Product Description

As Saint Therese lay dying in the Carmel of Lisieux, she overheard a conversation that amused her. Outside her window, two nuns were discussing what they could write in her obituary that could possibly be of any interest, since the twenty-four-year-old nun had never done anything worth noting. Therese was pleased, for she had always kept a low profile. With the posthumous publication of her spiritual autobiography in 1898, however, that low profile would vanish instantly. She became one of the most beloved saints of all time, and her influence will expand dramatically because of Pope John Paul II's declaration that she is a Doctor of the Church. Amid growing interest in her writings comes the collected correspondence between her and a humble young seminarian, Maurice Belliere. Though they never met in person, they exchanged twenty-one letters that opened a window on the heart of Saint Therese that would have remained forever closed had Maurice not written to the Mother Superior at the convent asking for a nun to pray for him. The Mother Superior chose Therese, and in these conversational letters the Little Flower reveals herself in a way that we would never have known from her autobiography. In his accompanying text, Bishop Patrick Ahern expertly leads the reader into the worlds of Maurice and Therese and reveals the full beauty of this saint's spirituality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53011 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-20
• Released on: 2001-02-20
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.50" h x .50" w x 5.50" l, .78 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

From Amazon.com
St. Therese of Lisieux, who died unknown in a Carmelite convent at the age of 24, became one of the most influential women in the world after her autobiography (The Story of a Soul) was posthumously published in 1898. Mother Teresa of Calcutta took her name from Therese; Edith Piaf kept Therese's picture on her night table; in 1997, Pope John Paul II made her a Doctor of the Church-- only the third woman to receive this distinction. Her autobiography describes a spiritual life full of everyday revelations--she saw God in jam sandwiches, pretty hats, and beautiful flowers. Maurice and Therese: The Story of a Love shows how her commonplace spirituality ministered to an aimless young priest unsure of his vocation and unstable in his devotion. Maurice Belliere wrote to Therese's Mother Prioress to ask that a nun pray for him, Therese was assigned to the task, and their 21 letters (edited and with commentary by Patrick Traherne) illustrate the young woman's extraordinary ability to love. She wasn't deeply familiar with Maurice, and she didn't agree with him on lots of things, but she was naturally inclined to have faith in him--a necessary aspect of love, and one that deserves attention. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Library Journal
Ahern, the auxiliary bishop of New York, explores the relationship between the Carmelite nun St. Therese of Lisieux and a struggling young priest, Maurice Belliere, by compiling the 21 letters exchanged between them and providing biographical details. St. Therese had a short life, dying at the age of 24 of tuberculosis, but she expressed in her prose meaning and inspiration that brought peace to troubled souls. Through this correspondence, the reader is able to "listen in" on the intimate conversation she shared with Maurice as she encouraged his self-acceptance. The two became soulmates through their letters from 1896 until St. Therese's death in 1897. Expressing the suffering and passion of two imperfect persons touched by God, their story captures what St. Therese did best: showing by example how to be holy in life. Recommended for large religious collections.?Leo Vincent Kriz, West Des Moines Lib., IA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"In his balanced, insightful narrative, Bishop Ahern avoids the pitfalls of hagiography: He gives us no plaster saint, but a full-bodied portrait, full of shadows and light. The reader is left with a sense of the sheer divine mystery of the love and suffering?in every sense the passion?of these two young people touched by God. It is a most timely book for a secular age; it is also a gift."
--Charles Scribner III

"A beautiful and inspiring story; truly a book about a saint for sinners."
--Mary Higgins Clark

"A marvelous book. Perhaps I knew Therese as a saint before I read her letters to Maurice and his to her; I did not know her as a woman. Now she fascinates me more than ever."
--John Cardinal O'Connor