Story of a Soul (Histoire d'une âme): The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux

Description

Librivox audiobook

French original

This translation is missing sentences here and there. It doesn't seem as good as Day's, but even his isn't very literal.

Joy in Suffering

The quote comes from ch. 12 of her Histoire d'une Ame:

Oh! ne vous affligez pas pour moi, j'en suis venue à ne plus pouvoir souffrir, parce que toute souffrance m'est douce.

It's also quoted in Joy in Suffering: According to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus Day 4: "The Paradox: Joy in Suffering":

Don’t be so sad about me; I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me.

St. Thérèse and Louis Martin

St. Thérèse's and her sisters' relationship with their father Louis Martin is so beautiful. She called him her king, and he called her his "little Queen" ("petite reine "). Look at how she describes her father (from Father of the Little Flower):

If an earthly father can be so ideal, what must our Heavenly Father be like . . . !

Céline Martin (Sr. Geneviève of the Holy Face):

My father was a very simple and upright character. Physically and morally he had the appearance of a Patriarch. There was also another striking resemblance: I remember that when he used to take me to the Benedictine School, my teachers, the nuns, used to say he reminded them of St. Joseph. Indeed he was truly a just man , and when I wish to picture what St. Joseph was like, I just like to think of my father.

Histoire d'une Ame / Story of a Soul ch. 1:

En trouvant ici le nom de mon cher petit père, je suis amenée naturellement à certains souvenirs bien joyeux. Quand il rentrait, je courais invariablement au-devant de lui et m'asseyais sur une de ses bottes; alors il me promenait ainsi, tant que je le voulais, dans les appartements et dans le jardin. Maman disait en riant qu'il faisait toutes mes volontés: «Que veux-tu, répondait-il, c'est la reine!» Puis il me prenait dans ses bras, m'élevait bien haut, m'asseyait sur son épaule, m'embrassait et me caressait de toutes manières.
Cependant je ne puis dire qu'il me gâtait. Je me rappelle très bien qu'un jour où je me balançais en folâtrant, mon père vint à passer et m'appela, disant: «Viens m'embrasser, ma petite reine!» Contre mon habitude, je ne voulus point bouger et répondis d'un air mutin: «Dérange-toi, papa!» Il ne m'écouta pas et fit bien. Marie était là. «Petite mal élevée, me dit-elle, que c'est vilain de répondre ainsi à son père!» Aussitôt je sortis de ma fatale balançoire; la leçon n'avait que trop bien porté! Toute la maison retentit de mes cris de contrition; je montai vite l'escalier, et cette fois je n'appelai point maman à chaque marche; je ne pensais qu'à trouver papa, à me réconcilier avec lui, ce qui fut bien vite fait.

Father’s name naturally brings back certain very happy memories. When he came home, I always used to run up to him and seat myself on one of his boots; he would then walk about with me like this wherever I wished, about the house and out in the garden. Mother used to laugh and say he would do whatever I wanted. “That is as it should be,” he replied. “She is the queen.” Then he used to take me in his arms, lift me up high to sit on his shoulder and make a tremendous fuss over me.
But I can’t say he spoiled me. I remember one day very well. I was playing on the swing when he happened to be going by, and he called out to me: “Come and give me a kiss, my little queen.” I did not want to move and—what was quite unlike me—answered mischievously, “You will have to come over here for it, Father!” He was wise enough to take no notice. Marie was there. “You naughty little thing,” she said, “how can you be so rude to your father! Get off at once.” I did get off my swing at once; I had really learned my lesson, and the whole house echoed with my cries of contrition. I ran upstairs and this time I did not call Mother at every step. I thought only of finding Father and making everything up, and that did not take very long.

She is "la più grande santa dei tempi moderni," as Pope St. Pius X called her in 1907!