Book Reviews and More: Simply Surrender 30 Days with Thérèse of Lisieux - Caroline Myss

Simply Surrender: 30 Days with Thérèse of Lisieux

Thérèse of Lisieux

Caroline Myss

John Kirvan (Editor)

Ave Maria Press

ISBN 9781594711541

eISBN 9781594713255

ASIN B01MYUC6CS

Simply Surrender 30 Days with Thérèse of Lisieux - Caroline Myss - Great Spiritual Teachers Series

This is the second volume in the Great Spiritual Teachers series I have read, Last year I read Born to Do This: 30 Days with Joan of Arc by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, and loved it and the concept of the series. I have read much by and about Thérèse of Lisieux and was excited to work my way through this volume. I picked this as the second in the series to read because of an already growing devotion to Saint Thérèse.

The description of this volume states:

“Meet Thérèse of Lisieux one of the modern world's best-loved saints and spiritual guides. Each day you will discover the profound truths in the "Little Way" and the insights about prayer and holiness that this great saint shared in her autobiography, The Story of a Soul.”

About the series we are informed:

“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”

I believe there are 15 volumes in this series currently in print, and a number that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the mid 90’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series. I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added a number of them to my ‘to be read list’. I love the most recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes. But back to this work.

While reading this I only highlighted a few passages, they were:

“A mystical renaissance is at work in our world. Like a subtle field of grace that surrounds our world, individuals everywhere are exploring the seductive invitation to develop a joyful and intimate relationship with God. In keeping with the nature of this mystical awakening, more and more people are discovering the need to develop a more refined spiritual path. This new path that so many are drawn to today embodies characteristics once so familiar to the great mystics of the medieval and Renaissance eras. These mystics, our great spiritual teachers, include Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, St. John the Evangelist, Meister Eckhart, Francis de Sales, Catherine of Siena, Thérèse of Lisieux, Evelyn Underhill, and Mother Teresa in modern times.

Simply described, these mystics drew their strength from a devotion to prayer, contemplation, and self-reflection. They knew that a daily practice of time alone with God was required to review the day and reflect upon the well-being and harmony of their souls. Today, we are rediscovering the way in which they knew God. For all their differences, the common ground these mystics shared was a devotion to prayer and an unyielding faith in their mystical relationships with God.”

“In keeping with the nature of this mystical awakening, more and more people are discovering the need to develop a more refined spiritual path. This new path that so many are drawn to today embodies characteristics once so familiar to the great mystics of the medieval and Renaissance eras. These mystics, our great spiritual teachers, include Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, St. John the Evangelist, Meister Eckhart, Francis de Sales, Catherine of Siena, Thérèse of Lisieux, Evelyn Underhill, and Mother Teresa in modern times.”

“Simply described, these mystics drew their strength from a devotion to prayer, contemplation, and self-reflection. They knew that a daily practice of time alone with God was required to review the day and reflect upon the well-being and harmony of their souls.”

“All over the world ordinary readers came to recognize, accept, and develop their potential for sanctity by adopting what Thérèse called her “little way.” At its heart this “little” way of Thérèse’s spirituality is driven by a powerful metaphor. In our relationship with God we are very small children. We always will be. There is no need to be anything else. On the contrary it is essential that we never try to be anything else.”

“This book was created to be nothing more than a gateway—a gateway to the spiritual wisdom of a specific teacher, and a gateway opening on your own spiritual path. You may decide that Thérèse of Lisieux is someone whose experience of God is one that you wish to follow more closely and deeply, in which case you should get a copy of the entire text of her autobiography and pray it as you have prayed this gateway journey. You may decide that her experience has not helped you. There are many other teachers. Somewhere there is the right teacher for your own, very special, absolutely unique journey of the spirit. You will find your teacher; you will discover your path. We would not be searching, as St. Augustine reminds us, if we had not already found.”

A sample reflection is:

“DAY THIRTEEN

My Day Begins

When our Lord

gave us his new commandment,

his own commandment,

he not only required us

to love our neighbors

as ourselves,

but would have us love them

even as he loves them,

as he will

until the end of time.

My Jesus,

you never ask

what is impossible.

You know better than I

how frail and imperfect I am.

You know that

I shall never love others

as you have loved them,

unless you love them yourself

within me.

It is because you desire

to grant me this grace,

that you have given us

a new commandment,

one that I cherish dearly.

It proves to me

that it is your will to love in me

all those you bid me to love.

When I show charity to others,

I know that it is Jesus

who is acting within me,

and the more closely I am united to him,

the more truly I love others.

All Through the Day

When we love one another,

our Father is acting within us.

My Day Is Ending

Loving Father,

you have commanded me to love others

as you love them.

You never ask

what is impossible.

But you know better than I

how frail and imperfect I am.

You know that

I shall never be able to fulfill

your commandment to love others

as you have loved them

unless you love them yourself

within me.

When I show charity to others,

let me not forget that you

are acting within me,

and the more closely I am united to you

the more truly I love others.

Come, then, my loving Father,

you have blessed all my days;

bless me still

as this day ends

and the night begins.”

I must admit I engaged much more deeply with the first volume I read in this series but as the quote above states, keep trying. I have at least a half dozen other books in this series I want to read. And Will likely do a volume a month over the next year. I did enjoy this volume. I just did not add any of the prayers to my daily prayers.

This is a great volume that any Catholic would benefit from reading. I can easily recommend this volume and look forward to reading others in the series.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!