The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme): The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux With Additional Writings and Sayings of St. Thérèse

Public-domain ebook

The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme): The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux With Additional Writings and Sayings of St. Thérèse

Name: The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme): The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux With Additional Writings and Sayings of St. Thérèse
Author: Thérèse, de Lisieux, Saint

by Thérèse, de Lisieux, Saint

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Language: en1,303 downloads on Project Gutenberg

Subjects

Thérèse, de Lisieux, Saint, 1873-1897 Christian saints -- France -- Lisieux -- Biography Lisieux (France) -- Biography

In: Christianity·Biographies·Religion/Spirituality

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #16772.

About this book

The volume is the complete French‑language autobiography of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, rendered in English as The Story of a Soul, together with her “Counsels and Reminiscences,” letters, selected poems, and a series of prayers. The text follows the structure of the eighth edition of Soeur Thérèse of Lisieux (1912/1922), beginning with a dedication, a preface by Cardinal Bourne, and a prologue that traces the birth and family background of Thérèse’s parents, Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin. The main narrative proceeds through twelve chapters that recount her earliest memories, her Catholic upbringing, her entry into the Carmelite convent, the “night of the soul,” and the final “victim of divine love,” before moving on to her spiritual counsel, correspondence, and devotional writings. The edition reproduces the original British spelling and punctuation, with footnotes renumbered and minor typographical corrections, while omitting the original illustrations and beatification material.

The voice is that of a devout 19th‑century French nun, filtered through a careful early‑20th‑century English translation that retains the modest, prayerful tone of Thérèse’s own prose. The style is simple, reverent, and often lyrical, reflecting the “little flower” spirituality she championed. Readers who appreciate contemplative Christian memoirs, historic religious biographies, or the inner life of a Carmelite saint will find this work rewarding. Its detailed family history, intimate letters, and devotional poems also appeal to scholars of French Catholic culture and to anyone seeking a window into the spiritual practices of the era.

Who appears in The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme)

Thérèse of LisieuxYoung French nun in late 19th‑century habit, dark hair, serene face, simple veil
Louis MartinMiddle‑aged French man, graying beard, modest clerical collar, humble carpenter’s shirt
Zélie GuerinGentle French mother, soft brown hair, simple peasant dress, warm eyes

The opening · free to read

This electronic edition of the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux (The Story of a Soul) includes much, but not all, of the content of Soeur Therese of Lisieux (London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1912; 8th ed., 1922), edited by Rev. T.N. Taylor. All the translated writings and sayings of St. Therese contained in that book are in this electronic edition, including the autobiography as well as "Counsels and Reminiscences," letters, and selected poems. Also included are the preface by Cardinal Bourne, the prologue relating Therese's parentage and birth, and the epilogue describing her final illness, her death, and related events. Not included are the illustrations, the list of illustrations, accounts of favors attributed to the intercession of St. Therese, documents related to her beatification, and some other material not written by her.

Footnotes have been re-numbered sequentially in each chapter. They are presented at the end of each chapter, and some have been slightly modified for ease of reference. A few footnotes, referring to page numbers in the original, have been modified or omitted. Citations to the Psalms, many of which were numbered differently in Catholic Bibles of St. Therese's time than they commonly are today, have the "new" number in brackets next to the "old" number from the original--e.g., "Psalm 22[23]:1-4." Footnote numbers are shown in brackets, e.g., "[1]."

The original page headers, page numbering, disclaimer of any intention to anticipate the judgment of the Church in calling St. Therese a "saint" before her canonization, and other extraneous matter, which were deemed suitable for a printed book in 1922 but not for an e-book in 2005, are not here. The French "oe" ligature, in words such as "soeur," is not available in the standard ISO-8859-1 character set, and obviously is represented here by the two-letter combination "oe." Italics are represented by underscores at the beginning and end, like this. The first word of each chapter is not set in all caps as it was in the printed book. A few obvious typographical errors have been corrected, with the changes in brackets, e.g., "[s]he" for "the" in Chapter IX. All else, including capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and British spelling, is intended to reflect the content of the eighth edition of Soeur Therese of Lisieux. If it does not, the fault is that of the transcriber (me, David McClamrock).

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