“The vocation which so transported little Therese was not hers only, even though hardly anyone has understood it as well as she has. Great St. Teresa of Avila at the foundation of the first convent of her reform had already explained this vocation to her sisters. ‘Prevented from promoting as I desired the glory of …
“The mysticism of the school of Carmel could not claim to be true mysticism if it were not apostolic in its own peculiar way. St. Therese of Lisieux shows us the true sense of the Apostolate of the school of Carmel. ‘I would be a missioner,’ she says, ‘I should like to have been one …
“God had also descended upon her, she also saw God slumbering in her. She also wanted to taste of union with God with the same delicacy as that with which Mary enjoyed this delight. But just as the descent of God into Our Lady at once incited her to an act of humility, made her …
“As a fifth trait in her character I should like to mention that her ideal on the ‘Little Way’ was Our Lady. Two words of Mary were deeply impressed on her memory: Ecce ancilla Domini – “Behold the handmaid of the Lord”. From her youth she had a fervent, childlike devotion for Our Lady. Her …
“She is quite in the hollow of God’s hand and surrenders herself absolutely to what His Providence decrees. She strives after, as perfectly as possible, a conformity to the divine will. In this St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi was a wonderful example for her in her own Order, and she loved to meditate upon her. …
“A second paradox is that by paying attention to the most trivial things of daily life and seeing them with the eye of God, this saint makes them great and meritorious. Leading the most ordinary life, without being in the least remarkable, she knows how to make of her life an uninterrupted series of the …
“One of the paradoxes of St. Therese’s life is that she, while making herself small and weak, enlists the help of Him in Whose strength she can undertake anything. Her hope and trust are wonderful.” St. Titus Brandsma What do you think of this quote? Write it on the comment section. 📸 Josh Appel | …
From her life before the Face of God, and her love and admiration for His power and majesty a third idea springs forth, fitting remarkably well into the [104] scheme of the Order. I mean the idea of her own nothingness compared with God, her wonderful consciousness of her own smallness and slightness, her humility …
“As a result of this contemplation of God, love for God wells up in her with irresistible power. Her spirit has been called a spirit of love and so it is. However, it is no blind desire, but love sprung from intellectual contemplation, from knowledge acquired through faith. In order to remain firm in our …
“In the first place surely, comes her desire to converse with God, to lead a higher life for and through Him. She thoroughly understands that the living God who fills heaven and earth, and at the same time dwells in our innermost heart must be the object of our thoughts and love. Most striking in …