Celine: Sister and Witness of St. Therese of the Child Jesus

This is a wonderful book for those who have been interested, not only in more details about St. Therese, but in her family. I have always wanted to know more about Celine, who St. Therese called "the sweet echo of my soul". Therese's letters to Celine and Celine's "My Sister St. Therese" are among the writings that have been the most influential on my spiritual life. This fills in many gaps, describes her spirituality, her painting of the Holy Face, her many talents, the care she took of her father, who was recently beatified along with her mother, and many other events and ideas I was wondering about. I only have two complaints, which cost this book a five star rating. One complaint is the lack of graphics in the book. It was very frustrating to hear the author discuss photos and art of hers that had apparently been very popular or at least widely known at one time and not see them. There are only two pieces of art from Celine in the book, and not enough photos. A bibliography of her writings at the end, even the ones that are no longer accessible to the public, would have been nice. The other complaint is that the author continually compares her theology, art, interests, etc., to modern standards, and somehow it always comes out short. At one point he said a piece of her work would be appreciated today if you didn't have artistic taste! Not only is it unnecessary to do this, it also assumes a superiority of what is popular or accepted today that is certainly debatable! Can we REALLY say the Church is better off due to "modern exegesis techniques"? In an age where religious art and architecture has inspired, among other writings, a book called "Ugly as Sin", should we really be so quick to write off work as "quaint" or "pious" or "not in-depth enough"? This is a very common tendency of post-VII books and unfortunately, Fr. Piat does not escape it, as I was hoping he would based on "Story of a Family".

To a follower of St. Therese, this book about her sister Celine (Sr. Genevieve) is, of course, very interesting, even fascinating. I wish there were a little more scholarly info, however. Celine always seemed especially interesting to me. She had many opportunities: a marriage proposal, a proposal to found an active order in Canada, apparently a strong talent in art and photography. Yet these don't really shine through in this book. Conversely, her sanctity didn't come through either, for me. Still, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading the details about Therese's family. I would love to see a good book about her sisters Pauline and Marie, also. I understand that one about Leonie is already in print.

This book was a truthful account of the life of Celine, sister and witness to Saint Therese. Celine worked very hard to carry on the way of "spiritual childhood" as her sister suggested, and the book tells of some of her trials towards seeing Therese canonized. Celine is a wonderful person herself, delightfully human, and a woman I would have wanted to meet. If you've enjoyed the stories of Therese, you'll enjoy this book.