Saint Therese of Lisieux

I have not read any of the poems or the autobiography that Saint Therese is known for; I was drawn to this book because I had heard of her and wanted to learn more about her. This shorter biography seemed the best route in that regard and Kathryn Harrison does a commendable job of introducting Therese to readers who may not be familiar with this saint. Harrison begins her biography with a look at Therese's parents and the role their failing and success played in Therese's life. She would lose her mother at a young age, and constantly look for mother figures in her sisters, the Virgin Mary and any visions she experienced. Harrison weaves the saint's poetry and writings throughout the piece, offering insight and expansion when needed. After her death, Therese Martin quickly became a very influential religious figure. Having received a special dispensation from Pope Leo XIII, Therese Martin was able to enter the convent at Carmel at the age of fifteen. She had always dedicated her life to the Lord and would not allow anyone to hold her back, even the Mother Superior. Her older sisters were nuns in the same order, springing from a religious family that predestined their daughters' lives for this role. Therese recorded her life in the convent and wrote poems and plays that inspire readers to this day. She was misunderstood perhaps by her fellow sisters because she longed for a nothingness in her faith that only God could grant. When her tuberculosis progressed, her sisters took to recording conversations with her for posterity, which were used in her beatification. She died at the age of twenty-four and she received the fastest canonization in the history of the Catholic church. Other reviewers have mentioned that this book misses the point, but I disagree. In offering some of the so-called Freudian analysis of Therese and her writings, the author is not diminishing their content or ardor; she merely mentions that these comparisons can be made, and it is up to the reader to decide how they interpret these writings. There is throughout Therese's life the knowledge that she wanted nothing more than to be a nun and to become a saint; so there are naturally instances when she almost seems to be posturing, knowing how she acted then would forever be remembered and critiqued if her desire was to be granted. And readers should not forget that when a woman takes a vow to become a nun, that their husband is Christ Jesus and the ceremony is a wedding of sorts; any language that the author has used to express this relationship paints it as a union of Saint Therese's soul with the Holy Spirit.

Kathryn Harrison's biography of Therese Martin is a brilliant work from a variety of perspectives. It is meticulously researched based on pertinent historical documentation. The writing is poetic, and the narrative style is consummately exquisite. But of particular value are the keen insights that weave Therese's psychology into a spirituality rich in the human values of pain, loss, and ultimate transformation. Many know the saint, but few know the woman. Kathryn Harrison knows the woman, and perhaps the few will become more numerous as a result of this gem of a book.

While an excellent addition to the "Penguin Lives" series, those looking for a view of "The Little Flower" through a hagiographic haze will have to look elsewhere. Kathryn Harrison's brutally frank (though not unsympathetic look) at Saint Therese of Lisieux might be historically accurate but is bound to be a letdown for her most ardent devotees. Harrison uses family letters and the documents of Therese Martin's canonization process to paint a portrait of the Martin family and the world they inhabited. Even by the conservative standards of late 19th century France, the Martins were unusual, even odd. Both parents, Louis and Zelie, were extremely devout Catholics, to the point that Louis insisted on a "Josephite" or celibate union for the first 10 months of their marriage. All five surviving children -- eventually and sometimes with difficulty -- fit themselves into religious communities. The Martins were extremely wary of secular society, keeping their daughters from "worldly" pleasures that others thought charming and innocent. The portrait shows the Martins as a close and loving family, though extremely insular and somewhat fixated on death. Therese was a strange little girl obsessed with the things of the Church -- creating little altars in the backyard and holding funerals for dead birds. Perhaps these were among the few amusements she was allowed. Early separations from her mother left her emotionally fragile, never quite capable of internalizing an image of "Mother" that was warm and nurturing. Harrison sees Therese's embrace of convent life as a lifelong attempt to find a permanent presence that would never fail her, as her own mother did. Her bloody, tubercular death was difficult to watch, though inspiring (in its own way) for the way that Therese turned every pain and discomfort into a new sacrifice for God. There is much strength in Harrison's attempt to limn the psychology of this saint. Inasmuch as Therese fought her attachment to her body and sought to annihilate her personality, Harrison (ever the modern) works hard to reassemble a complete Therese -- emotional, social, psychological and even sexual. Sometimes, Harrison seems to overreach, attempting to discern sexual stirrings behind Theresa's concerns for "purity" and expressions of desire for a violent and rapturous union with Jesus. But better to err on the side of seeing Therese enfleshed than to imagine her as serenely unconflicted and untroubled by the impulses that all humans must deal with. I can't say that I came away from this book desiring a devotion to St. Theresa. Her discomfort with the world was too extreme, and her family life too constricted and introverted. Her experience and achievement, evidently inspiring to those of her time and beyond, seem a bit out of place today, as we attempt to live religiously *through* our flesh, not by shucking the body as evil. In any event, Therese Martin will continue to be honored as a spiritual athlete who pushed the envelope

Although Therese Martin may be loved by millions and revered as a saint by many, the fact is she was a human being and subject to nature and nurture in her formative years as all human being are. In this exceptional biography, Harrison explores many facets of Therese's entire life and history and, in my opinion, gives a very compelling, fair and realistic presentation of who Therese was, what shaped her into the woman - and later saint - she became, and what motivated her personal sense of passion and purpose in life that is viewed by many as a model of religious piety, perfection and purity to this day. I emphasize though that the focus is on Therese Martin, not so much the "St. Therese" she would later become after death and upon canonization.It is for this reason that I can see why some who wish to transcend Therese's humanity and see her only as an untouchable and iconic saint would be disappointed in this book. Harrison makes Therese very real to the reader and focuses on her humanity and the possibilities of what may have made her tick based on insightful and grounded interpretations of the numerous family letters, documented testimony given at Therese's beatification after her death by her sisters and surviving family members as well as others who knew her, and clues given as revelation to support Harrison's biographical portrayal of the inner person with the use of Therese's own words. And yes, Harrison does view Therese's life through the lens of modern day research, logic, fact and psychology rather than the more superstitious or supernatural perception that contemporaries in Therese's day might have viewed similar - but I think that's what makes this biography so wonderful. I came away feeling I "knew" Therese in a way that I highly doubt I ever could just viewing her as a archetypal image of "Saint" - and I think that's the point. Therese didn't start out as a Saint. It was who she was and what she did in her 24 incarnate years that gave rise to the desire and official act of canonizing her as such. In addition, historic context is given so that the reader can get a better sense of what cultural factors went into shaping her into the person she was. I found this exceptionally fascinating because, nowadays, I'm of the opinion that many teenage girls who exhibit similar behavior and attitudes Therese demonstrated to be unrealistically perfectionistic and whom would be deemed likely candidates for such behaviors such as cutting, anorexia, bipolar disorder, intimacy issues, extreme acting out, etc. and who wish to stay little girls forever for fear of embracing their own maturity, sexuality and autonomy. But in Therese's day and in Therese's view via her own words - as well as those around her who served to both influence and support her mentally, emotionally and spiritually - martyrdom and masochistic suffering was seen as supremely beautiful and holy and her purposeful intent on remaining childlike in so many respects seems to lend itse

Ms. Harrison's take on this much commented upon saint is insightful, sympathetic, but not worshipful. One gets the sense that it was hard being Therese Martin--too conscientious, overly protected, and beset with family expectations to be perfect, to be a saint. The wonder of Therese's life is that she reached its end a balanced and loving personality whereas a weaker or less inspired soul could have slipped into depression, narcisism or over-scrupulosity. Ms. Harrison implies that the key to Therese's spirituality was her struggle against abandonment due to the early death of her mother and the loss of her older sisters to the convent. Her response, curiously Buddhist in its approach, was to accept that life is suffering and that it can only be relieved by abandoning the self. Clearly, she pulled it off because she has become the most beloved and endearing of modern saints.