The Little Way: Reflections on the Joy of Smallness in God's Infinite Love - Paperback

by St Thérèse of Lisieux (Author)

We want to love God with all our hearts, but we often find ourselves striving in our efforts to please Him, acutely aware of our weaknesses. As our failures pile up, we become frustrated and discouraged.

Have we missed the essence of the gospel? Is there a simple but true way to serve God that can fill us with joy and peace rather than fear and discouragement?

St. Thérèse of Lisieux faced similar struggles. As a young woman who desired to abandon herself to God, she felt daunted at the thought of climbing "the steep stairway of perfection." Thérèse searched the Scriptures until she discovered a path to freedom she called her "little way." This is "the way of spiritual childhood, the way of trust and absolute surrender." It is a recognition that while we are small and imperfect, we have a mighty God who reaches out to us with infinite love, grace, and strength to take care of all our needs.

As Thérèse followed this new path, she considered herself a "little flower" in Jesus's garden. She understood that she was beloved by her heavenly Father and delightful in His eyes. And she could bloom right where He planted her as she daily demonstrated His unconditional love to others in small but meaningful acts of kindness and interceded on their behalf.

This beautiful book highlights St. Thérèse's deep insights into faith and devotion, while visually capturing, through simple floral illustrations, the theme of simplicity that permeated her life. As you read excerpts from St. Thérèse's autobiography, poetry, and letters--tracing such themes as "littleness," God's immense love for us, our devotion to God, loving others, prayer, humility, surrender, sacrifice, trust, and the joys of heaven--you will learn to rest in the loving arms of your heavenly Father, allowing your own faith to grow and flourish.

Author Biography

St. Thérèse, known as the "Little Flower," was born Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin on January 2, 1873, in Alençon, France, the youngest of five surviving children in a loving Christian family. Desiring to devote her life to God, she persuaded the religious authorities to allow her to join the Carmelite convent at Lisieux at the age of fifteen. Feeling unable to meet the perceived demands of Christian perfection, she sought a simpler, scriptural way to reach God, an "elevator to take me straight up to Jesus." The "little way" she discovered--that of humility, trust, sacrifice, and resting in God's deep love--captured the essence of the gospel with profound simplicity. It transformed her relationship with her heavenly Father, and its ripple effects surged to a global impact that continues to this day. Thérèse died of tuberculosis on September 30, 1897, at the age of twenty-four. Her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, published shortly after her death, eventually became a worldwide bestseller, with millions of copies in print. The work has been translated into more than sixty languages and dialects. Thérèse was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on May 17, 1925, and was declared a Doctor of the Church on October 19, 1997. Pope John Paul II described her insights into faith as "vast and profound."