The Story of a Soul: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Story of a Soul, credited to Saint Therese of Lisieux, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Story of a Soul, by Saint Therese of Lisieux. Read by Ann Boulais. Marie Francoise Therese Martin, affectionately known as 'The Little Flower', was born on January 2, 1873, in Alencon, France to Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin. She was the youngest and one of five surviving sisters of the nine Martin children. When Therese was 3, her mother died. Louis Martin moved his family to Lisieux to be closer to his late wife's brother and his family. It was there that Therese's sister, Pauline, entered the Carmel at Lisieux on October 2, 1882. Therese at that time also heard the Divine Call to religious life. Therese entered the Carmel on April 9, 1888, after much oppostion to her entering at the age of 15. It was there that she wrote L'Histoire d'une Ame (The Story of a Soul) through obedience. Eventually, Therese's other sisters entered the religious life, one at the Carmel of Lisieux and the other became a Poor Clare at the Visitation Convent at Caen. Therese died on September 30, 1897, at the Carmel of Lisieux of tuberculosis. She was beatified on April 29, 1923 and canonized on May 17, 1925. (Summary written by Ann Boulais.)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Story of a Soul
• Author credits: Saint Therese of Lisieux
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 13
• Listed recording duration: 6:54:46

Catalogue topics

• religion
• memoirs
• autobiography

Track guide

1. 00 - Dedication, Preface and Prologue — 21:57
2. 01 - Chapter I- Earliest Memories — 24:09
3. 02 - Chapter II - A Catholic Household — 26:55
4. 03 - Chapter III - Pauline Enters the Carmel — 22:57
5. 04 - Chapter IV - First Communion and Confirmation — 30:52
6. 05 - Chapter V - Vocation of Therese — 30:45
7. 06 - Chapter VI - A Pilgrimage to Rome — 34:10
8. 07 - Chapter VII - The Little Flower Enters the Carmel — 23:16
9. 08 - Chapter VIII - Profession of Soeur Therese — 31:43
10. 09 - Chapter IX - The Night of the Soul — 40:25
11. 10 - Chapter X - The New Commandment — 32:29
12. 11 - Chapter XI - A Canticle of Love — 38:21
13. 12 - Epilogue — 56:55

Listen to this recording

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.