For the first time the authorized edition of this great modern spiritual classic, as St. Therese herself wrote it, is being made available in English. This new publication is an exact rendition of the saint's words and ideas, masterfully translated by Monsignor Ronald Knox from the unedited manuscripts, a facsimile edition of which recently appeared in France.

Although the spiritual autobiography of St. Therese has gone through many editions, all of them have been based on the version edited by Therese's sister, Mother Agnes of Jesus, after the saint's death. In the last years of her life Therese had written three autobiographical manuscripts which she entrusted to Mother Agnes with instructions to change, add, or delete as she saw fit. In the words of Father Francois de Sainte-Marie, the Carmelite charged with preparing the facsimile edition for publication, Mother Agnes, for reasons which he gives, "practically rewrote the autobiography in order to present it in a traditional form that would please the public of the period."

These manuscripts have now been returned to their original form and chronological order, the omissions (about a quarter of the whole) restored and the alterations eliminated. In this translation of her own words, Therese's mission and message to the world have not been changed, but she herself appears in a new light — more human, yet stronger and more radical in her vocation to love. From the point of view of historical exactitude and as an exact rendering of her thought, this is the only valid text. From dust jacket