| Age | Sources and Pages | Code Number | Quotations | Relevant Key Words, Phrases and Their Code Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10~11 | SS 74. |
10-10-1 | …Just as famous warriors taught their children the art of war, so Marie spoke to me about life's struggles and of the palm given to the victors. She spoke also about the eternal riches that one can so easily amass each day, and what a misfortune it was to pass by without so much as stretching forth one's hand to take them. She explained the way of becoming holy through fidelity in little things; furthermore, she gave me a little leaflet called “Renunciation” and I meditated upon this with delight. |
5-10-1 (Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation), 7-10-1 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 14-10-2 (The Little Way) |
| 14 | SS 105. |
10-14-1 | …It was with such an intention that Jesus showered His graces so lavishly upon His little flower, he, who cried out in His mortal life: “I thank thee, Father, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and revealed them to babes,” (Matthew 11:25.) willed to have His mercy shine out in me. Because I was little and weak He lowered himself to me, and He instructed me secretly in the things of His love. Ah! had the learned who spent their life in study come to me, undoubtedly they would have been astonished to see a child of fourteen understand perfection's secrets, secrets all their knowledge cannot reveal because to possess them one has to be poor in spirit! |
8-14-1 (Weakness, Frailty), 9-14-1 (Poor in Spirit), 14-14-3 (The Little Way), 16-14-1 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-14-5 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-14-5 (Mercy of God, Graces), 44-14-1 (Reveals to the Little Ones), 48-14-1 (The Wise and the Prudent) |
| 15 | GCI 403, March 18- 19, 1888, from Sr. Agnes of Jesus |
10-15-1 |
…Don't you see at last the mountain of Carmel. It is there, for intimacy
with Jesus
you will live hidden in His Heart…. Oh! yes,
HIDDEN! I desire
that Jesus' little toy be not admired by anyone in this world. If Jesus
wills to play with a grain of sand, He is free, the whole earth is His.
Why does He not always take the most beautiful souls for His spouses? Why,
instead of a grain of sand, does He not play with a diamond?
But Jesus
loves humility. Jesus loves what does not appear before the eyes of men,
what they trample underfoot, what they despise. Oh! humility, how beautiful
it is! Jesus loves it so much that He seeks for it everywhere on
the earth in order to make His heaven out of it. But it is rare. All
the beautiful, the truly beautiful is almost not to be found here below. I am sure that the little grain of sand understands me and that it will not ever wish to become a mountain, but, on the contrary, always little, lighter, in order to be lifted more easily by the breeze of love. |
3-15-2 (Silence, Hidden), 7-15-3 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 12-15-1 (Humility, Humbleness), 16-15-3 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 39-15-5 (Pauline) |
| 15 | SS 207. |
10-15-2 | … It is He who wants her to be a Saint! Oh, yes, a saint, a big saint and, at the same time, a little saint, so little and so humble that He can read always on her face and in her heart the words of the Blessed Virgin which she will have to say when entering: “I am the Handmaid of the Lord.” |
12-15-2 (Humility, Humbleness), 21-15-1 (A Saint), 39-15-6 (Pauline) |
| 15 | GCI 427, May 12 -20, 1888, LT 49: to Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart. |
10-15-3 | Ask that your little daughter always remain a little grain of sand, truly unknown, truly hidden from all eyes, that Jesus alone may be able to see it, and that it may become smaller and smaller, that it may be reduced to nothing…. |
2-15-9 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 3-15-3 (Silence, Hidden), 11-15-1 (Nothingness), 14-15-3 (The Little Way) |
| 16? | SS 151. |
10-16-1 | …Thus I came to know him only to be deprived of him. Reduced to receiving one letter a year from him to my twelve, my heart quickly turned to the Director of directors, and it was He who taught me that science hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed to little ones.(Matthew 11:25.) | 36-16-1 (The Director of Directors), 44-16-1 (Reveals to the Little Ones), 48-16-1 (The Wise and Prudent) |
| 16 | GCI 595, Nov. 21, 1889, LC 119: from Sr. Marie of the Angels. |
10-16-2 | …Attached yourself to the Cross like
the ivy in order to die there if
Jesus so wills. May divine suffering be the center of your life; plunge
into this bottomless ocean, and may it engulf you as it did Jesus, for
there alone are life and happiness.
Always love to be little, so little
that the eyes of Jesus only may find you! Little grain of dust,
be unseen
by all in order to be seen by God alone. Be filled with confidence that good Jesus will do everything; rejoice at being poor, at feeling yourself so poor in order that, little beggar, you may have everything from the infinite charity and love of Jesus! Take flight to the All of your heart with wings of humility, simplicity, and love. Jesus loves you with a tender predilection, so pay Him in return, and be happy to love Jesus in suffering for Jesus! |
2-16-34 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 4-16-2 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 8-16-2 (Weakness, Frailty), 9-16-1 (Poor in Spirit), 12-16-3 (Humility, Humbleness), 14-16-14 (The Little Way), 16-16-14 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-16-16 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 23-16-12 (The Joy of Sufferings), 31-16-2 (Simplicity of the Soul), 44-16-2 (Reveals to the Little Ones) |
| 17 | GCI 677- 678, Sept. 8, 1890, LC 141: from Sr. Marie of the Angels. |
10-17-1 |
Little virginal Spouse of Jesus, the Lamb, if you wish to follow Him one day
with the virgins in the homeland, follow Him each day in the path which He
traces out for you and which was His own!
May the cross, suffering, humility,
sublime poverty be your whole ambition, your joy! Love little Jesus. The gentle little Child became today your Spouse, and for Him make yourself little, very little, too, so well hidden in His Heart that He alone, His Immaculate Mother, and the angels of heaven may find you. |
2-17-11 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 3-17-6 (Silence, Hidden), 12-17-2 (Humility, Humbleness), 23-17-4 (The Joy of Sufferings) |
| 21 | GCII 851, April 26, 1894, LT 161: to Celine. |
10-21-1 | Do not fear, dear Celine, as long as your lyre does not cease to sing for Jesus, never will it break…. No doubt it is fragile, more fragile than crystal. If you were to give it to an inexperienced musician, soon it would break; but Jesus is the one who makes the lyre of your heart sound…. He is happy that you are feeling your weakness; He is the one placing in your soul sentiments of mistrust of itself. Dear Celine, thank Jesus. He grants you His choice graces; if always you remain faithful in pleasing Him in little things He will find Himself OBLIGED to help you in GREAT Things…. | 8-21-1 (Weakness, Frailty), 14-21-2 (The Little Way), 17-21-3 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-21-1 (Mercy of God, Graces), 42-21-1 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 23 | SS 193. |
10-23-1 | O my Jesus! What is your answer to all my follies? Is there a soul more little, more powerless than mine? Nevertheless even because of my weakness, it has pleased You, O Lord, to grant my little childish desires and You desire, today, to grant other desires that are greater than the universe. |
8-23-1 (Weakness, Frailty) |
| 23 | SS 196 -197. |
10-23-2 |
…
What this child asks for is Love. She knows
only one thing:
to love You, O Jesus.
Astounding works are forbidden to her;
she cannot preach the Gospel, shed her blood; but what does it
matter since her brothers work in her stead and she, a little
child, stays very close to the throne of the King and Queen.
She loves in her brothers' place while they do the fighting.
But how will she prove her love since
love is proved by works?
Well, the little child will strew flowers, she will perfume
the royal throne with their sweet scents, and she will sing in
her silvery tones the canticle of Love. Yes, my Beloved, this is how my life will be consumed. I have no other means of proving my love for you other than that of strewing flowers, that is, not allowing one little sacrifice to escape, not one look, one word, profiting by all the smallest things and doing them through love. I desire to suffer for love and even to rejoice through love; and in this way I shall strew flowers before Your throne. I shall not come upon one without unpettaling it for You. While I am strewing my flowers, I shall sing, for could one cry while doing such a joyous action? I shall sing even when I must gather my flowers in the midst of thorns, and my song will be all the more melodious in proportion to the length and sharpness of the thorns. O Jesus, of what use will my flowers be to You? Ah! I know very well that this fragrant shower, these fragile, worthless petals, these songs of love from the littlest of hearts will charm You. Yes, these nothingness will please You. They will bring a smile to the Church Triumphant. She will gather up my flowers unpetalled through love and have them pass through Your own divine hands, O Jesus. And this Church in heaven, desirous of playing with her little child, will cast these flowers, which are now infinitely valuable because of Your divine touch, upon the Church suffering in order to extinguish its flames and upon the Church Militant in order to gain the victory for it! |
2-23-2 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 7-23-1 (Renunciation, Sacrifices), 11-23-2 (Nothingness), 14-23-2 (The Little Way), 17-23-3 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 23-23-1 (The Joy of Sufferings), 42-23-2 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 23 | SS 198 -199. |
10-23-3 |
And yet after all these misdeeds, instead of going and hiding away
in a corner, to weep over its misery and to die of sorrow,
the little
bird turns towards its beloved Sun, presenting its wet wings to
its beneficent rays. It cries like a swallow and in its sweet song
it recounts in detail all its infidelities, thinking in the boldness
of its full trust that it will acquire in even greater fullness
the love of Him who came to call
not the just but sinners. (Matthew 9:11.)
And even if the Adorable Star remains deaf to the plaintive chirping
of the little creature, even if it remains hidden, well, the little
one will remain wet, accepting its numbness from the cold and rejoicing
in its suffering which it knows it deserves. O Jesus, Your little bird is happy to be weak and little…. |
4-23-1 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 8-23-3 (Weakness, Frailty), 17-23-5 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 23-23-3 (The Joy of Sufferings), 27-23-1 (Sinners, Sins) |
| 23 | SS 200. |
10-23-4 |
O Jesus, allow me in my boundless gratitude to say to You that Your love reaches
unto folly. In the presence of this folly, how can You not desire that my heart
leap towards You? How can my confidence, then, have any limits? Ah! the saints
have committed their follies for You, and they have done great things because
they are eagles. Jesus, I am too little to perform great actions, and my own folly is this: to trust that Your Love will accept me as a victim. My folly consists in begging the eagles, my brothers, to obtain for me the favor of flying towards the Sun of Love with the Divine Eagle's own wings! As long as You desire it, O my Beloved, Your little bird will remain without strength and without wings and will always stay with its gaze fixed upon You. … … I feel that if You found a souls weaker and little than mine, which is impossible, You would be pleased to grant it still greater favors, provided it abandoned itself with total confidence to Your Infinite Mercy…. |
4-23-2 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 7-23-2 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 8-23-4 (Weakness, Frailty), 17-23-6 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-23-1 (Mercy of God, Graces), 42-23-3 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 23 | GCII 966, July 12, 1896, LT191: to Celine. |
10-23-5 |
…At the time of the law of fear, before the coming of Our Lord,
the Prophet Isaias already said, speaking in the name of the King
of heaven: “Can a mother forget her
child?…Well! even if a mother
were to forget her child, I myself will never forget you.”
(Isaias 49:15.)
What
a delightful promise! Ah! we who are living in
the law of love,
how can we not profit by the loving advances our Spouse is making
to us… how can we fear Him who allows Himself to be enchained by
a hair fluttering on our neck. Let us understand, then, how to hold Him prisoner, this God who becomes the beggar of our love. When telling us that it is a hair that can effect this prodigy, He is showing us that the smallest actions done out of love are the ones which charm His Heart. Ah! if we had to do great things, how much we would have to be pitied? … How fortunate we are since Jesus allows Himself to be enchained by the smallest things.… It is not little sacrifices you lack, dear Leonie, is not your life made up of them?… I take delight at seeing you before such a treasure and especially when thinking you know how to profit from it, not only for yourself, but for souls …. It is so sweet to help Jesus by our light sacrifices, to help Him save souls that He bought at the price of His Blood and that are awaiting only our help in order not to fall into the abyss…. It seems to me that if our sacrifices are the hairs which captivate Jesus, our joys are also; for this, it suffices not to center in on a selfish happiness but to offer our Spouse the little joys He is sowing on the path of life to charm our souls and raise them to Himself…. |
1-23-1 (Self -love, Nature), 13-23-1 (Joyful Soul), 14-23-3 (The Little Way), 17-23-10 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 22-23-3 (Salvation of Souls), 42-23-4 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 23 | GCII, p. 999, Sep. 17, 1896, LT197: to Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart. |
10-23-6 | …Recall those words of Father: “The martyrs suffered with joy, and the King of Martyrs suffered with sadness.” Yes, Jesus said: “Father, let this chalice pass away from me.”. (Matthew 26:39.) Dear Sister, how can you say after this that my desires are the sign of my love? … Ah! I really feel that it is not this at all that pleases God in my little soul; what pleases Him is that He sees me loving my littleness and my poverty, the blind hope that I have in His mercy…. That is my only treasure, dear Godmother, why would this treasure not be yours?… |
4-23-4 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 8-23-5 (Weakness, Frailty), 14-23-5 (The Little Way), 17-23-12 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-23-2 (Mercy of God, Graces) |
| 23 | GCII 999- 1000, Sep. 17, 1896, LT197: to Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart. |
10-23-7 | Oh, dear Sister, I beg you, understand your little girl, understand that to love Jesus, to be His victim of love, the weaker one is, without desires or virtues, the more suited one is for the workings of this consuming and transforming Love…. The desire alone to be a victim suffices, but we must consent to remain always poor and without strength, and this is the difficulty, for: “The truly poor in spirit, where do we find him? You must look for him from afar,” (Proverbs 31:10.) said the psalmist…. He does not say that you must look for him among the great souls, but “from afar,” that is to say in lowliness, in nothingness…. Ah! let us remain then very far from all that sparkles, let us love our littleness, let us love to feel nothing, then we shall be poor in spirit, and Jesus will come to look for us, and however far we may be, He will transform us in flames of love…. Oh! how I would like to be able to make you understand what I feel!… It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love…. |
4-23-5 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 8-23-6 (Weakness, Frailty), 9-23-1 (Poor in Spirits), 11-23-3 (Nothingness), 14-23-6 (The Little Way), 17-23-13 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 42-23-6 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 24 | SS 206. |
10-24-1 | …She preserves, in the bottom of her calyx, the precious drops of dew she has received, and these serve to remind her always how little and weak she is. All creatures can bow towards her, admire her, and shower their praises upon her. I don't know why this is, but none of this could add one single drop of false joy to the true joy she experiences in her heart. Here she sees herself as she really is in God's eyes: a poor little thing, nothing at all. |
8-24-2 (Weakness, Frailty), 11-24-1 (Nothingness) |
| 24 | SS 207. |
10-24-2 |
…Yes, all is well when one seeks only
the will of Jesus,… You know, Mother, I have always wanted to be a saint. Alas! I have always noticed that when I compared myself to the saints, there is between them and me the same difference that exists between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and the obscure grain of sand trampled underfoot by the passers-by. Instead of becoming discouraged, I said to myself: God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can, then, in spite of my littleness, aspire to holiness. It is impossible for me to grow up, and so I must bear with myself such as I am with all my imperfections. But I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new. |
8-24-3 (Weakness, Frailty), 14-24-1 (The Little Way), 16-24-1 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 21-24-1 (A Saint) |
| 24 | SS 208. |
10-24-3 | …The elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more. |
4-24-1 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment) |
| 24 | SS 210. |
10-24-4 | …I prefer to agree very simply that the Almighty has done great things in the soul of His divine Mother's child, and the greatest thing is to have shown her littleness, her impotence. | 8-24-4 (Weakness, Frailty) |
| 24 | SS 220. |
10-24-5 | …Ah! I understand now that charity consists in bearing with the faults of others, in not being surprised at their weakness, in being edified by the smallest acts of virtue we see them practice. But I understood above all that charity must not remain hidden in the bottom of the heart. | 8-24-5 (Weakness, Frailty), 14-24-3 (The Little Way), 17-24-3 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity) |
| 24 | SS 250. |
10-24-6 | My dear Mother, you can see that I am a very little soul and that I can offer God only very little things. It often happens that I allow these little sacrifices which give such peace to the soul to slip by; this does not discourage me, for I put up with having a little less peace and I try to be more vigilant on another occasion. |
2-24-17 (Suffering, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 28-24-4 (Peace) |
| 24 | GCII 1085, April 25, 1897, LT 226: to l'abbe Bell- iere. |
10-24-7 |
…Oh, Brother!
I beg you to believe me. God has not given you as a sister
a great soul but a very little and a very imperfect one. Do not think that it is humility that prevents me from acknowledging the gifts of God. I know He has done great things in me, and I sing of this each day with joy. I remember that the one must love more who has been forgiven more, so I take care to make my life an act of love, and I am no longer disturbed at being a little soul; on the contrary, I take delight in this. That is why I dare to hope “my exile will be short,” but it is not because I am prepared. I feel that I shall never be prepared if the Lord does not see fit to transform me Himself. He can do so in one instant; after all the graces He has granted me, I still await this one from His infinite mercy. |
8-24-8 (Weakness, Frailty), 12-24-3 (Humility, Humbleness), 24-24-7 (Mercy of God, Grace), 42-24-4 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 24 | GCII 1093- 1094, May 9, 1897, LT 226: to P. Roulland. |
10-24-8 | This is, Brother, what I think of God's justice; my way is all confidence and love. I do not understand souls who fear a Friend so tender. At times, when I am reading certain spiritual treatises in which perfection is shown through a thousand obstacles, surrounded by a crowd of illusions, my poor little mind quickly tires; I close the learned book that is breaking my head and drying up my heart, and I take up Holy Scripture. Then all seems luminous to me; a single word uncovers for my soul infinite horizons, perfection seems simple to me, I see it is sufficient to recognize one's nothingness and to abandon oneself as a child into God's arms. Leaving to great souls, to great minds the beautiful books I cannot understand, much less put into practice, I rejoice at being little since children alone and those who resemble them will be admitted to the heavenly banquet.(Matthew 19:14.) |
4-24-4 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 11-24-2 (Nothingness), 14-24-7 (The Little Way), 16-24-9 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 24-24-9 (Mercy of God, Graces), 35-24-1 (Books) |
| 24 | GCII 1117, June, 1897, (?), LT 241: to Sr. Martha of Jesus. |
10-24-9 |
Dear little Sister, yes, I understood all…. I am begging Jesus to make the sun
of His grace shine in your soul. Ah! do not fear to tell Him
you love Him, even
without feeling it. This is the way to force Jesus to help you, to carry you like
a little child too feeble to walk. It is a great trial to look on the black side, but this does not depend on you completely. Do what you can; detach your heart from the worries of this earth, and above all from creatures, and then be sure Jesus will do the rest. He will be unable to allow you to fall into the dreaded mire…. Be consoled, dear little Sister, in heaven you will no longer take a dark view of everything but a very bright view…. Yes, everything will be decked out in the divine brightness of our Spouse, the Lily of the valleys. Together we shall follow Him everywhere He goes…. Ah! let us profit from the short moment of life… together let us please Jesus, let us save souls for Him by our sacrifices…. Above all, let us be little, so little that everybody may trample us underfoot, without our even having the appearance of feeling it and suffering from it…. |
2-24-21 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 14-24-8 (The Little Way), 16-24-10 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-24-14 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 22-24-6 (Salvation of Souls), 24-24-10 (Mercy of God, Graces), 37-24-3 (Time), 41-24-1 (Unfelt Love) |
| 24 | GCII 1121 -1122, Jun. 7, 1897, LT 243: to Sr. Gene- vieve. |
10-24-10 |
…Beloved little Sister, let us never speak what appears great in the eyes
of creatures. Solomon, the wisest king whoever was on earth, having
considered the different works that occupy men under the sun, painting,
sculpture, all the arts, understood that all these things were subject
to envy; he cried out that
they were only vanity and affliction of spirit!…
The only thing that is not envied is the last place; there is, then,
only this last place which is not vanity and affliction of spirit…. However, “the way of man is not within his power,” (Jeremias 10:23.) and we surprise ourselves at times by desiring what sparkles. So let us line up humbly among the imperfect, let us esteem ourselves as little souls whom God must sustain at each moment. When He sees we are very much convinced of our nothingness, he extends His hand to us. If we still wish to attempt doing something great even under the pretext of zeal, Good Jesus leaves us all alone. “But when I said: ‘My foot has stumbled,’ your mercy, Lord, strengthened me! … Ps. XCIII.” (Psalm 93:18.) Yes, it suffices to humble oneself, to bear with one's imperfections. That is real sanctity! Let us take each other by the hand, dear little sister, and let us run to the last place … no one will come to dispute with us over it … |
8-24-10 (Weakness, Frailty), 11-24-4 (Nothingness), 12-24-4 (Humility, Humbleness), 14-24-9 (The Little Way), 16-24-11 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 42-24-5 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 24 | LC 37 -38, Apr. 18. |
10-24-11 |
1. She had just confided to me
some painful humiliations some Sisters
had given her: “It is in this way that God gives me the means of remaining very little; however, this is exactly what is needed. I'm always happy, for I always manage in the midst of the tempest to preserve interior peace. If one tells me about her fights with the Sisters, I am careful not to work myself up against this or that Sister. I must, for example, while listening to her, be able to look out the window and enjoy interiorly the sight of sky, the trees, etc. Understand? Just now, during my struggle with regard to Sister X, I was watching with pleasure two beautiful magpies playing in the field, and I was as much at peace as if I were at prayer. I really fought with Sister, and I am very tired, but I don't fear the struggle. It is God's will that I fight right up until death. Oh! little Mother, pray for me!” |
2-24-26 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 12-24-7 (Humility, Humbleness), 14-24-14 (The Little Way), 16-24-15 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 28-24-6 (Peace) |
| 24 | LC 74, Jul. 5. |
10-24-12 |
1. I was talking to her about my weak points, and she said: “I have my weakness also, but I rejoice in them. I don't always succeed either in rising above the nothings of this earth; for example, I will be tormented by a foolish thing I said or did. Then I enter into myself, and I say: Alas, I'm still at the same place as I was formerly! But I tell myself this with great gentleness and without any sadness! It's so good to feel that one is weak and little!” |
8-24-14 (Weakness, Frailty) |
| 24 | LC 102, July 16. |
10-24-13 |
6. “If God were to say to me: If you die tonight now, you will have
very great glory; if you die at eighty, your glory will not be as
great, but it will please Me much more. I wouldn't hesitate
to answer: ‘My God, I want to die at eighty, for I'm not seeking
my own glory but simply Your pleasure.’ The great saints worked for the glory of God, but I'm only a little soul; I work simply for His pleasure, and I'd be glad to bear the greatest sufferings when this would be for the purpose of making Him smile only once.” |
2-24-42 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 21-24-5 (A Saint), 25-24-4 (Glory), 42-24-8 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 24 | LC 129, Aug. 3. |
10-24-14 |
2. I was telling her that she must have had to struggle a lot in
order to become perfect: “Oh, it's not that!” Novissima Verba adds (The authenticity of this text is questionable): And a little later she said: “Sanctity does not consist in this or that practice; it consists in a disposition of heart which makes us humble and little in the arms of God, conscious of our weakness, and confident to the point of audacity in the goodness of our Father.” |
8-24-17 (Weakness, Frailty), 12-24-10 (Humility, Humbleness), 16-24-29 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 38-24-2 (Disposition) |
| 24 | LC 138 -139, Aug. 6. |
10-24-15 |
8 I asked her to explain what she
meant by “remaining a little child
before God.” She said: “It is to recognize our nothingness, to expect everything from God as a little child expects everything from its father; it is to be disquieted about nothing, and not to be set on gaining our living. Even among the poor, they give the child what is necessary, but as soon as he grows up, his father no longer wants to feed him and says: ‘Work now, you can take care of yourself.’ “It was so as not to hear this that I never wanted to grow up, feeling that I was incapable of making my living, the eternal life of heaven. I've always remained little, therefore, having no other occupation but to gather flowers, the flowers of love and sacrifice, and of offering them to God in order to please Him. “To be little is not attributing to oneself the virtues that one practices, believing oneself capable of anything, but to recognize that God places this treasure in the hands of His little child to be used when necessary; but it remains always God's treasure. Finally, it is not to become discouraged over one's faults, for children fall often, but they are too little to hurt themselves very much.” |
2-24-55 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 8-24-19 (Weakness, Frailty), 11-24-5 (Nothingness), 14-24-25 (The Little Way), 16-24-33 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity) |
| 24 | LC 140, Aug. 7. |
10-24-16 |
4. “Oh! If I were unfaithful, if I committed only the slightest
infidelity, I feel that I would pay for it with frightful
troubles, and I would no longer be able to accept death. Thus
I never cease to say to God: ‘O my God, I beg You, preserve
me from the misfortune of being unfaithful.’” I asked: “What infidelity are you speaking about?” “A proud thought voluntarily entertained. For example, if I were to say to myself: I have acquired a certain virtue, and I am certain I can practice it. For then, this would be relying upon my own strength, and when we do this, we run the risk of falling into the abyss. However, I will have the right of doing stupid things up until my death, if I am humble and if I remain little. Look at little children: they never stop breaking things, tearing things, falling down, and they do this even while loving their parents very, very much. When I fall in this way, it makes me realize my nothingness more and I say to myself: What would I do, and what would I become, if I were to rely upon my own strength? |
11-24-6 (Nothingness), 12-24-13 (Humility, Humbleness) |
| 24 | LC 145, Aug. 11. |
10-24-17 |
3 “I didn't expect to suffer like this; I'm suffering
like a little child. “ I would never want to ask God for greater sufferings. If He increases them, I will bear them with pleasure and with joy because they will be coming from Him. But I'm too little to have any strength through myself. If I were to ask for sufferings, these would be mine, and I would have to bear them alone, and I've never been able to do anything alone.” |
2-24-57 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 23-24-13 (The Joy of Sufferings) |
| 24 | LC 199, Sep. 25. |
10-24-18 |
1. I had told her what was said in recreation regarding
Father Youf (the Chaplain), who had a great fear of death.
The Sisters were speaking about the responsibility of
those who were in charge of souls and those who lived a long life. “As far as little ones are concerned, they will be judged with great gentleness. And one can remain little, even in the most formidable offices, even when living for a long time. If I were to die at the age of eighty, if I were in China, anywhere, I would still die, I feel, as little as I am today. And it is written: ‘At the end, the Lord will rise up to save the gentle and the humble of the earth.’ (Psalm 75:10.) It doesn't say ‘to judge,’ but ‘to save.’” |
8-24-21 (Weakness, Frailty) |
| 24 | LC 218, Aug. 3, from a note of Celine. |
10-24-19 | “You are very little; remember that and when one is very little, one doesn't have beautiful thoughts.” | |
| age ? |
LC 212 -213. from a note of Celine. |
10--20 |
When the promoter of the faith asked me at the canonical
process: “Why do you desire the beatification of Sister
Therese of the Child Jesus?” I answered that
it was solely
that her Little Way might become known to the world. I spoke
of it as a “Little Way” because the saint has consistently
used this expression when referring to that particular road
along which she was traveling to union with God. It was,
what we might call, the symbol of her school of spirituality. The promoter of the faith warned me, however: “Once you begin to speak of a special Way, the Cause is infallibly doomed; innumerable cases on record bear abundant witness to that.” “That is indeed too bad,” I replied, “but a fear of hindering the beatification of Sister Therese could never deter me from stressing the only important point that interests me – that her Little Way might be raised with her, so to speak, to the honors of the altar.” So I held out; nor did the cause suffer as a result. In fact, everything relating to the process began to move so rapidly that it was only a few years later that the decree on the heroicity of the virtues of Sister Therese was promulgated by the Sovereign Pontiff, Benedict XV. On that day, August 14, 1921, when His Holiness in his discourse officially raised The Way of Spiritual Childhood to its exalted rank in the life of the Church, my joy reached heights never again attained, not even on those other memorable days when my little sister Therese was first beatified and then canonized by Holy Mother Church. (note:an additional observation made by Celine, See pp.212-213 of the LC.) Through that hidden wisdom which is revealed to little ones, Therese possessed a special faculty for discovering again this door to eternal life and of pointing it out to others. Her Little Way was, in practice, the virtue of humility. But it also established her, unmistakably in the spirit of childhood. She used to delight in pointing out to me various passages of the Gospel where there is reference to this spirit of childhood. |
12--18 (Humility, Humbleness), 14--32 (The Little Way) |