| Age | Sources and Pages | Code Number | Quotations | Relevant Key Words, Phrases and Their Code Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8~9 | SS 72. |
21-8-1 | When reading the accounts of the patriotic deeds of French heroines, especially the Venerable JOAN OF ARC, I had a great desire to imitate them; and it seemed I felt within me the same burning zeal with which they were animated, the same heavenly inspiration. Then I received a grace which I have always looked upon as one of the greatest in my life because at that age I wasn't receiving the lights I'm now receiving when I am flooded with them. I considered that I was born for glory and when I searched out the means of attaining it, God inspired in me the sentiments I have just described. He made me understand my own glory would not be evident to the eyes of mortals, that it would consist in becoming a great saint! This desire could certainly appear daring if one were to consider how weak and imperfect I was, and how, after seven years in the religious life, I still am weak and imperfect. I always feel, however, the bold confidence of becoming a great saint because I don't count on my merits since I have none, but I trust in Him who is Virtue and Holiness. God alone, content with my weak efforts, will raise me to Himself and make me a saint, clothing me in His infinite merits. I didn't think then that one had to suffer very much to reach sanctity, but God was not long in showing me this was so and in sending me the trials I have already mentioned. |
2-8-3 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 4-8-1 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 8-8-1 (Weakness, Frailty), 14-8-1 (The Little Way), 16-8-1 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 24-8-1 (Mercy of God, Grace), 25-8-2 (Glory) |
| 11~ 12? |
SS 27. |
21-11-1 | This little incident of my childhood is a summary of my whole life; later on when perfection was set before me, I understood that to become a saint one had to suffer much, seek out always the most perfect thing to do and forget self. I understood, too, there were many degree of perfection and each soul was free to respond to the advances of Our Lord, to do little or much for Him, in a word, to choose among the sacrifices He was asking. Then, as in the days of my childhood, I cried out: “My God ‘I choose all!’ I don't want to be a saint by halves, I'm not afraid to suffer for You, I fear only one thing: to keep my own will; so take it, for ‘I choose all’ that You will!” |
2-11-1 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 7-11-1 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 14-11-1 (The Little Way), 16-11-1 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity) |
| 14 | SS 131 -132. |
21-14-1 | …She became my saint of predilection, my intimate confidante. Everything in her thrilled me, especially her abandonment, her limitless confidence which made her capable of virginizing souls who had never desired any other joys but those of the present life. St.Cecilia is like the bride in the Canticle; in her I see “a choir in an armed camp.” (Canticle of Canticles 7:1.) Her life was nothing else but a melodious song in the midst of the greatest trials, and this does not surprise me because “the Gospel rested on her heart,” and in her heart reposed the Spouse of Virgins! |
2-14-11 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 4-14-1 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 14-14-7 (The Little Way) |
| 14 | GCI 265, Jan., 1, 1887, LC 48: from Sr. Agnes of Jesus. |
21-14-2 |
Happy Birthday! See how big you are. Courage! Jesus will soon pluck His
little flower, but
you must be patient and courageous and wait gently
for the passage of the divine Lamb. How I love you, my darling! Pray for your petit Pauline of former days. She must become a saint first since the choice fell on her first. |
6-14-1 (Perseverance, Patience, Forbearance, Endurance), 39-14-4 (Pauline) |
| 14 | GCI 358 -359, Nov. 23, 1887, LC 66: from Sr. Agnes of Jesus. |
21-14-3 | …So young, at fifteen, He finds you already worthy to carry His Cross; He finds you worthy to suffer! What an honor for you! If you only knew what these trials do to advance 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.” |
10-15-2 (Littleness), 12-15-2 (Humility, Humbleness), 39-15-6 (Pauline) |
| 15 | GCI 450, Jul. 23, 1888, LT 57: to Celine. |
21-15-2 | Jesus is asking ALL, ALL, ALL. As much as He can ask from the greatest Saints. |
2-15-14 (A Saint) |
| 16 | GCI 537, Feb. 28, 1889, LT 82: to Celine. |
21-16-1 |
Oh! how it costs to give Jesus what He asks!…What joy that it
costs…
What an unspeakable
joy to carry our Crosses
FEEBLY… Has
the Lily-immortelle understood the poor grain of sand?….Your novitiate
is one of sorrow; what and inexplicable privilege…. Ah! dear little sister, far from complaining to Jesus about the Cross he is sending us, I cannot understand the infinite love that has drawn Him to treat us in this way…. Our dear Father must be much loved by Jesus to have to suffer this way, but don't you find that the misfortune that is striking him is really the complement of his beautiful life?… I feel, little Lily-Immortelle, that I am speaking real follies to you, but it does not matter. I still think very many others things about the love of Jesus which are perhaps much stronger than what I am saying to you….What a joy to be humbled; it is the only thing that makes saints!… Can we doubt now the will of Jesus concerning our souls?… Life is only a dream, and soon we shall wake up, and what joy… the greater our sufferings are the more infinite will be our glory… Oh, let us not lose the trial that Jesus is sending us, it is a gold mine to be exploited. Are we going to miss the chance?… The grain of sand wants to get to work, without joy, without courage, without strength, and it is all these titles which will facilitate the enterprise for it; it wants to work through love. |
2-16-19 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 12-16-1 (Humility, Humbleness), 14-16-7 (The Little Way), 16-16-7 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-16-8 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 23-16-7 (The Joy of Sufferings), 37-16-4 (Time) |
| 16 | GCI 541- 542, March 5, 1889, LT 83: to Celine. |
21-16-2 |
Each new suffering, each new agony of her
heart is like a light breeze
which will carry to Jesus the perfume of His lily; then He will smile
lovingly, and He will immediately prepare a new sorrow. He is filling
the chalice to the brim, thinking that the more His lily grows in love
the more, too, must it grow in suffering!… What a privilege Jesus grants us in sending such a great sorrow. Ah! ETERNITY will not be too long to thank Him. He is giving us His favors just as He gave them to the greatest saints. Why this great predilection?… However, what she does not know perhaps is the love that Jesus has for her, a love that demands ALL. There is nothing that is impossible for Him. He does not want to set any limit to His Lily's SANCTITY; His limit is that there is no limit!… Why should there be any? We are greater than the whole universe, and one day we ourselves shall have a divine existence…. Oh! I thank Jesus for having placed a lily near our dear Father, a lily that fears nothing, a lily that wishes rather to die than to abandon the glorious field in which the love of Jesus has placed it!… Now we have no longer anything to hope for on earth, no longer anything but suffering and again suffering. When we have finished, suffering will still be there, extending its arms to us. Oh! what a lot worthy of envy…. The Cherubim in heaven envy our joy…. |
2-16-20 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 14-16-8 (The Little Way), 16-16-8 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 23-16-8 (The Joy of Sufferings), 37-16-5 (Time) |
| 16 | GCI 586, Autumn (?), 1889, LC 118: from Mother Marie de Gon- zague. |
21-16-3 | …Jesus has formed my violet for suffering, and I don't want to be a prophet today, but I can, nevertheless, say to my little daughter, that it is suffering and more sacrifices still that will make you a great saint. We shall be spared nothing, and we shall have a beautiful bundle at the end of our exile, and, like another St. Teresa, if we are faithful, we shall see the Jesus of Teresa. | 2-16-32 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), |
| 17 | SS 169. |
21-17-1 | …but I haven't said anything to you as yet concerning my good fortune at knowing our holy Mother Genevieve. This certainly was a priceless gift; God, who had given me so many graces, willed that I should live with a saint. Not one that was inimitable, but one who was made holy by the practice of the hidden virtues, the ordinary virtues…. |
3-17-1 (Silence, Hidden), 14-17-1 (The Little Way), 16-17-4 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 24-17-2 (The Mercy of God, Graces), 30-17-1 (Ordinary) |
| 24 | SS 207. |
21-24-1 |
…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), 10-24-2 (Littleness), 14-24-1 (The Little Way), 16-24-1 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), |
| 24 | GCII 1148 -1149, July 17, 1897, LT 257: to Leonie. The last letter to her. |
21-24-2 | …but God seemed willing to prolong my exile a little. I am not disturbed by it, for I would not want to enter heaven one minute earlier by my own will. The only happiness on earth is to apply oneself in always finding delightful the lot Jesus is giving us. Your lot is so beautiful, dear little sister; if you want to be a saint, this will be easy for you since at the bottom of your heart the world is nothing to you. You can, then, like us, occupy yourself with “ the one thing necessary,” (Luke 10:41.(sic., 42.?) that is to say: while you give yourself up devotedly to exterior works, your purpose is simple: to please Jesus, to unite yourself more intimately to Him. |
15-24-8 (Union with Jesus) |
| 24 | LC 69, June 30. |
21-24-3 |
1. I was speaking to her about certain saints who had led
extraordinary lives, such as St. Simon Stylites. She said: “I myself prefer the saints who feared nothing, for example, St. Cecilia, who allowed herself to be married and didn't fear.” |
4-24-10 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), |
| 24 | LC 99 -100, July 15. |
21-24-4 |
5. She told me about the following incident, the memory of which
was the source of a great grace to her: “Sister Marie of the Eucharist wanted to light the candles for a procession; she had no matches; however, seeing the little lamp which was burning in the front of the relics, she approached it. Alas, it was half out; there remained only a feeble glimmer on its blackened wick. She succeeded in lighting her candle from it, and with this candle, she lighted those of the whole community. It was, therefore, the half-extinguished little lamp which had produced all these beautiful flames which, in their turn, could produce an infinity of others and even light whole universe. Nevertheless, it would always be the little lamp which would be first cause of all this light. How could the beautiful flames boast of having produced this fire, when they themselves were lighted with such a small spark? “It is the same with the Communion of Saints. Very often, without our knowing it, the graces and lights that we receive are due to a hidden soul, for God wills that the saints communicate grace to each other through prayer with great love, with a love much greater than that of a family, and even the most perfect family on earth. How often have I thought that I may owe all the graces I've received to the prayers of a person who begged them from God for me, and whom I shall know only in heaven…. |
5-24-6 (Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation), 14-24-18 (The Little Way), 16-24-25 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-24-24 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-24-17 (Mercy of God, Graces) |
| 24 | LC 102, July 16. |
21-24-5 |
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), 10-24-13 (Littleness), 25-24-4 (Glory), 42-24-8 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 24 | LC 116, July 29. |
21-24-6 |
2 A Sister reported this reflection
made during recreation: “Why are
they talking of Sister Therese as though she were a saint? She
practiced virtue. true, but it wasn't a virtue acquired through
humiliations and especially sufferings.” She said to me
afterwards: “ And I who suffered so much from my most tender childhood! Ah, how much good it does me to see the opinion of creatures, especially at the moment of my death!” |
2-24-50 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 12-24-8 (Humility, Humblenes), 47-24-2 (Consistency of Spirituality), |
| 24 | LC 131, Aug. 4. |
21-24-7 | 2. “No, I don't believe I'm a great saint; I believe I'm a very little saint; but I think God has been pleased to place things in me which will do good to me and to others.” |
16-24-30 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity) |
| 24 | LC 143, Aug. 9. |
21-24-8 |
4. They told her she was a saint: “No, I'm not a saint; I've never performed the actions of a saint. I'm a very little soul upon whom God has bestowed graces; that's what I am. What I say is the truth; you'll see this in heaven.” |
20-24-8 (Truth), 24-24-24 (Mercy of God, Graces), 42-24-9 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 24 | LC 161 -162, Aug. 21. |
21-24-9 |
“
For a sermon on the Blessed Virgin to please me and do me any
good, I must see
her real life, not her imagined life. I'm sure that her real life was very simple.
They show her to us as unapproachable, but they should present her as imitable,
bringing out her virtues, saying that she lived by faith just like ourselves,
giving proofs of this from the Gospel, where we read: ‘And they did not
understand the words which He spoke to them.’ And that other no less mysterious
statement: ’His father and mother marveled at what was said about him.’ This
admiration presupposes a certain surprise, don't you think so, little Mother? “We know very well that the Blessed Virgin is Queen of heaven and earth, but she is more Mother than Queen; and we should not say, on account of her prerogatives, that she surpasses all the saints in glory just as the sun at its rising makes the stars disappear from sight. My God! How strange that would be! A mother who makes her children's glory vanish! I myself think just the contrary. I believe she'll increase the splendor of the elect very much. “It's good to speak about her prerogatives, but we should not stop at this, and if, in a sermon, we are obliged from beginning to end to exclaim and say: Ah! Ah!, we should grow tired! Who knows whether some soul would not reach the point of feeling a certain estrangement from a creature so superior and would not say: If things are such, it's better to go and shine as well as one is able in some little corner! What the Blessed Virgin has more than we have is the privilege of not being able to sin, she was exempt from the stain of original sin; but on the other hand, she wasn't as fortunate as we are, since she didn't have a Blessed Virgin to love. And this is one more sweetness for us and one less sweetness for her! |
20-24-10 (Truth), 25-24-5 (Glory), 27-24-11 (Sinners, Sins) |
| 24 | LC 181, Sep. 3. |
21-24-10 |
1. I was reporting what had been told me about the honors given to The Czar of Russia
in France: “Ah! this doesn't dazzle me at all! Speak to me about God, the example of the saints, about everything that is the truth.” |
20-24-12 (Truth) |
| 24 | LC 253, Sep. 11, from a note of Marie Guerrin. |
21-24-11 |
One day, she made me promise that I would be a saint; she was asking me if I
were making any progress, and I answered: “I promise you that I'll be a saint
when you have left for heaven; at that moment, I'll put my whole heart
into it.” “Oh! don't wait for that. Begin now. The month which preceded my entrance into Carmel has remained for me a very sweet memory. At first, I said to myself: I'll be a saint when I'm in Carmel; while waiting, I won't put myself out. But God showed me the value of time; I did just the opposite of what I was thinking. I wanted to prepare myself for my entrance by being very faithful, and it's one of the most beautiful months of my life. “Believe me, don't wait until tomorrow to begin becoming a saint.” |
37-24-8 (Time) |
| 24 | LC 278, July 12, from a note of Sr. Marie of Eucha -rist. |
21-24-12 |
…There was, at this time, no question of her death, her condition was not yet known;
she said to me all of a sudden, looking at me with such a profound gaze that I'll
never forget it:“Oh! little sister, promise me you'll become a saint, a great
saint.” When I looked at her in amazement, she continued: “Yes, and if I say this to you, it's because I find in you all that is necessary for this; and if you don't become one, believe me, you'll be unfaithful to grace. Oh! I beg you, become a saint, God is begging this from you. When I'm no longer on earth, you'll have to be a saint for two, in order that God lose nothing; I feel that your soul is being called to the same type of perfection as my own, and you must replace me when I'm gone.” |
16-24-35 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 24-24-27 (Mercy of God, Graces) |