Preface

St. Thérèse of Lisieux might seem an unlikely choice for a life coach. From the outside, her story is probably much different from our own.

Thérèse Martin was born in Alençon, France, in 1873, the youngest of five daughters of Louis and Zélie Martin. She had a loving but complicated childhood, and when she was fifteen years of age, she entered the convent at the Carmel of Lisieux. After nine years as a Carmelite sister, Thérèse died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-four. As her writings and life story became widely known, many people were blessed by her goodness. Thérèse was declared a saint in 1925, only twenty-eight years after her death.

Thérèse was a holy young woman, to be sure. But does it make sense to consider her a mentor for our lives today? Skepticism might be reasonable, but it would be a mistake to discount Thérèse.

In meeting Thérèse, we encounter a genuine paradox. On the one hand, she was an unpretentious, ordinary person. She led a hidden life in a cloistered convent in the late nineteenth century; she probably met fewer people in her whole life than a typical city dweller today encounters in a week. She had no

scholarly training and experienced no heavenly apparitions. Thérèse left behind no big projects, no institutions, no famous works—nothing except her autobiographical notebooks, her many letters and poems, and the respect and affection of those who knew her.

On the other hand, this unaffected young woman displayed an original and penetrating understanding of the human heart. In her short lifetime, she attained a remarkable level of psychological and spiritual maturity. Beneath the surface of her kind and happy personality, Thérèse in her twenties had garnered exceptional emotional self-awareness and spiritual discernment. By reflecting on the day-to-day joyful and sorrowful experiences of her life, by pondering the Scriptures, and by absorbing the wisdom of others who had gone before, Thérèse gained a liberating vision of life.

In telling her own story, Thérèse provided a clear-eyed grasp of the inner dynamics of growing up, experiences that most people have had but not seriously respected. Thérèse knew firsthand about the early childhood hurts that can escape memory. She understood the adaptations and the behavioral habits that we turn to for psychic survival. She saw the ways we can make others into “enemies” and the emotionally damaging, unreasonable expectations we hold for ourselves and others in our unconscious quest for affirmation.

Thérèse’s dreams, traumas, joys, and challenges were much like our own. Her experiences closely mirror our inner psychological realities. She is intimately familiar with the emotional landscape of the heart and the down-to-earth challenges of ordinary life. Thérèse is a life coach who “gets” us.

This paradoxical figure—Thérèse of Lisieux—has influenced the lives of millions, from popes to plain folks. Pope Pius X hailed her as “the greatest saint in modern times.”

The life lessons we can take from Thérèse are especially relevant in today’s turbulent times. That’s not because she holds answers to policy issues in a troubled world; Thérèse doesn’t directly address social dilemmas. Rather, through her personal experience of love, loss, trauma, and healing, Thérèse shows us what a mature person with a free and loving heart looks like. She offers us hope and confident guidance for a life of meaning, contentment, loving relationships, productive work, and service to others.

Thérèse dealt with her life circumstances as she found them, facing the weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and passionate desires of her heart with courage and unflinching honesty. In her story, perhaps to our surprise, we can find a kindred spirit. We invite you to get to know Thérèse as a mentor for restless hearts.