| Title | : | Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1557258082 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781557258083 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 196 |
| Publication | : | First published October 1, 2011 |
Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux Reviews
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A close friend who finds himself as much at the end of the road - as far as making any worthwhile contribution to the world - as it seems anyone can be (and as I most certainly am) asked me for my two cents’ worth of insight on that dead end tonight.
I thought of this book, and told him Saint Therese felt exactly the same way.
Did she resolve the impasse? he then asked…
Yes! I said.
For she led a Little Life within the Big Picture.
***
Well, as Ms King, in her day a successful LA attorney, puts it, that dead end is our classic inner apocalyptic Armageddon. Our old spoiled self and our new, objective self are battling to the death over our soul.
Ms King says there’s no way of knowing which side will win. THAT’s the classic Dark Night of the Soul - Christian’s dismal journey through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, in John Bunyan’s perennially popular epic tale.
Some souls win. They attain spiritual adulthood - and true salvation. They grow up.
But some souls lose, big time - or just fizzle out in total banal burnout. We always try to return in our dreams to our own little childish sense of Paradise Lost, to the world’s applause. In the end, we just give up.
Grow up or give up, Heather says: that was the origin of St Therese’s Little Way.
Trapped like my friend and me, she was powerless.
Recently, like Therese and Ms King, I saw that my religious scruples now had to go. How so?
My calm diffidence - my holier-than-thou attitude - had to be cast into the Fire. And my sensitive and very physical soul as well.
Dante says those of us who've fallen into that cleansing fire are helpless, our soul screaming for the merest drop of water, like Dives in the parable.
That's Helpless.
And we have only to thenceforth offer up that Helplessness to God.
And we are no longer living to get a return on our investment in our family or friends.
We are travelling blind.
We are completely at sea, without a witness.
Without anyone’s applause.
And there, we then prayed.
Wide awake and hurting intolerably.
***
You see, by giving up we were finally growing up:
Into the clear light of reasoned adult faith!
For the very moment we consent to don that intolerable shirt we are fortified:
Immeasurably.
By living our little lives within God's Big Picture. -
In this short book of biographical and autobiographical meditations, Heather King—self-described “ ex-lawyer, sober alcoholic, contemplative, and Catholic convert who lives in the thick of Los Angeles”—spends a year (the book has twelve chapters, each named for a month) seeking inspiration from the life and sayings of St. Therese of Lisieux, commonly known as “The Little Flower.”
Sadly, this book didn’t work for me. Perhaps it is my fault. I was looking—I realize now—for a Catholic Anne Lamott, an urban hipster filled with wry anecdotes and humorous self-awareness, expressed in clear, graceful prose. But Heather King is not that person. Her self-examinations are unhip and merciless, her anecdotes are sad, and her prose—though effective—does not delight. This is definitely not the book to read if—like me—you wish to be coaxed and pleasured into into spiritual enlightenment.
In addition, I’ve never been a big fan of “The Little Flower.” I prefer my female saints fearless, with a large public profile: Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, Dorothy Day. Therese has always seemed too desperately mousy, too ardent in her embrace of suffering, to gain my admiration or hold my attention. I hope this book would change all that, but I don’t think it did.
Still, though, Therese and Heather haunt me: I feel I have misjudged them, and may seek them out again. After all, I’ve heard good things about Heather King’s memoir Parched. And Dorothy Day was a big fan of “The Little Flower,” and I greatly admire Dorothy Day.
I’ll end this review with one of the prayers with which Heather King ends each of her chapters. This is her prayer for the month of May:Lord, help me to offer everything of myself. All the contradictions: the part that wants to be free and the part that is afraid to be free, the part that wants to forgive and the part that won’t forgive, the part that wants to let go and the part that holds on for dear life, the lion and the lamb. I cannot resolve any of those warring parts myself and I have no idea what resolution would even look like.
Maybe the question isn’t so much “When will I see Your face?” Maybe the question is “When will I sit still long enough to see that Your face is everywhere?”: in the quince tree outside my bedroom window, in the sparrow on the telephone wire, in the sun that, by rising every morning and setting every night, helps me hold the unresolved tension and encourages me to trust. -
I'm going to start with my only quibble about this book, partly to get it out of the way: Shirt of Flame is structured as one of those "I did X for a year and now I'm writing a book about it" memoirs that are all over the place right now, but it doesn't really fit the model at all. Yes, each chapter supposedly covers one month, but there's nothing within any of the chapters that ties it to the month in question, aside from the chapter title. There are no seasonal references, and actually no references at all to the time of year or to the author's specific practice during a specific month. The book, to me, felt shoehorned into a popular format... and this is a shame, because Shirt of Flame is so smart, honest, moving, and generally lovely. It doesn't need any help from an imposed structure, and I was left wondering whether publishers encourage their writers to use this format to boost sales?
OK, now that I've complained... I loved Shirt of Flame. I'm not particularly drawn to St. Therese, though I'm definitely interested in her, but Heather King writes about Therese's life and teachings in such an incredibly heartful and personal way that I found myself totally drawn in, and reading very slowly so I could savor the author's thoughtfulness. Initially I was bumped by the fact that King refers to several major life events--becoming sober, falling in love, converting to Catholicism--without including much detail, but then I realized she's written two other memoirs which probably cover at least some of these subjects... and I also realized that, surprisingly, I wasn't that bothered by the lack of specificity. Heather King is one of those rare writers who's able to deal with enormous issues briefly (the book itself is quite short) but also with such depth... her writing somehow goes straight to the core. And it is also bravely, sometimes painfully honest--an amazing gift to her readers. Each chapter deals with one facet of Therese's teachings, weaves back and forth between Therese's life and the author's, and ends with a prayer. I usually find prayers in contemporary books sort of cloying, but Heather King's are beautiful--wise, honest, and grounded in the everyday, as is the entire book. -
I found this book at the public library and picked it up on a whim. I've never felt especially drawn to St. Therese and her autobiography Story of a Soul had not resonated with me, as it seems to for so many other people. I immediately felt drawn into the author's life and her exploration of St. Therese's writing. This is an incredible book, organized into monthly chapters, with prayers at the end of each chapter. I read it quickly but I plan to buy the book now and re-read it more slowly, perhaps as a monthly devotion.
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Good intro to Therese of Lisieux. The author discussed parts of her life and teaching and shows how she applied it to her own life. Te prayers at the end of each chapter are beautiful.
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After reading Shirt of Flame: A year with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, I feel grateful to author Heather King. Through this book, King uses her immersion in the life and writings of Thérèse to make this saint vibrant and relevant for contemporary seekers.
In the past I had picked up the writings of Thérèse and found her to be unremittingly optimistic. Thankfully, King has blessed me with a fresh perspective on this young woman, who lived quietly from 1873 to 1897, and her approach to spirituality.
Throughout this worthwhile, enjoyable book King relates significant moments in the life of Thérèse with events that have shaped her own spiritual journey. Each of the twelve chapters concludes with a beautiful prayer, each based on that chapter’s theme. The book concludes with a helpful appendix of life events in chronology. Unobtrusive endnotes aid the reader in locating sources for quoted passages in the text.
This was a very enjoyable read. For my full review, please visit
light to read by. -
It was difficult to get used to the comparison drawn by King as she pulls her 21st Century urban experiences and 18th Century old-world meditations of St. Therese. I am still getting through many of the seeming contradictions between her parallels, but on re-read I find King's analysis is true and meaningful. I am finding myself drawing a calming message in my own personal mental dialogues daily. King is providing a context to make St Therese's simple strategies and processes relevant to today's confusing chaos.
Still reading slowly, but will keep this book handy to refer to over the years.
Standing by my original impressions... -
I'm hard on spiritual reading. I already know a lot of theology, liturgy, Scripture, hagiography... And connecting with my lived experience appears to be hard. This isn't my favorite of King's writings, but it was an excellent exploration of St Therese's life, with the events of King's own life presented rather like a thematic elaboration on the events of the saint's life. Goes into more detail than many biographies, but not in the sense of telling more facts -- more like sharing more stories.
The book is brief, well-organized, thought-provoking, engagingly told. If its premise intrigues you, I encourage you to go for it! -
Like another reviewer, I thought this book was shoehorned into the "do this for a year and write about it memoir."
To it's credit it wasn't that!
At first, i didn't think I liked the book, but looking at all the post it flags hanging off the edges (I borrowed it from the library) I obviously liked it more than I thought.
That said there are certainly parts of the book where I have to scratch my head and then shake it; where I'm quite certain she misunderstood St. Therese and winds up making bizarre assertions from it.
Heather King is a fantastic writer, wielding the pen with power and skill. I love her writing, but I always read with caution. -
While this was a difficult read for someone still in te process of grieving a loss, this book walked me through the psychology and theology of one amazing saint, and one I've chosen to follow and be guided by. I would strongly recommend to buy the book and follow it on its year long journey with St. Therese.
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One of the most moving books I've read this year. King shares just enough of her personal struggles and trials to let us know her without being self-indulgent. Her time with Therese was deep... deep in research, deep in study, deep in healing. King teaches the reader much about humility, faith, and grace. I've followed her blog for a long time, and now look forward to catching up on her books.
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Overall I liked this and I liked her biographical information about St. Therese. I didn't always pull out of that information, the same connections the author made, I was never able to relate to the author. However, it was still a good book.
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Lovely, honest, thoughtful book that inspired me to get St. Therese's memoir, The Story of a Soul, and read it for myself. I read it in a day, but would love to go back and sit with some of the thoughts for longer.
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This was a perfect book to read during Holy Week. King's writing is very real and personal.
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It is not without its moments, but in the end, it is better to read the original work of St.Therese herself. This book will seem redundant to people who have read STORY OF A SOUL already.
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A truly remarkable book - one of the best I've come across- most definitely a new favorite!
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from the introduction alone:
"I'd had a brief (brief because i'd gone against medical advice and refused radiation and chemo) bout with cancer..."
"... to be a woman - aging, single, and without significant means - is a fairly deep kind of poverty."
"... i did not understand... upon whom or what this explosive, burning desire of my heart was supposed to focus. No matter which way I turned, I found a blank wall. I felt baffled, frustrated, even ashamed, I felt as if, over and over again, I'd given birth to a stillborn."
dnf after introduction. -
Clare it starts with an Eliot poem
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3.5 stars
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Shirt of Flame (A Year with Saint Tersese of Lisieux)
By Heather King
I would never have read this book had I not heard an interview with Ms. King on Writers On Writing. At the time, I was recovering from my own book tour and was beginning to feel the wear travel puts on a homebody like me. I was in need of some soul nurturing. This book intrigued me. I’ve always been interested in Saint Tersese, but I was reluctant to dive into an out and out biography.
“Shirt of Flame” pulled me in from the first page. The title comes from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. Ms. King takes the reader through a year long journey as she reveals snapshots of her own story while exploring Saint Tersese’s huge but short-lived life. Even having heard the interview, I was not prepared for the impact Shirt of Flame would have on my internal and external life.
Each chapter or section of the book is titled for a month of the year. Sections of Saint Tersese’s book, “Story of a Soul”, is quoted throughout Shirt of Flame. And while I found these sections revealing and encouraging, the memoir parts belonging to the author touched me most. Through the author’s experiences, I was able to draw parallels between my struggles and internal life. Heather King gave voice to many of my longings and desires.
“That I had come to God, then to Christ, through alcoholism was no accident, for in spiritual terms my craving for drink had been a thirst for the infinite, gone badly awry. That the obsessions to drink had been removed one long-ago month at a Minnesota rehab was the central fact of my existence. That after being lost for so long I’d found my way as well to writing and the Church was the miracle around which constellated, on my better days, boundless gratitude, astonishment, and joy.”
What beautiful courage abounds in this book. I strongly recommend this book to everyone. As for me, I was changed from the inside out.
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A great chance to learn about a great lady, the namesake of my great sister, a sister among sisters, a sweet little soul. Heather King's year with the saint is nice and loosely structured, one theme per month, with a beautifully composed prayer/reflection at the end of each chapter.
It was a wonderful, non-oppressive, faithful representation of the life of the saint -- of whom, I must admit, I have been saying "what's the big deal" for quite some time. Now I sort of get it - the importance of disciplining and sweetening one's interior life, simple kindness to those around you, loving your sisters (hehe), learning to be small and patient in the face of a world that in which being bigger is increasingly more important.
King then brings in her own experiences of loneliness and patience. Being let down and living with it, loving without the return thereof, going to church alone (it is a sort of downer), accepting one's lot. King is an interesting writer -- she has tremendous restraint, perhaps overmuch, in talking about her emotional stuff (her recovery from alcoholism, divorce, illness, etc), which I remember from her other work, so that its sort of unclear how she comes to her ultimate feelings of peace and acceptance. On the other hand, perhaps it is nice that she does not pour out her mess, in potentially self-indulgent glory. So, that's her prerogative, and in this case it works more so than in her memoirs.
Finally, it's a good book, not the best ever, but a perfect amount of control and heart for the story of two souls. -
In the past, I had trouble understanding St Thérèse, partly from youthful ignorance and partly because I lacked a solid Catholic understanding of suffering. Never could I see that this young woman was someone who I could emulate. Yet, two of my modern mentors, Bl Teresa of Calcutta and Dorothy Day, often quoted her and called her their personal favorite, so my curiosity grew.
Enter, Heather King and Shirt of Flame. I knew that I needed an introduction to Thérèse and Story of the Soul with a more modern twist. Something to set the stage, so to speak... to prepare my mind for something very different than anything I have ever read. This book did not disappoint.
Even better, besides now being ready to tackle Story of the Soul, I've also discovered a new writer and blogger to follow! -
“Christ never lied, but he also never promised us health, wealth, happiness, or success. That the rain falls on the just and the unjust, in fact, is one of the clearest signs of an all-intelligent creator. It has to be that we live in a world where at any given second we can die or die out, that “bad things happen to good people”: first, because we are not nearly as good as we think we are, and second, because otherwise life would be monstrous. Otherwise the universe would play favorites. We’d be rewarded for trying to walk the spiritual path. Life would be an anecdote- not an event, not a drama, not an opportunity for ongoing, ever-unfolding transformation. Otherwise we’d spiritually die of boredom and lack of purpose. Only a world in which we’re not rewarded, in an early sense, could sublimely call us higher. “
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I found this book so inspirational, I chose Therese to study further in my spiritual direction training. I've learned so much from this humble child-saint, and Heather's meditations helped highlight her significance. I'm not sure I would've been drawn to Therese if I hadn't read Shirt of Flame. I would have missed out on some much needed lessons in humility. There is a gift in admitting to our powerlessness and letting go of our need for emotional satisfactions outside of what God offers us, which is really all we need to live centered, joyful lives. I'm very grateful to Heather for this book.
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This book is very well-written as the author reflects upon the struggles of her life and relates all of these (alcholism, cancer,divorce) not as negative but as life struggles that brought her closer to God and gave her a new perspective on facing life's obstacles and hurtfulness day-to-day, using the example of St. Therese of Lisieux's "Little Ways". There were many things written here that I found to be very worthwhile examples to follow to help get through it all. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone.
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I have recently been attracted to books where the author shares his/hers spiritual journey. Heather King does that in this book. Reading St. Therese of Lisieux's "The Story of a Soul," she attempts to apply the spiritual lessons St. Therese has to share, to her own life. She is very honest about her own life, her own spiritual struggles, and her own progress. She concludes each chapter with a very moving prayer. Much of Ms. King has written in this book, has been food for reflection in my own spiritual life. This was a very worthwhile book to read.
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3.5 I enjoyed meeting up with my homegirl Therese again, and I found Heather King's reflections on life and Therese interesting. I would recommend it.
All around me, people were saying, "I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious. Oh no, I'm definitely not religious." I wanted to reply, "Does blood not beat in your veins? Have you never ached with sorrow at the suffering of the world? Have you never cried at the flight of a bird? Have you never fallen in love?" -
The author spends a year reflecting on St. Terese of Lisieux and shares her personal story as well as Terese's in a monthly devotional format.
Tinged with a socialist worldview - Cesar Chavez & Dorothy Day openly praised, plus other ideas subtly woven in. Yet the author's love of the Catholic Church and fervent desire for holiness in the face of her own frailties (history of alcoholism, divorce and accompanying demons) is inspiring.
