood…”[11]
I here by, inspired by the Little Flower proclaim together with her: “O Jesus,
my love… my vocation at last I have found it… my vacation is love.”[12]
Therefore, I have learnt from St. Therese
that love is my vocation too and should be my motivation and inspiration
for everday that I have to live.
7.0 Conclusion
After reading the St. Therese’s story of a
Soul, I must confess that it has left a great impact in my life. In a special
way I’m touched and motivated by her spirituality which marked her whole life
which entails: confidence and love, the Little Way, abandonment to God’s
Merciful love, and love as her vocation in the Church.
8.0 Bibliography
Therese, St., Story of A Soul: The Autobiographx of St. Therese of Lisieux, 3rd
ed., Washington, D.C: ICS Publications 1996.
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