Joseph F Schmidt, FSC.
The Word Among Us Press, 2007

In his Introduction to this book, Joseph Schmidt notes that since St Thérèse’s canonisation in 1925, there has been published, on average, a book a month dealing with her life and teaching. Can one possibly say anything new about a saint who died more than a century ago after a life of only 24 years? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’! The originality of this book is that Schmidt puts Thérèse’s writings (manuscripts, letters, poems and conversations) into the context of her life as she was living it. He identifies milestones and key experiences; and drawing on what she wrote at the time (or later with hindsight), shows how she developed and matured psychologically and spiritually over the years. His method brings Thérèse to life as a three-dimensional person who struggled and was transformed by being receptive to God in every situation. Even his choice of photographs reveals the essential Thérèse: direct, guileless, with a sense of presence about her.

Schmidt uncovers Thérèse’s strengths and weaknesses, her gifts and talents, her limitations, her originality and her sense of humour. He succeeds in showing how grace built on nature in her life, drawing forth her unique creativity in seemingly unpromising circumstances. Her profoundly honest reflection on her own experience in the light of Scripture enabled her gradually to develop her ‘non-violent’ Little Way with such assurance and conviction that she not only followed it in her own life, but confidently recommended it to others – to her sisters, her novices and the two missionary priests with whom she corresponded. Schmidt’s method and lucid prose enable the reader to see clearly why Thérèse was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.

Writers on Thérèse commonly mention Pope Pius X’s remark that she is the ‘greatest saint of modern times’ and Schmidt, too, repeats this quotation in the first paragraph of his Introduction. The comment was made a century ago and we are now living in ‘post-modern’ times. Great saints have been canonised since Thérèse, and one could question whether the Pope’s claim remains true. I admit that I was sceptical at first. But this book has convinced me that there is much truth in it. Thérèse certainly wanted to be a saint, but she would surely have rejected the comparison with others. Her sanctity consists in her unshakeable conviction that God’s love and mercy are available to everyone in every circumstance, and if we choose to be willingly receptive in our weakness everything becomes grace for us. This is how she lived, reaching towards the ultimate ground of God in everything that happened to her.

Schmidt takes us into the experience of the practical living-out of Thérèse’s confident faith in a loving God. A striking example concerns her encounters with sinners and atheists. The story of Pranzini, the convicted murderer who was Thérèse’s ‘first child’, is well-known, but less well-known is the Diana Vaughan hoax perpetrated by Léo Taxil. This began in 1895 and ended in April 1897, by which time Thérèse had been experiencing the dense darkness of her trial of faith for a year. Schmidt recounts this episode in masterly fashion. Through the experience of being thoroughly taken in, betrayed and publicly humiliated by the hoax, Thérèse was profoundly shaken; yet she united herself with Jesus in his public humiliation, and her prayer for atheists was deepened. When she entered into her own spiritual darkness, she had identified in a remote sense with the impious and atheists and willingly prayed for them, calling them her brothers. Now, having experienced the atheist’s darkness at first hand, she clung to her faith in a loving God, and prayed for herself and her atheist brothers in the first person: ‘“Have pity on us, O Lord, for we are poor sinners!” Oh! Lord, send us away justified. …if it is needful that the table soiled by [non-believers] be purified by a soul who loves You, then I desire to eat this bread of trial at this table…’

Reading this book with an eye to key words – such as ‘experience’, ‘abandonment’, ‘confidence’, ‘truth’, ‘love’, ‘justice’, ‘mercy’, ‘receptivity’, ‘surrender’, ‘gratitude’, ‘non-violence’ and ‘disguised grace’ – allows insight into the process of Thérèse’s psychological and spiritual maturation. These words act as threads with which the tapestry of her life is woven.

Deep insight into human nature is a striking feature of Carmel’s great mystics: Teresa, John of the Cross, Thérèse and Elizabeth of the Trinity. Using insights drawn from psychology, Schmidt develops a real sense of who Thérèse was, in her weaknesses and her strengths, and in the gradual transformation of her weakness into strength. Although born into a very loving family she experienced, beginning with the illness and death of her mother, deep wounds that affected her relationships throughout her life. Yet, drawing on her own experience of parental love and mercy, she unhesitatingly related to God as her merciful loving Father, and this foundational reality grounded her being, her prayer, her thinking and eventually her teaching. It was the seed of her originality, and gave her the courage and confidence to step outside the conventional piety and narrow theology of her times. Because she was so utterly convinced of God’s merciful love, she chose to live the gospel in a radical way, taking Jesus at his word and living the consequences in absolute faith. Her reflection on Jesus’ words shows her creative genius and extraordinarily original intelligence with its unerring sense of the essence of the gospel. But she did not merely reflect: she developed practical consequences for daily living in the present moment. Drawing always on the lessons of her own experience she was able to empathise with the struggles of others, particularly the novices in her care, and to offer original creative suggestions. For example, when Céline remarked in frustration and discouragement how much she had to acquire, Thérèse responded: ‘Rather, how much you have to lose.’

My comments so far refer to the main body of this book, which is Part Two, consisting of 46 chapters beginning at page 50. Part One is an overview of Thérèse’s spirituality and its impact on the Church. This is useful, but I think its placement at the beginning distracts from the main value of the book. Browsing in a bookshop, one could be misled into thinking this is just another book on Thérèse. It isn’t. I have highly recommended Everything Is Grace to friends, but suggested that they begin reading at page 50. Part One would be better relegated to an appendix. While the Index is thorough, the book would be greatly enhanced by the addition of a second appendix with a chronological table of events and milestones in Thérèse’s life, including the dates of birth and death of family members and of the entrance of her sisters into Carmel. Lastly, a small glossary, explaining the meaning of concepts such as Jansenism, Pelagianism, perfectionism and co-dependency would be an asset. Because this book is so good, I make these observations believing that it would be even better if re-issued in a second edition incorporating these recommendations.

Finally, an acquaintance of mine, who was named after Thérèse but never felt able to connect with her, said after fifty years as a religious: ‘This book was earth-shattering to me, changed my attitude to Thérèse and set her as my mentor.’ I had a similar experience with Joseph Schmidt’s earlier book, Praying with Thérèse of Lisieux (Saint Mary’s Press, Winona, MN, 1992) when I used it as a retreat companion. It brought Thérèse to life for me as a practical companion for everyday living. I suggest that readers start with Everything Is Grace, beginning at Part Two, finish the book (including Part One) and then take time slowly with Praying with Thérèse of Lisieux, using Schmidt’s questions for reflection to discover how she can become their life-companion too.

Jocelyn Kramer, OCD