Saint Teresa Picture Book
New York: Sheed & Ward, 1937. First edition. Large octavo (9 1/4 inches tall), original red paper boards printed in white, indigo endpapers. Slight edge-wear, expert restoration to blank spine of original boards. A nearly-fine copy. Item #1384
"BUT THE POPE WOULDN'T TELL / HE JUST SAID: 'WELL, CHILD, WELL!' / IF THE LORD WILLS IT SO / NO DOUBT YOU WILL GO"
First edition of the Saint Teresa Picture Book—depicting the early Life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Lovingly written and beautifully illustrated by Ade Bethune. Uncommon.
Written in rhyme, this biography of the beloved Carmelite Saint captures the domestic piety and holiness of the Martin family. As a young girl Thérèse became determined to follow her sisters into the local convent. "As a teenager she literally stormed heaven to win acceptance" of her vocation. "When she was fifteen she received a special dispensation (in light of her young age) to enter the Carmelite convent of Lisieux, where two of her sisters had already preceded her" (Robert Ellsberg). Thérèse died of tuberculosis in September 1897 at age 24. Her posthumous autobiography, The Story of a Soul, was a sensation and "The Little Flower" was quickly beatified and canonized by Pope Pius XI in May 1925 (only 28 years after her death) and her Feast Day falls on October 1. In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared her the thirty-third Doctor of the Church. She was the youngest person, and one of only four women so named (along with Teresa of Ávila, Catherine of Siena and Hildegard of Bingen). Zélie and Louis Martin became the first (and only) married couple canonized together by the Catholic Church, by Pope Francis in October 2015. Robert Ellsberg. All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets and Witnesses for Our Time.
Price: $300.00