The Trial of Faith of St. Therese of Lisieux

Fr. Miller gives a thorough explanation and demonstration showing St. Therese's spiritual growth based on the teachings of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. Only two things I would want a purchaser to be aware of. One - From time to time it reads a little like a collage thesis. It isn't difficult to understand but you could feel like you are in a lecture.Two - This turned out to be a big plus for me. About 1/3 into the book I realized that I needed to have a better understanding of the teachings of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. I had previously stayed away from their writing. What a mistake! I would recommend an introductory book on their teachings. For me this was Fr. DuBay's Fire Within. Fr. Miller quotes him late in his book so it's safe to say it has his recommendation too.If you are a serious student of Carmelite spirituality or St. Therese, you want to read this book.

To commemorate the centennial of the Little Flower's death in 1997, Fr. Miller has given lectures on St. Theres's "Little Way of Spiritual Childhood at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook where he teaches systematic theology and spirituality. His book is not a popularization but a scholarly work of spiritual theology, the result of his painstaking research into a controverted question about Therese's spiritual life.Despite her exceptional training in faith and virtue at home and her precocious mastery of Carmelite spirituality, St. Therese underwent a terrifying trail of faith during the months of her terminal illness. She was tempted to doubt the existence of an afterlife, of heaven, the possibility of ever seeing her Lord, to whom she had consecrated her life. Several spiritual authors have interpreted her trial of faith as a "passive purgation" - as the suffering of an imperfect soul in the refiner's fire of God's love.Fr. Miller however argues that Therese had passed through that stage of spiritual development earlier, possibly while she was waiting to enter the convent. His book defends the thesis that the Little Flower experienced the "Mystical Marriage" during her earthly life, and that her final trial was in fact an expression of her mystical union with Christ and a sharing in his sufferings for the sake of his body, the Church.This book sheds a quiet light on the Christian mystery of salvific suffering.(From Homiletic and Pastoral Review Reviewed by Michael J. Miller, Glenside, PA.)