man that wanteth help, is very weak in ability, and full of
poverty: yet the eye of God hath looked upon him for good, and
hath lifted him up from his low estate, and hath exalted his
head: and many have wondered at him and have glorified God._
_'Trust in God, and stay in thy place. For it is easy in the
eyes of God, on a sudden to make the poor man rich. The blessing
of God maketh haste to reward the just, and in a swift hour His
blessing beareth fruit!'"_ [14]
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
[14] Ecclus., xi, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24.
"YOU have always been faithful to divine grace, have you not?"
"Yes, since the age of three I have refused nothing to the good
God. Yet not mine the glory. See how the setting sun this
evening gilds the topmost branches of the trees; even so does my
soul appear to you--all bright and gilded, because it is exposed
to Love's rays. If the Divine Sun withheld from me His rays, my
soul would immediately become obscured and enveloped in
darkness."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
"YOU really are a saint!" some one said to her.
"No, I am not a saint; I have never done the works of the
Saints. I am a very, very little soul on whom the good God has
outpoured the abundance of His grace. You will see in Heaven
that I am telling you the truth."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
SHE said to the Prioress: "Mother, I feel that if I were
unfaithful, if I committed but the very slightest infidelity,
fearful troubles would follow, and I could no longer accept
death with resignation."
And as the Mother Prioress showed surprise at hearing her speak
thus, she continued:
"I mean an infidelity springing from pride. For instance, if I
said: 'I have acquired such or such a virtue, I am able to
practise it,' or, 'O my God, I love Thee too well--Thou knowest
it--to dwell on one single thought against faith,' I feel that I
should forthwith be assailed by the most dangerous temptations
and should certainly be overcome by them.
"To avoid this calamity I have but to say humbly from the depths
of my heart: 'O my God, I implore of Thee, suffer me not to be
unfaithful!'
"I very well understand how St. Peter fell. He depended too
confidently on the fervour of his feelings, instead of relying
solely upon Divine strength. Had he said to Jesus: 'Lord, give
me the strength to follow Thee even unto death,' that strength,
I am quite sure would not have been refused him."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
"OH! when I think of all I have to acquire!" exclaimed a novice.
"Say, rather, to _lose_. Jesus, it is, who charges Himself with
the care of filling your soul according as you free it from its
imperfections. I plainly see that you are taking the wrong road,
you will never arrive at the end of your journey. You wish to
scale a mountain and the good God wants to make you descend: He
is waiting for you low down in the fertile valley of humility."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
"WHEN I receive a reproof," said another, "I would rather have
deserved it than be wrongfully accused."
"As for me," replied Thérèse, "I prefer being blamed unjustly,
then I have no cause for self-reproach and I offer this
unmerited blame to the good God with joy, then I humble myself
at the thought that I should be quite capable of doing that of
which I was accused."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
WHEN we are not understood, and are unfavourably judged, what
good is there in defending ourselves? Let us leave it so and say
nothing, it is so sweet to let ourselves be judged no matter
how! It is not told in the Gospels that Saint Magdalen gave any
explanation when blamed by her sister for sitting inactive at
the feet of Jesus. She did not say: "Martha, if thou didst but
know my happiness, if thou didst but hear the words I hear, thou
too wouldst lay all else aside, to share my joy and my repose."
No, she chose rather to be silent . . . O blessed silence which
gives to the soul such peace!
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
IN a moment of temptation and combat a novice received this
note:
_"The just man shall correct me in mercy and reprove me; but let
not the oil of the sinner anoint my head_. [15] I cannot be
corrected or tried except by the just, inasmuch as all my
Sisters are pleasing to God. It is less bitter to be reproved by
a sinner than by the just; but _through compassion for sinners_,
to obtain their conversion, I pray Thee, O my God, that I may be
bruised by the just souls who are round about me. Again, I beg
that the oil of praise, so sweet to nature, _anoint not my
head_, that is to say, enervate not my mind, by making me
believe that I possess virtues which I have only with difficulty
practised several times.
"O my Jesus! _Thy Name is as oil poured out;_ [16] it is in this
divine perfume that I wish to be wholly bathed, far away from
the notice of creatures."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
[15] Ps., cxl, 5.
[16] Cant., i, 2.
AT the close of her life she was able to say: "I used so to rise
above all things, that I drew strength from humiliations."
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. XII
"GOD has a special love for you," remarked a young Sister,
"since to you He entrusts other souls."
"That does not add anything to me, and I am only really just
what I am in God's sight . . . It does not follow that He loves
me more, because He wills that I should be His interpreter to
you; rather, He makes me your little servant. It is for you and
not for me that He has given me the charms and virtues apparent
to you.
"Often I compare myself to a little bowl which God fills with
good things of every kind. All the _kittens_ come to it to take
their share, and sometimes there is a contest as to which shall
have most. But the Child Jesus is there, keeping watch: 'I am
very willing that you drink from my little bowl' saith He, 'but
take care lest you overturn it and break it.'
"Truth to tell, the danger is not great, because I am placed on
the ground. It is otherwise with Prioresses: they, being set on
tables run many more risks. Honours are always dangerous.
"Oh! how poisonous the praises served up day by day to those who
hold high places. What baneful incense! And how necessary it is
that the soul be detached from self, that so she may escape
unharmed."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
TO help a novice to accept a humiliation she said to her in
confidence: "If I had not been received into Carmel I would have
entered a Refuge, to live there unknown and despised in the
midst of the poor penitents. To pass for such in the eyes of all
would have been my happiness. I should have been the apostle of
my companions telling them what I think of the Mercy of the good
God."
"But how would you have been able to hide your innocence from
your Confessor?"
"I would have told him that while in the world I had made a
general confession and had been forbidden to do so again."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
ONE day they brought her some ears of corn. She took one so
laden with grain that it leaned down upon its stalk, and having
looked at it for a long time she said to the Mother Prioress:
"Mother, this ear of corn is an image of my soul: the good God
has laden me with graces for myself and for many others! . . .
Oh! I wish ever to bow down beneath the abundance of Heaven's
gifts, recognizing that all comes from above."
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. XII
WHAT do you think of all the graces which have been poured down
upon you?
"I think that the Spirit of God breatheth where He will." [17]
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
[17] John, iii, 8.
A SISTER said that in Heaven she would be a beautiful flower,
resplendent with light.
"Oh no," she replied, "you know how in pretty bouquets they
conceal some moss to make the flowers stand out; well, I shall
be a little bit of moss to set off the beauty of the elect."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
DURING her last agony the Mother Prioress encouraged her with
these words:
"My child, you are quite ready to appear before God because you
have always understood the virtue of humility."
Then of herself she gave this beautiful testimony:
"Yes, I feel it, my soul has never sought but the truth . . .
yes, I have understood humility of heart!"
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. XII
DETACHMENT
IF the impossible were possible and that God Himself did not see
my good actions, I would not grieve about it. I love Him so much
that I should like to be able to give Him pleasure without His
knowing that it was I . . . Knowing and seeing it, He is, in a
way, bound to repay me . . . I would not give Him the trouble.
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
THE glory of Jesus . . . that is my whole ambition; my own I
abandon to Him; and if He seem to forget me, well, He is at
liberty to do so since I am mine no more, but His. He will more
quickly tire of making me wait, than I, of waiting!
VII LETTER TO MÈRE AGNÈS DE JÉSUS
THERE is no stay, no support to seek out of Jesus. He alone
changeth not. What happiness to think that He can never change!
V LETTER TO MÈRE AGNÈS DE JÉSUS
THE sole happiness upon earth consists in hiding oneself and
remaining in total ignorance of created things.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. VIII
FAR from dazzling me all the titles of nobility appear to me but
empty vanity. I have understood those words of the _Imitation_:
_"Be not solicitous for the shadow of a great name."_ [1] I have
understood that true greatness is found not in the name but in
the soul.
The Prophet tells us that _the Lord God shall call His servants
by_ ANOTHER NAME; [2] and we read in St. John: _"To him that
overcometh, I will give . . . a white counter, and in the
counter a new name written, which no man knoweth but he that
receiveth."_ [3] It is in Heaven, therefore, that we shall know
our titles of nobility. Then _shall each one receive from God
the praise that he merits,_ [4] and he who upon earth will have
made choice of being the poorest and the most unknown for love
of our Lord, he will be the first, the noblest and the richest.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. VI
[1] _Imit._, III, xxiv, 2.
[2] Is., lxv, 15.
[3] Apoc., ii, 17.
[4] _Cf_. I Cor., iv, 5.
I THANK my Jesus for making me walk in darkness; in it I am
wrapped in profound peace. Willingly I consent to stay, during
the whole of my religious life, in this sombre tunnel into which
He has made me enter; I desire only that my darkness may win
light for sinners.
IV LETTER TO MÈRE AGNÈS DE JÉSUS
IN this world we must not become attached to anything--not even
things the most innocent, for they fail us at the moment when we
are least expecting it. The eternal alone can satisfy us.
I LETTER TO SR. MARIE DU SACRÉ-CŒUR
THIS prayer she bore upon her heart on the day of her
Profession:
"O Jesus, my Divine Spouse, grant that the robe of my baptism be
never sullied! Take me, rather than suffer me here below to
stain my soul by committing the slightest wilful fault. May I
never seek nor ever find but Thee alone! May all creatures be
nothing to me, and I nothing to them! May no earthly thing
disturb my peace!
. . . . . . .
"Grant that I fulfil my engagements in all their perfection;
that none concern themselves about me; that I may be trodden
underfoot, forgotten, as a little grain of sand. I offer myself
to Thee, O Well-Beloved, that Thou mayst ever perfectly
accomplish Thy holy will in me, without let or hindrance from
creatures."
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. VIII
WITH jealous care all must be kept for Jesus; it is so good to
work for Him, and for Him alone! How joyous then the heart and
how buoyant the spirit! . . .
VI LETTER TO MÈRE AGNÈS DE JÉSUS
I HAVE never wished for human glory, contempt it was, that had
attraction for my heart; but having recognized that this again
was too glorious for me, I ardently desire to be forgotten.
VII LETTER TO MÈRE AGNÈS DE JÉSUS
IF you only knew to what a degree I wish to be indifferent to
the things of the earth! What matters to me all created beauty?
I should be truly unfortunate were I to possess it. Oh! how
great, how noble, seems my heart when I look at it in relation
to this world's goods, since all of them put together could
never satisfy it; but when I consider it with reference to
Jesus, how _small_ it then appears to me.
II LETTER TO MÈRE AGNÈS DE JÉSUS
YES, I now am able to say I have received the grace of being no
more attached to the goods of mind and heart than to those of
earth. If it happens that I repeat to my Sisters some thought of
mine which pleases them, I think it quite natural that they
should look on it as their own; this thought belongs to the Holy
Ghost not to me, seeing that St. Paul tells us _that without the
Spirit of Love we cannot give to God the name of Father_. [5]
The Holy Spirit assuredly is free to use me as the means of
conveying a good thought to a soul and I may not consider this
thought as my property.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. X
[5] _Cf_. Rom., viii, 15.
"THERE is one only means of constraining the good God not to
judge us at all, it is to appear before Him with our hands
empty."
"But how?" they asked her.
"It is quite simple: keep nothing whatever in reserve, give away
your gains according as you earn. As for me, if I live to be
eighty I shall be always poor; I know not how to save up, all
that I have goes immediately to ransom souls."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
THE further you advance the fewer combats will you have, or
rather, the easier will your conquests be, because you will look
at the good side of things. Your soul will then rise above
creatures. Anything that may be said to me now, leaves me
absolutely indifferent, for I have realized how little stability
there is in human judgments.
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
TO write books of devotion, to compose the most sublime poetry,
is of less worth than the least act of self-renunciation.
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
"ONE Sunday," Thérèse tells us, "I went right joyously on my way
towards the alley of chestnut trees; it was the spring-time, and
I meant to enjoy the beauties of nature. O cruel disappointment!
My dear chestnut trees had been pruned, and the branches,
already loaded with verdant buds, lay strewn upon the ground! It
was heartrending to view this destruction, and to think that
three years must pass ere I could see it repaired . . . My
distress however did not last. 'If I were in another monastery,'
thought I, 'what difference would it make to me if the chestnut
trees in the Carmel of Lisieux were cut down altogether? I will
fret no more about transitory things; my Well-Beloved shall take
the place of all else for me . . . I will wander ever in the
groves of His love, which none may touch!'"
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
SHE said to her novices: "You are too much taken up about what
you are doing, you torment yourselves concerning the future as
if you had the care of it . . . Are you at this moment
preoccupied with what is passing in other Carmels, as to whether
the nuns are pressed or not? Do their labours hinder your prayer
or meditation? Very well, so, too, ought you to be detached from
your personal work, employing conscientiously therein the time
directed, but with disengagement of heart.
"I have read that the Israelites, when building the walls of
Jerusalem, worked with one hand and with the other held a sword.
[6] That is truly a figure of what we ought to do: never give
ourselves completely up to the work."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
[6] II Esdras, iv, 17.
A NOVICE asked some of the Sisters to help to shake blankets,
which being rather worn, she cautioned them somewhat sharply to
be careful not to tear. Sœur Thérèse remarked:
"What would you do if it were not your office to mend these
blankets? . . . With what detachment you would then act! And if
you did point out that they are easily torn, how free from
self-interest it would be. Thus, never let the least shadow of
self-interest glide into your actions."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
IN the infirmary the novices used scarcely to wait till her
thanksgivings were ended before speaking to her and seeking her
counsels. This, at first, grieved her and she gently reproached
them. Then very soon she let them have their way, saying:
"The thought has struck me that I am not to desire more of
repose than our Lord. When He retired into the desert after His
discourses, the people came immediately to break in upon His
solitude. Come to me as much as you will. I must die arms in
hand, _having on my lips the sword of the Spirit which is the
Word of God_." [7]
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
[7] Ephes., vi, 17.
"HOW do you manage so to practise virtue," asked a novice, "as
to be always the same, invariably joyous and composed?"
"It has not been always so," she replied, "but ever since I have
shunned all self-seeking I lead the happiest life that can be."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
NOW, that I am about to appear before the good God, more than
ever do I understand that there is but one thing necessary: to
work solely for Him, and to do nothing for self or for
creatures.
X LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY "BROTHERS"
MORTIFICATION
FAR from being like to those great souls who from their
childhood practise all sorts of macerations, I made my
mortification consist solely in the breaking of my will,
restraining a hasty word, rendering little services to those
around me without making anything of it, and a thousand other
things of this kind.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. VI
I had no taste for games, I should have liked to spend my life
reading, but I was only to take a very limited time for this
chosen recreation, and this was the ground of many a sacrifice,
for I made it a point of duty to break off promptly at the end
of the time allotted, even in the middle of the most interesting
passage.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. IV
I HAD accustomed myself never to complain when anything of mine
was taken away; and when unjustly blamed I chose rather to
remain silent than to defend myself.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. I
I WAS ten years old the day that my Father told Céline he was
going to let her have lessons in painting; I was by, and envied
her. Then Papa said to me: "And you, my little queen, would it
give you pleasure too to learn drawing?" I was just going to
respond with a very gladsome _yes_, when Marie made the remark
that I had not the same taste for it as Céline. At once she
gained the day; and I, thinking that here was a good opportunity
of offering a grand sacrifice to Jesus, said not a word. So
eager was my desire to learn drawing that now I still wonder how
I had the fortitude to remain silent.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. VIII
IN the world, on awakening in the morning I used to think over
what would probably occur either pleasing or vexatious during
the day; and if I foresaw only trying events I arose dispirited.
Now it is quite the other way: I think of the difficulties and
the sufferings that await me, and I rise the more joyous and
full of courage the more I foresee opportunities of proving my
love for Jesus, and _earning the living of my children_--seeing
that I am _the mother_ of souls. Then I kiss my crucifix and lay
it tenderly on the pillow while I dress, and I say to Him: "My
Jesus, Thou hast worked enough and wept enough during the
three-and-thirty years of Thy life on this poor earth. Take now
Thy rest . . . My turn it is to suffer and to fight."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
THE attraction to penance was given me, but I was permitted
nothing to satisfy it. The only mortifications I was allowed
consisted in mortifying self-love, which did me more good than
corporal penance.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. VII
AT prayer I was for a long time near a Sister who used to handle
incessantly either her Rosary-beads or some other thing; perhaps
none heard it but myself, for my hearing is extremely acute, but
I cannot say how it tormented me! I should have liked to turn my
head and look at the culprit so as to make her stop that noise:
however in my heart I knew it was better to bear it patiently,
for the love of God in the first place, and also to avoid giving
pain.
I kept quiet therefore, but was sometimes worked up to
fever-heat and obliged to make simply a prayer of endurance.
Finally I sought out the means of suffering with peace and joy,
at least in my innermost soul; I tried to like the teasing
little noise. Instead of endeavouring not to hear it--a thing
impossible--I listened with fixed attention as if it had been
a delightful concert; and my prayer, _which was not the prayer
of quiet_, passed in offering this concert to Jesus.
Another time I was in the laundry opposite a Sister who while
washing handkerchiefs splashed me every minute with dirty water.
My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face, so as to
show her who besprinkled me in that fashion, that she would
oblige me by working more quietly; but I reflected immediately
that it was very foolish to refuse treasures so generously
offered me, and I took good care not to show my annoyance. On
the contrary, I made such successful efforts to _wish_ for a
plentiful splashing of dirty water, that at the end of half an
hour I had really acquired a taste for this new sort of
aspersion, and I determined to come again as often as possible
to a place where happily such riches could be had gratuitously.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. X
I REMEMBER that sometimes, when a postulant, I was so violently
tempted to indulge myself by seeking some little consolations,
that I was obliged to go quickly past our Mother's cell, and
cling to the banisters of the staircase so that I should not
turn back. There would come to mind a number of permissions to
ask, a hundred pretexts for deciding in favour of my natural
inclinations and gratifying them. How glad I am now of having
denied myself from the outset of my life in religion! Already I
enjoy the reward promised to those who fight courageously. No
longer do I feel the necessity of refusing myself consolations
of the heart; for my heart is firmly fixed in God . . . Because
it has loved Him above all, it has gradually enlarged, even so
as to love those who are dear to it with a love incomparably
deeper than if it were centred in a selfish and fruitless
affection.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. X
IN everything I must find self-denial and sacrifice; thus I feel
that a letter will not bear fruit unless I write it with a
certain reluctance, and solely through obedience. When
conversing with a novice I am careful to mortify myself and to
avoid asking her questions which would gratify my curiosity. If
she commence to speak of something interesting, then, leaving it
unfinished, pass to a subject wearisome to me, I take care not
to remind her of the interruption, for it seems to me that one
can do no good by self-seeking.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. X
GOD did not permit that our Mother should tell me to write down
my poems according as I composed them, and I would not have
liked to ask her, fearing lest that might be a fault against
poverty. So I used to wait until the hour of free time, and it
was not without extreme difficulty that I recalled to mind, at
eight o'clock in the evening, what I had composed in the
morning.
These little nothings are a martyrdom it is true, but we must be
well on our guard not to lessen it by allowing ourselves, or
seeking to be allowed, a thousand things which would render the
religious life pleasant and comfortable.
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
WHEN some one rings for us, or knocks at our door, we must
mortify ourselves so as not even to do one stitch more before
answering. I have practised that; and it is, I assure you, a
source of peace.
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
DO you know my Sundays and festivals? They are the days when the
good God tries me the most.
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
SŒUR Thérèse de l'Enfant Jesus says that she has not done any
great penances: that is because her fervour counted as nothing
those which were allowed her. It nevertheless happened that she
became ill from wearing for too long a time a small iron cross,
of which the sharp points were sunk into her flesh.
"That would not have befallen me from so slight a penance," she
said afterwards, "if the good God had not wanted to make me
understand that the macerations of the Saints are not intended
for me, nor for the little souls who will tread the same path of
spiritual childhood."
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. XII
TO a novice whom she saw practise a little act of self-denial
she said:
"You will be very glad to find that before you at the moment of
death. What you have just done is more glorious than if, by some
skilful measures, you had gained for the religious communities
the good-will of the Government, and that all France applauded
you as a Judith."
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
TO another who was bewailing her want of courage: