The Editor.
______________________________

[1] The baptismal entry, with its numerous signatures, is shown to
visitors, and a tablet in the baptistry of the beautiful Gothic
church tells the pilgrim that here the "Little Queen" was made a
child of God. [Ed.]

[2] _"As Little Children"_: the abridged life of Soeur Thérèse.
Published at the Orphans' Press, Rochdale.

[3] Francis Thompson.

______________________________

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SOEUR THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, ENTITLED BY
HERSELF: "THE STORY OF THE SPRINGTIME OF A LITTLE WHITE FLOWER"

______________________________

CHAPTER I
EARLIEST MEMORIES

It is to you, dear Mother, that I am about to confide the story of
my soul. When you asked me to write it, I feared the task might
unsettle me, but since then Our Lord has deigned to make me
understand that by simple obedience I shall please Him best. I
begin therefore to sing what must be my eternal song: "the Mercies
of the Lord."[1]