The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of the Little Flower (with Supplemental Reading: Classics Made Simple) [Illustrated]

by Thérèse of Lisieux

I declared my reason for coming to Carmel during the solemn examination before Profession: “I have come to save souls and above all to pray for priests,” and when one wants to attain some end, one must take the means. As Jesus had made me realize that the Cross was the means by which He would give me souls, the more often it came my way, the more suffering attracted me. For five years I followed this course, though I was the only one to know it, and this practice was nothing else but the hidden flower I wanted to offer to Jesus, the flower whose perfume none would breathe this side of Heaven.