Book Reviews and More: Saint Therese of Lisieux The Way of Love - Mary Kathleen Glavich and Virginia Esquinaldo

Saint Therese of Lisieux:

The Way of Love

Encounter the Saints Series Book 16

Mary Kathleen Glavich

Virginia Esquinaldo (Illustrator)

Pauline Books and Media
ISBN 9780819870742

I first read this book 5 years ago. Back when I first encountered the Encounter the Saints Series. I believe I have now read all of the books in this series. Even if it took longer than the year or two I had planned. This one is another excellent read! As a family we have read all books in this series many of them multiple times. I started reading them myself reading books on Saint Damien of Molokai and Saint Edith Stein Blessed by the Cross, both of whom I have a devotion to. Then my children saw me reading them and it became a family affair. I then began reading them with my three youngest children. My children and I love this series. We have read many of the books more than once. I have read much by and about Saint Therese of Lisieux over the years. I enjoyed reading this book, ever rereading it after 5 years.

I have said it before and I say it again, this is an excellent series is! With my three children and I we have now read all of the books in this series. I have read them either by myself, or with one or more child. My youngest 2 children current ages 14, 11, still both love these books. And they have read or reread them frequently. My son wants to have the complete set in his room, so he keeps asking to buy his own copies, he loves these books so much. We have picked up several volumes to donate to the school library. I would love to have the whole set in the school library as a resource when the students are picking confirmation saints. With each reading of a book in this series we appreciate this series more. And though only one book has been released since we started reading them a few years ago, we hope there will be more books released in the series in the future. I would love to see how this series handles Saint Josemaria Escriva, Blessed Carlo Actus, … and many more. We would also like to eventually see eBooks of all of the volumes in the series. With my dyslexia and my son’s eye tracking issues we both prefer eBooks where we can change page color, font size and font spacing. This book has an no eBook ever listed.

Now back to this specific book on Saint Therese of Lisieux.

The description of this volume is:

“Mary Kathleen Glavich, SND Encounter the Saints Series Experience the adventures and challenges, heroism and holiness of some of the greatest friends of God! Offers intermediate readers a down-to-earth portrayal of the saints. Each distinct story vividly recreates for the intermediate reader the saint's place of origin, family life, and corresponding historical events. Every volume also features a prayer to the saint, as well as a brief glossary. This collection gives children new friends and role models.”

And the description of the Encounter the Saints series is:

“The Encounter the Saints series offers intermediate readers relatable portrayals of the saints. Each story, in a handy format, vividly recreates the saint's place of origin, family life, and corresponding historical events.”

The chapters in this volume are:

1. The Little Queen

2. Difficult Changes

3. School Days

4. A Strange Sickness

5. Christmas Conversion

6. Winning a Heart

7. Revealing the Call

8. Resistance

9. To the Pope

10. Victory!

11. A Dream Come True

12. Early Testing

13. Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus

14. Small Things

15. Vow Day

16. Goodbyes

17. Gifts and Talents

18. A Little Way

19. Writings

20. Signs of Trouble

21. A Happy Sufferer

22. Final Days

23. A Shower of Roses

Prayer

Glossary

The prayer in this volume is:

“Saint Thérèse, your love for Jesus led you to try to do every little thing well. By being hidden, small, and totally open to what God wanted, you became a powerful saint.

Teach me to live your way of love too. Help me to treat everyone kindly, to be patient, to pray for people who are away from God, and to accept things that are hard or make me suffer. Let me follow this way with determination and cheerfulness. Then someday I will be with you in our Father’s home. Amen.”

The prayer in this volume is not the same as the one in the companion volume, The Saints Pray for Us, which has prays for the first 30 saints and blessed covered in the series. The first things my children checked when we read one of these books, is the prayer, and the illustrations. Each volume in the series has 5 illustrations. This is one of three volumes illustrated by Virginia Esquinaldo, and they are wonderful full page illustrations. I feel they make Thérèse look a little too young and childish, especially compared to some photos of her I have seen. But the children, especially my youngest loved them. This is one of three books in the series written by Mary Kathleen Glavich, SND, but one has been taken out of print, sort of an unofficial canon. My children enjoy these books so much they always read through the whole Glossary. And the prayer and glossary is at the end of each volume.

This book is very moving read. Learning more about Thérèse will bless any reader. I have now read all of the books in the Encounter the Saints Series from Pauline Books and Media we are still enthralled by these volumes. This book and all in the series are excellent reads and would be wonderful additions to a home, school, or church library. Each book has been worth the read. It is an excellent read in a wonderful series! And now we wait to see if more volumes are released or if we just keep rereading these ones.

Please Note: I discovered recently that most of the eBook editions are no long available for this series. In fact I could only find a handful of the over 20 volumes that had been available electronically. I do not know why this is the case but I consider it a great loss. A loss for people with reading issues like my son and I, for others with learning disabilities, and for those in different geographic regions.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books about the North American Saints and Martyrs:

North American Martyrs Kids Activity Book - Bonnie Way

Saints of North America - Jean Olwen Maynard

…

Encounter the Saints Series from Pauline Books and Media: