Ahern focuses on what he calls the three gifts of Thâeráese: her universal appeal, her conviction, and her little way. Echoing Thereses recognition that bureaucracy, penances, rules and commandments miss the message of love that she knew to be true, he says, "She convinced me that someone as ordinary as I could aspire to the love of God, which filled her heart to overflowing." He hopes the same for his readers.

The author, a sober alcoholic and Catholic convert, chronicles the year she spends reflecting on the life and writings of St. Therese of Lisieux, a cloistered 19th-century French Carmelite nun. Sections of Saint Therese's book, "Story of a Soul", is quoted throughout Shirt of Flame. Heather King takes the reader through a year long journey as she reveals snapshots of her own story while exploring Saint Therese's huge but short-lived life.

The mesmerizing story of a young girl's romance with God. Her faith, trials, and sacrifices reveal a way of life based on love and simplicity. A ponderous film based on the true story of Saint Therese of Lisieux, the most popular saint of modern times.