Catholic A2Z - T is for Teresa

Another name, besides Francis, that Catholics rock (and I can't even believe I didn't reference Pope Francis in my F is for Francis post!  I deserve a dope smack!) is the name Teresa or Theresa or Therese (all variations of the same name).

The great Bernini sculpture showing St. Teresa of Avila in one of her mystical ecstasies.

The Teresa that started it all is St. Teresa of Avila.  She was a Carmelite nun of the 16th century known as a mystic and a great reformer.  She inspired two other saints, St. John of the Cross and St. John of Avila.  Her two most famous books are considered masterpieces:  The Way of Perfection and Interior Castle.  She was (along with St. Catherine of Sienna) named the first woman doctor of the Church.

St. Teresa of Avila inspired the conversion of another saint, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who before she became a Carmelite nun was Edith Stein, a brilliant Jewish woman and a doctor of philosophy who worked with the great Husserl, the brilliant phenomenologist.  She was rounded up by the Nazis and died at Auschwitz.

Dr. Edith Stein also know as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Another great Teresa, of course, is Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who rumor has it will be canonized this coming September.   Two great books about her are Something Beautiful for God and Kathryn Spink's biography.  

But the Teresa I want to focus on is St. Therese of Lisieux.  She was a French Carmelite nun who died at the age of 24 and she wrote one of the great spiritual works of modern times and has inspired countless men and women to holiness.  She also was named a doctor of the Church.  Her great masterpiece is Story of a Soul.

I tried several times to read Story of a Soul and never could read it cover to cover.  I'd pick it up and read a bit and then set it down again.  I felt like somehow I couldn't appreciate St. Therese the way other people could.  I went to a day long retreat once on St. Teresa of Avila and St. Therese and I got a lot of out it.  So I was determined to actually completely read the book.  Alas, my aspirations out ran my capabilities at the time, and once again I gave up.   This is not a hard book to read! I couldn't understand what the stumbling block was.  I was confused and disappointed by my inability to attend to this great classic.

A young St. Therese

Finally, while at a homeschooling conference, I spied an audio version for sale at one of the vendor stands.   Maybe this would be the ticket!  So that summer as I drove my kids to various places like the pool and summer day camps, etc, we all listened to Story of a Soul.  And that was the clincher.  Somehow hearing the words worked better for me then trying to read them.  And it spawned a lot of conversations with my kids and lo and behold there was much less bickering going on during car rides!  The audio version I had wasn't particularly great either; frankly, it is a bit amateurish, but that didn't seem to matter in the least.  It was still a great blessing.

St. Therese, pray for us!