It’s the small acts of everyday life that we will all ultimately have to answer for. But imitating Christ isn’t just for big, flashy things. Dorothy Day, one of her spiritual children, is a good example of that. In this world, Thérèse says the same thing she’s said for over a hundred years, “be little, be small, be like a child, be like putty in God’s hands.” This isn’t to say you can’t stand up against injustice. From the richest billionaire in the board room to the poorest homeless teenager on the streets, everyone is looking for attention, everyone wants the biggest, loudest, fanciest thing. With the advent of the internet and social media, we’re now bombarded with rage porn and we’re all screaming into the void. When the whole world seems given over to preparedness for war and the show of force, the message of Thérèse is quite a different one.ĭay was writing this book in 1960, but her insights in this book are just as true, if not more so, 56 years later. With governments becoming stronger and more centralized, the common man feels his ineffectiveness. So, what does this saint have to say about the world today? As Dorothy Day says in the book: The reader gets to see Day really in a kind of dialogue with Thérèse’s life and teachings. It is well-addressed to other people who like Day had trouble relating to Thérèse at first. This short biography breathes life into this saint and applies her life and teachings to the modern world. Now, with Day’s influence, I’m interested in learning more, particularly about her and her sisters. Dorothy Day, as one reviewer states, may not be a Thérèse of Lisieux scholar, but she may be the Little Flower’s most “adept and significant student.” Before this book, the only book I had read by or about Thérèse was Story of a Soul. But as life goes on and wisdom is gained, opinions change. Day describes Thérèse of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul as “pious pap” the first time she read it. Like Dorothy Day, when I first met Thérèse of Lisieux, I wasn’t very impressed. That’s the reason why I picked up this book.

Therese by Dorothy Day