Several girlfriends ....from Alaska to New Jersey... are planning to read together Heather King's little masterpiece, Shirt of Flame: A Year with Saint Therese of Lisieux. Join us!
This 135-page spiritual memoir has what one reviewer calls "the grit of sanctity" because of its unaverted gaze at the mess that is King's life, that is all our lives.
Until a few years ago, I knew nothing about St. Therese, a cloistered nun who died at the age of 24. This woman was declared a Doctor of the Church is 1997. You do not have to be a catholic to appreciate her Little Way, which gives us a path to grace and meaning by confronting our everyday existence.
I'm just on the first chapter, called Early Loss, but here is one gem from King:
"Therese's gift was to have suffered early loss but also to have chosen to remain childlike. Not childish, for from a very young age she was mature beyond her years, but childlike, trusting, resilient, lost in wonder."
I put little stars by those three traits. As someone who also suffered deep losses early in my life, I can relate to the idea of learning right away that life is a series of losses. I've learned it's important to consider the gifts of the accidents of our births.
So please read the first chapter and share your reflections below....
This 135-page spiritual memoir has what one reviewer calls "the grit of sanctity" because of its unaverted gaze at the mess that is King's life, that is all our lives.Until a few years ago, I knew nothing about St. Therese, a cloistered nun who died at the age of 24. This woman was declared a Doctor of the Church is 1997. You do not have to be a catholic to appreciate her Little Way, which gives us a path to grace and meaning by confronting our everyday existence.
I'm just on the first chapter, called Early Loss, but here is one gem from King:
"Therese's gift was to have suffered early loss but also to have chosen to remain childlike. Not childish, for from a very young age she was mature beyond her years, but childlike, trusting, resilient, lost in wonder."
I put little stars by those three traits. As someone who also suffered deep losses early in my life, I can relate to the idea of learning right away that life is a series of losses. I've learned it's important to consider the gifts of the accidents of our births.
So please read the first chapter and share your reflections below....
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