The Smallest Spark

It seems safe to say that everyone who has walked this earth at some point in their lives, by varying degrees, has had experiences of darkness and futility, especially in a world that has been constantly plagued by war, famine, and disease. No matter how many years go by, the cycle appears to repeat itself. Many of us hopefully have not and will not have to experience the ravages of earthly war, famine, and disease, but we inevitably must come face to face with the cycles of darkness and futility that can creep into our hearts when confronted by our own weaknesses and failures. As these cycles continue, we may start to doubt there is any significance to our lives and a fire we may have once felt in our hearts turns to smoke and ashes. We may even feel discouraged by our simple ordinariness.

Thérèse Martin was all too familiar with these cycles. From a very early age, she felt a call to greatness, but at each stage of her life was met with seemingly insurmountable obstacles in addition to the constant misunderstanding of others. Even in success, she still felt the weight of her weakness and the monotony of everyday life. With time, however, this young woman learned how to turn her weakness and ordinariness into the very weapons that would enkindle that fire in her heart which we all crave, and, in turn, set aflame countless hearts who have come to know of her.

This book provides a creative multi-perspective narrative of the development of this spark that changed an unknown ordinary girl into the Greatest Saint of Modern Times.