St. Thérèse and Shirt of Flame

This being the feast of the Little Flower, I'll take this opportunity to once again recommend Shirt of Flame: A Year with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux by Heather King. Beautifully written, this book tells the story of Ms. King's year long encounter with St. Thérèse in the saint's autobiography, Story of a Soul. Not only does it provide abundant material for personal meditation, it is a model of how we can read the writings of the saints and engage with their spiritual journeys in a way that helps us incorporate their wisdom into our own lives.

The book consists of twelve chapters, one for each month. The first time through, I read it in bits and snatches, frequently skipping a month or going back to a past month. This is very unusual for me as I am almost fanatical about reading a book straight through, but this book doesn't suffer for being read in that manner. Then, in July, I read through the book again from beginning to end and found plenty there to engage my interest a second time. It would probably make a good series of reflections for Lent, or a long retreat. It would be a great book to take with you to adoration.

You can see the monthly topics and read the introduction on Amazon, and read a lengthy quote from an earlier post here.

AMDG