A fresh perspective on a popular saint
by - Written: Jan 15 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Insightful rendering of the life of Therese of Lisieux
Cons: Not for those who do not want their perceptions of her changed
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| Kidnykid's Full Review: Jean-Francois Six - Light of the Night: The Last E... |
St. Therese of Lisieux is arguably the most popular saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Her Little Way - a way described as being made up of humility and childlike devotion to Jesus, as well as unconditional love - has been widely imitated and praised as a role model for Catholics and those of all Christian denominations to follow, and her Little Flower Society is a well-established educational organization spreading devotion to her to this day.
Jean-Francois Six presents us with a different Therese - someone whose life was not manipulated by others to suit their purposes. He also argues that the real Therese would have made a better saint than the one that was canonized, the one prettified and spin-controlled to perfection by family members (and fellow Discalced Carmelite nuns) Pauline and Mother Agnes, both of whom were biological as well as Religious sisters of Therese.
From independent reading, I know that Pauline was the family photographer to a certain extent, snapping many of the most famous pictures of Therese both inside and outside the Lisieux Carmel. (Carmelite convents are properly called Carmels when one speaks of individual convents, especially in the Discalced tradition founded by St. Teresa of Avila.) Six says that some of these photographs were doctored; pious tradition says that many of the hairstyle changes one sees in Therese are the result of her attempts to look like an adult and thus impress the Mother Superior of the Lisieux Carmel with her maturity (and, for that matter, the then-reigning Pope, whom Therese is supposed to have begged for the chance to enter the convent a few months earlier than was allowed by canon law). However, Six feels that many of the photographs were doctored to show Therese with darkened hair. I do not remember why her sisters did not like the idea of her having blonde hair, but they did darken it as a method of impressing others for one reason or another.
Therese's autobiography STORY OF A SOUL is also the subject of extensive discussion, because pious tradition holds that this book was written during the last eighteen months of her life at the behest of the Mother Superior, Mother Agnes, who was also her biological sister. Six also says that the portions of STORY OF A SOUL edited by Mother Agnes during her reign as the Mother Superior of the Lisieux Carmel portray Therese as being completely different from what she really has been; Mother Agnes expects Therese to focus on the inward life and her relationships with her family, while the Mother Superior who takes over for a time during the writing of the middle portion of STORY OF A SOUL expects Therese to focus on other things. Although pious tradition holds that Therese did not get along very well with this Mother Superior (who served in between Mother Agnes' two separate reigns as Mother Superior), Six says that perhaps this is not an accurate view of history as it really stands.
Unfortunately for historical accuracy, many of the original documents upon which one can base an accurate opinion have been either lost or destroyed. Six bases his opinions on those few documents which came to his attention and, in fact, gave him the idea for the book.
His theories of Therese's personality structure are at least plausible. All one has to do is take a look at pictures of Therese - with that bold, determined stare of hers that could drill holes in you if she were so inclined, even as she smiles into the camera - to see the plausibility of this notion. It's just that the documents produced by Therese have passed through so many hands, and there are so many vested interests who want to keep Therese just the way she is in terms of the way the public perceives her, that it is hardly likely that the public will see her any differently any time soon, especially now that she has been made a Doctor of the Church.
The other problem that this book has is that Six seems to see himself as the best thing that ever happened to history for bringing the information in this book to light. It seemed to me that there were far too many self-serving references and not enough editing out of those references. The man could have used a heavy dose of red-pencilling by an editor willing to exercise tough love.
Recommended:
Yes
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