The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme): The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux: With Additional Writings and Sayings of St. ThérèseThérèse, de Lisieux, Saint
Religion
The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme): The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux: With Additional Writings and Sayings of St. Thérèse
Thérèse, de Lisieux, Saint
Christian saints -- France -- Lisieux -- Biography; Lisieux (France) -- Biography; Thérèse, de Lisieux, Saint, 1873-1897
Let us work together for the salvation of souls! We have but the
one day of this life to save them, and so give to Our Lord a proof
of our love. To-morrow will be Eternity, then Jesus will reward
you a hundredfold for the sweet joys you have given up for Him. He
knows the extent of your sacrifice. He knows that the sufferings
of those you hold dear increase your own; but He has suffered this
same martyrdom for our salvation. He, too, left His Mother; He
beheld that sinless Virgin standing at the foot of the Cross, her
heart pierced through with a sword of sorrow, and I hope he will
console your own dear mother. . . . I beg Him most earnestly to do
so.
Ah! If the Divine Master would permit those you are about to leave
for His Love but one glimpse of the glory in store, and the vast
retinue of souls that will escort you to Heaven, already they
would be repaid for the great sacrifice that is at hand.
III
February 24, 1896.
Please say this little prayer for me each day; it sums up all my
desires:
"Merciful Father, in the name of Thy sweet Jesus, of the Blessed
Virgin, and all the Saints, I beg Thee to consume my sister with
Thy spirit of love, and to grant her the grace to make Thee
greatly loved."
If Our Lord takes me soon to Himself, I ask you still to continue
this prayer, because my longing will be the same in Heaven as upon
earth: _to love Jesus and to make Him loved._
IV
. . . . . . .
All I desire is God's Holy Will, and if in Heaven I could no
longer work for His glory, I should prefer exile to Home.
V
June 21, 1897
You may well sing of the Mercies of God! They shine forth in you
with splendour. You love St. Augustine and St. Mary Magdalen,
those souls to whom many sins were forgiven because they loved
much. I love them too; I love their sorrow, and especially their
audacious love. When I see Mary Magdalen come forth before all
Simon's guests to wash with her tears her Master's Feet--those
Feet that for the first time she touches--I feel her heart has
fathomed that abyss of love and mercy, the Heart of Jesus; and I
feel, too, that not only was He willing to forgive, but even
liberally to dispense the favours of a Divine and intimate
friendship, and to raise her to the loftiest heights of prayer.
My Brother, since I also have been given to understand the Love of
the Heart of Jesus, I confess that all fear has been driven from
mine. The remembrance of my faults humbles me; and it helps me
never to rely upon my own strength--which is but weakness--but
more than all, it speaks to me of mercy and of love. When a soul
with childlike trust casts her faults into Love's all-devouring
furnace, how shall they escape being utterly consumed?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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