The Hidden Face: A Study of Therese of Lisieux

Rating:
Summary: The latest & most authentic edition of the saint's writings
Review: First published in Germany in 1944, The Hidden Face: A Study Of St. Therese Of Lisieux by Ida Friederike Gorres is a remarkable biography of a young nun who entered a convent at fifteen and died at twenty-four. The spontaneous veneration following her death brought one Pope to call her "the greatest saint of the modern times". The Hidden Face looks at the life of St. Therese Of Lisieux with a scholarly objectivity, interpreting her life and sainthood for appreciative readers of the Catholic faith. This latest English translation is based on a new, revised edition of the original that reflects the latest and most authentic edition of the saint's writings, and is very highly recommended for students of Catholicism and any lay member wanting to find out more about this remarkable and beloved 19th Century saint.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book
Review: This is a wonderful book. I spent an entire Sunday afternoon reading it. I couldn't put it down. Ida F. Goerres gave us a real flesh and blood person and not the, all too common, prayer card one.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book
Review: This is a wonderful book. I spent an entire Sunday afternoon reading it. I couldn't put it down. Ida F. Goerres gave us a real flesh and blood person and not the, all too common, prayer card one.

Rating:
Summary: Finally a worth biography
Review: This is the best book on St Therese - far superior to anything written before or since. It is thoroughly researched and, thankfully, strips away the sugar-coated sentimentality that bogged down her other biographers - as well as Story of a Soul itself. Gorres guides you along the path to sanctity that St Therese followed and reveals how the saint was able to avoid strong temptations - such as how her sisters constantly venerated her during the her life in the convent without it causing St Therese to become self-centered - while making use of every day events to follow the path of humility and self-abnegation. I thoroughly recommend this biography much more than anything Bishop Guy Gaucher has written or some of the biographers

Rating:
Summary: Finally a worth biography
Review: This is the best book on St Therese - far superior to anything written before or since. It is thoroughly researched and, thankfully, strips away the sugar-coated sentimentality that bogged down her other biographers - as well as Story of a Soul itself. Gorres guides you along the path to sanctity that St Therese followed and reveals how the saint was able to avoid strong temptations - such as how her sisters constantly venerated her during the her life in the convent without it causing St Therese to become self-centered - while making use of every day events to follow the path of humility and self-abnegation. I thoroughly recommend this biography much more than anything Bishop Guy Gaucher has written or some of the biographers

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Biographies of a Saint
Review: This remarkable book broke new ground in hagiography when it came out in the 1950s. Prior to this study, books about the saints centered on miracles, super-human feats and basically ignored the subject's upbringing, personality, and quirks. In this study, St. Therese is presented as Therese Martin, an intelligent, complex and totally God-focused individual who willed her way to sanctity. It seems that her nature was fully developed from infacy--from the start, she would do nothing by halves and insisted on making every moment of her life meaningful. Yet, she somehow avoided self-centeredness and by the end of her short life this very introspective young woman was simplicity itself. Her life was an unlikely interior adventure, leading her ever deeper into the mystery of God and of love. As told by Goerres, the journey was rough, uneven, and costly. But Therese Martin was no plaster saint, no little flower. This is the unsentimental story of a mighty oak.