| Age | Sources and Pages | Code Number | Quotations | Relevant Key Words, Phrases and Their Code Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | SS 97 -98. |
49-13-1 |
God would have to work a little miracle to make me grow up in an instant,
and this miracle He performed on that unforgettable Christmas day. On that
luminous night which sheds such light on the delights of
the Holy Trinity,
Jesus, the gentle, little Child of only one hour, changed the night of my
soul into rays of light.
On that night when He made Himself subject to
weakness and suffering for love of me, He made me strong and courageous,
arming me with His weapons. Since that
night I have never been defeated
in any combat, but rather walked from victory to victory,
beginning, so
to speak, “to run as a giant!” The source of my tears was
dried up and
has since re-opened rarely and with great difficulty. This justified what
was often said to me: “You cry so much during your childhood, you'll no
longer have tears to shed later on!” It was December 25, 1886, that I received the grace of leaving my childhood, in a word, the grace of my complete conversion. |
2-13-2 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 5-13-1 (Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation), 14-13-1 (The Little Way), 24-13-3 (Mercy of God, Graces) |
| 14 | SS 104. |
49-14-1 | …For a grace received faithfully, He granted me a multitude of others. He gave Himself to me in Holy Communion more frequently than I would have dared corect hope. I'd taken as a rule of conduct to receive, without missing a single one, the Communions my confessor permitted, allowing him to regulate the number and not asking. At this time in my life, I didn't have the boldness I now have, for I'm very sure a soul must tell her confessor the attraction she feels to receive her God. It is not to remain in a golden ciborium that He comes to us each day from heaven; it's to find another heaven, infinitely more dear to Him than the first: the heaven of our soul, made to His image, the living temple of the adorable Trinity! |
18-14-1 (Holy Communion), 24-14-4 (Mercy of God, Graces) |
| 21 | GCII 861- 862, Jul. 7, 1894, LT 165: to Celine. |
49-21-1 | …Frequently, we descend into the fertile valleys, where our heart loves to nourish itself, the vast field of the scriptures which has so many times opened before us to pour out its rich treasures in our favor; this vast field seems to us to be a desert, arid and without water….We know no longer where we are; instead of peace and light, we find only turmoil or at least darkness…. But, like the spouse, we know the cause of our trial: our soul is troubled because of the chariots of Aminadab….We are still not as yet in our homeland, and trial must purify us as gold in the crucible…. At times, we believe ourselves abandoned. Alas! the chariots, the vain noises that disturb us, are they within us or outside us? We do not know… but Jesus really knows. He sees our sadness and suddenly His gentle voice makes itself heard, a voice more gentle than the springtime breeze: “ Return, return, my Sulamitess; return, return, that we may look at you!…” (Cant. Chap. 6, v. 12.) What a call is that of the Spouse!… And we were no longer daring even to look at ourselves so much did we consider ourselves without any splendor and adornment; and Jesus calls us, He wants to look at us at His leisure, but He is not alone; with Him, the two other Persons of the Blessed trinity come to take possession of our soul…. Jesus had promised it in days gone by when He was about to reascend to His Father and our Father. He said with ineffable tenderness: “ If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we will make in him our abode.” (John 14:23.) To keep the word of Jesus, that is the sole condition of our happiness, the proof of our love for Him. But what, then, is this word?… It seems to me that the word of Jesus is Himself… He, Jesus, the Word, the Word of God!… In another place, Jesus teaches us that He is the way, the truth, the life. We know, then, what is the Word that we must keep; like Pilate, we shall not ask Jesus: “What is Truth?” We possess Truth. We are keeping Jesus in our hearts!… |
2-21-5 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 14-21-3 (The Little Way), 15-21-1 (Union with Jesus), 19-21-1 (Words of God), 20-21-1 (Truth), 28-21-1 (Peace), 43-21-1 (Darkness) |
| 21 | GCII 882, Aug. 19, 1894, LT 169: to Celine. |
49-21-2 | …We have only the short moment of this life to give to God… and He is already preparing to say: “ Now, my turn…” What a joy to suffer for Him who loves us unto folly and to pass as fools in the eyes of the world. We judge other as we judge ourselves, and since the world is senseless!… It naturally thinks we are the ones who are senseless!… But after all, we are not the first; the only crime with which Jesus was reproached by Herod was that of being foolish, and I think like him!… Yes, it was folly to seek out the poor little hearts of mortals to make them His thrones, He, the King of Glory, who is seated above the Cherubim…. He, whom the heavens cannot contain…. He was foolish, our Beloved, to come to earth in search of sinners in order to make them His friends, His intimates, His equals, He who was perfectly happy with the two adorable Persons of the Trinity!… |
2-21-10 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 14-21-4 (The Little Way), 17-21-5 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 23-21-1 (The Joy of Sufferings), 27-21-1 (Sinners, Sins), 37-21-3 (Time) |