For several years, I’d heard friends talk about their devotion to “St. Thérèse,” affectionately known as “The Little Flower.” My heart longed to know this special person, but truthfully, I didn’t go out of my way to encounter her. Then, while taking a theology course a couple years ago, I was assigned her auto-biography, Story of a Soul. Within the pages of her writing, I found a kindred spirit.

Here was a young woman who, from an early age, was stubborn, driven, intelligent and strong willed; a faithful daughter and sister with an active conscience (often struggling against being too conscientious) and a loving, empathetic, penitential heart. I also found a role model, someone who has helped me to let go of my perfectionist tendencies and focus on the truth that “without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.”