| Age | Sources and Pages | Code Number | Quotations | Relevant Key Words, Phrases and Their Code Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6~ | SS44 -45. |
25-6-1 | It was Pauline, too, who received all my intimate confidences and cleared up all my doubts. Once I was surprised that God didn't give equal glory to all the Elect in heaven, and I was afraid all would not be perfectly happy. Then Pauline told me to fetch Papa's large tumbler and set it alongside my thimble and filled both to the brim with water. She asked me which one was fuller. I told her each was as full as the other and that it was impossible to put in more water than they could contain. My dear Mother helped me understand that in heaven God will grant His Elect as much glory as they can take, the last having nothing to envy in the first. And it was in this way that you brought the most sublime mysteries down to my level of understanding and were able to give my soul the nourishment it needed. |
39-6-3 (Pauline) |
6~ 7 |
SS47. | 25-6-2 | It is from the midst of this ineffable glory where he reigns in heaven that our dear Father obtained for us the grace to understand the vision his little Queen had at an age when illusions are not to be feared. It is from the midst of glory he obtained this sweet consolation of understanding that God, ten years before our great trial, was already showing it to us. He was doing this as a Father who gives His children a glimpse of the glorious future He is preparing for them and is pleased to have them consider in advance the priceless riches which will be their heritage. |
2-6-1 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 24-6-1 (Mercy of God, Graces), 29-6-1 (Consolation), |
| 8 | SS72. | 25-8-1 | It is true that in reading certain tales of chivalry, I didn't always understand the realities of life; but soon God made me feel that true glory is that which will last eternally, and to reach it, it isn't necessary to perform striking works but to hide oneself and practice virtue in such a way that the left hand knows not what the right is doing. (Matthew 6:3) |
3-8-1 (Silence, Hidden), 42-8-1 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 8~9 | SS72. | 25-8-2 | 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), 21-8-1 (A Saint), 24-8-1 (Mercy of God, Grace) |
| 14 | SS 111 -112. |
25-14-1 |
Many things happened before my trip to Bayeux; exteriorly my life
appeared to be as usual. I studied, took lessons in drawing from
Celine, and my clever teacher recognized in me an aptitude for her
art.
Above all, I was growing in love for God; I felt
within my
heart certain aspirations unknown until then, and at times I had
veritable transports of love. One evening, not knowing how to tell Jesus that I loved Him and how much I desired that He be loved and glorified everywhere, I was thinking He would never receive a single act of love from hell; then I said to God that to please Him I would consent to see myself plunged into hell so that He would be loved eternally in that place of blasphemy. I realized this could not give Him glory since he desires only our happiness, but when we love, we experience the need of saying a thousand foolish things; if I talked in this way, it wasn't because heaven did not excite my desire, but because at this time my heaven was none other than Love, and I felt, as did St. Paul, that nothing could separate us from the Divine Being who so ravished me! |
14-14-4 (The Little Way), 17-14-7 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity) |
| 14 | SS 133. |
25-14-2 | …My heart beat strongly and my prayers were fervent when Jesus descended into the hands of His Pontiff. However, I was filled with confidence, for the Gospel of the day contained these beautiful words: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke12:32.) No, I did not fear, I hoped the kingdom of Carmel would soon belong to me;I was not thinking then of those other words of Jesus: “And I appoint to you a kingdom even as my Father has appointed to me…” (Luke22:29.) In other words, I reserve crosses and trials for you, and it is thus you will be worthy of possessing this kingdom after which you long; since it was necessary that the Christ suffer and that He enter through it into His glory, (Luke 24:26.) if you desire to have a place by His side, then drink the chalice He has drunk! (Matthew 20:21-22.) |
2-14-12 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 4-14-2 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 5-14-3 (Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation) |
| 16? | SS152. | 25-16-1 |
…I understood what real
glory was.
He whose Kingdom is not of this world
(John 18:36.) showed me that true wisdom consists
in “desiring to be unknown
and counted as nothing,” in “placing one's joy in the contempt
of self.”
Ah! I desired that, like the Face of Jesus,“
my face be truly hidden, that
no one on earth would know me.”(Isaias53:3.)
I thirsted after
suffering and I longed to be forgotten. How merciful is the way God has guided me. Never has He given me the desire for anything which He has not given me, and even His bitter chalice seemed delightful to me. |
2-16-2 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 3-16-1 (Silence, Hidden), 7-16-1 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 11-16-1 (Nothingness), 14-16-1 (The Little Way), 23-16-1 (The Joy of Suffering), 24-16-1 (Mercy of God, Graces), |
| 16 | GCI 529 -530, Jan. 23- 25(?), 1889, LT81, to Celine. |
25-16-2 |
You give me an impression, at this moment, of a person who is surrounded with
immense riches… the sight of them is lost over the horizon…. This person wants
to turn her back because, she says, too many riches embarrass her, she does not know
what to do with them; it is better to lose them, or that another take them!… That
other will not come, for these riches are prepared for the fiancee of Jesus… and
for her alone!… God would turn the world upside down to find
suffering in order
to give it to a soul upon whom His DIVINE glance has rested with an indescribable
love!… The things of this earth…what do they mean to us?… Should this be our homeland, this slime, so unworthy of an immortal soul… and what does it matter to us that cowardly men harvest the mustiness that grows on this slime? The more our heart is in heaven, the less we feel these pinpricks…. But believe that this is a grace and a great grace to feel these pinpricks, for, then, our life is a martyrdom, and one day Jesus will give us the palm. To suffer and to be despised!…what bitterness but what glory…. Suffer both again and always…. But all passes. |
2-16-18 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 14-16-6 (The Little Way), 17-16-5 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-16-3 (Mercy of God, Graces), 37-16-3 (Time) |
| 17 | GCI 612, May 4, 1890, LT 103: to Sr. Agnes of Jesus. |
25-17-1 | …Oh! how it longs to be reduced to nothing, to be unknown by all creatures. Poor little thing, it desires nothing any longer, nothing but to be FORGOTTEN… not contempt, insults, this would be too glorious for a grain of sand. Were one to despise it, one would have to see it, But to be FORGOTTEN!… Yes, I want to be forgotten, and this, not only by creatures but by myself. I'd like to be reduced to nothing to such an extent as to have no desire whatsoever…. The glory of Jesus, that is all;… |
2-17-4 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 3-17-2 (Silence, Hidden), 7-17-1 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 11-17-1 (Nothingness), 14-17-2 (The Little Way), 25-17-1 (Glory), 39-17-1 (Pauline) |
| 20 | GCII 808- 809, Aug. 2, 1893, LT 145: to Celine. |
25-20-1 |
…Jesus does not will that we find His adorable presence in repose;
He hides
Himself; He wraps Himself in darkness. It was not thus that He acted with
the
crowd of Jews, for we see in the
gospel that the people were CARRIED AWAY
when He was speaking.
Jesus used to charm weak souls with His divine words,
He was trying to make them strong for the day of trial…. But how
small was
the number of Our Lord's friends when He was SILENT before his
judges!…
Oh! what a melody for my heart is this silence of Jesus…. He made Himself
poor that we might be able to give Him love.
He holds out His hand to us like a
beggar so that on the radiant
day of judgment when He will appear
in His glory, He may have us hear those sweet words: “
Come, blessed of
my Father, for I was hungry and you gave to eat; I was thirsty, and you
gave me to drink; I did not know where to lodge, and you gave me a home.
I was in prison, sick, and you helped me.” (Matthew 25:34-36.) It
is Jesus Himself who spoke
these words;
it is He who wants our love, who begs for
it.… He places
Himself, so to speak, at our mercy, He does not want to take anything
unless we give it to Him, and the smallest thing is precious in His
divine eyes…. Jesus is a hidden treasure, an inestimable good which few souls can find, for it is hidden, and the world loves what sparkles. Ah! if Jesus had willed to show Himself to all souls with His ineffable gifts, no doubt there is not one of them that would have despised Him. However, He does not will that we love Him for His gifts, He Himself must be our reward. To find a hidden thing one must hide oneself; our life must then be a mystery. We must be like Jesus, Jesus whose face was hidden…. “Do you want to learn something that may be of use to you?” says the Imitation. “Love to be unknown and accounted for nothing…. And elsewhere; “After you have left everything, you must above all leave yourself; let one man boast of one thing, another of something else; as for you, place your joy only in contempt of yourself.” What peace these words give to the soul, Celine. |
2-20-3 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 3-20-2 (Silence, Hidden), 14-20-5 (The Little Way), 16-20-3 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 19-20-1 (The Words of God), 28-20-3 (Peace), 40-20-1 (Participation to Salvation), 43-20-2 (Darkness) |
| 21 | GCII 863, July 7, 1894, LT 165: to Celine. |
25-21-1 |
…For a long time, our harps were hung on
the willows of the shore.” (Psalm 136:4 and 2.)
We were not able to use them!… Our
God, the
Guest of our soul, knows
it well, so He comes to us with the intention of finding an abode,
an EMPTY
tent, in the midst of the
earth's field of battle. He asks
only this, and He Himself is the Divine Musician who takes charge of
the
concert…. Ah! if only
we were to hear this ineffable harmony, if
one single vibration were to reach our ears!…. “We do not know how to ask for anything as we ought, but the spirit pleads within us with unutterable groanings” (St. Paul, Romans 8:26.). We have, then, only to surrender our soul, to abandon it to our great God. What does it matter, then, if our souls be without gifts that sparkle exteriorly since within us the King of kings shines with all His glory! How great must a soul be to contain a God!… And yet the soul of a day-old child is a Paradise of delights for Him; what will it be, then, for our souls that have fought and suffered to delight the Heart of our Beloved?… |
2-21-7 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 4-21-1 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 15-21-2 (Union with Jesus), 25-21-1 (Glory) |
| 22 | GCII 896, Jan. 1895, LT 173: to Sr. The- rese- Dosi- thee (Leo- nie). |
25-22-1 | Dear little Sister, do you not find, as I do, that our Father's departure had brought us close to heaven? More than half the family now enjoys the vision of God, and the five exiled on earth will not be long in flying away to their homeland. This thought of the brevity of life gives me courage, it helps me bear with the weariness of the road. What does a little work on earth matter (say the Imitation)… we pass away and we have not here a lasting dwelling! Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place in the home of His Father, and then He will come and He will take us with Him so that where He is we also may be…. Let us wait, let us suffer in peace, the hour of rest is approaching, the light tribulations of this life of a moment are preparing us for an eternal weight of glory…. |
2-22-8 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 16-22-8 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 25-22-1 (Glory), 28-22-2 (Peace), 37-22-2 (Time), 42-22-4 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 23 | GCII 951, Apr. 11, 1896, LT 186: to Sr. The- rese- Dosi- thee (Leo- nie). |
25-23-1 | …Dear little Sister, how sweet it is that we can, all five, call Jesus “Our Beloved.” But what will it be when we shall see Him in heaven and follow Him everywhere, singing the same canticle only virgins are permitted to sing. Then we shall understand the value of suffering, and, like Jesus, we shall repeat: “ It was really necessary that suffering should try us and have us come to glory.” (Luke 24:46.) |
2-23-6 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials) |
| 24 | SS 256. |
25-24-1 | … You know, O my God, I have never desired anything but to love You, and I am ambitious for no other glory. Your love has gone before me, and it has grown with me, and now it is an abyss whose depths I cannot fathom. Love attracts love, and my Jesus, my love leaps towards Yours; it would like a drop of dew lost in the ocean! For me to love You as You love me, I would have to borrow Your own Love, and then only would I be at rest…. |
17-24-6 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity) |
| 24 | GCII 1058, Feb. 24, 1897, LT 220: to l'abbe Bell- iere. |
25-24-2 | …United in Him, our souls will be able to save many others, for this gentle Jesus has said: “ If two among you agree together on something which you ask from my Father, it will be granted them.” (Matthew 18:19.) Ah! what we are asking Him is to work for His glory, to love Him and make Him loved …. How would our union and our prayer not be blessed? |
5-24-3 (Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation) 15-24-7 (Union with Jesus), 17-24-9 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 22-24-2 (Salvation of Souls), 25-24-2 (Glory) |
| 24 | GCII 1060, Feb. 24, 1897, LT 220: to l'abbe Bell- iere. |
25-24-3 |
…If the Lord takes me soon with Him, I ask you to continue each day the same
prayer, for
I shall desire in heaven the same thing as I do on earth: To love
Jesus and to make him loved. Monsieur l'Abbe, you must think I am very strange; perhaps you are sorry to have a sister who seems to want to go and enjoy eternal repose and leave you working alone…. But rest assured, the only thing I desire is God's will, and I admit that if in heaven I were no longer able to work for His glory, I would prefer exile to the homeland. |
16-24-6 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-24-10 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), |
| 24 | LC 102, July 16. |
25-24-4 |
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), 21-24-5 (A Saint), 42-24-8 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 24 | LC 161 -162, Aug. 21. |
25-24-5 |
“
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), 21-24-9 (A Saint), 27-24-11 (Sinners, Sins) |