| Age | Sources and Pages | Code Number | Quotations | Relevant Key Words, Phrases and Their Code Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | SS 36. |
5-5-1 | In the morning you used to come to me and ask me if I had raised my heart to God, and then you dressed me. While dressing me you spoke about Him and afterwards we knelt down and said our prayers together…. |
39-5-2 (Pauline) |
| 6 | SS 38. |
5-6-1 | …I remembered having heard that on our First Communion Day we can obtain whatever we ask for, and this thought greatly consoled me. Although I was only six years old at this time, I said: “I'll pray for this poor man the day of my First Communion.” I kept my promise five years later, in favor of one of His suffering members and I hope God answered the prayer He inspired me to direct to Him in favor of one of His suffering members. |
18-6-1 (Holy Communion) |
| 7? | SS 37. |
5-7-1 | …Sometimes I would try to fish with my little line, but I preferred to go alone and sit down on the grass bedecked with flowers, and then my thoughts became very profound indeed! Without knowing what it was to meditate, my soul was absorbed in real prayer. I listened to distant sounds, the murmuring of the wind, etc. At times, the indistinct notes of some military music reached me where I was, filling my heart with a sweet melancholy. Earth then seemed to be a place of exile and I could dream only of heaven. | |
| 10~11 | SS 74. |
5-10-1 | …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. |
7-10-1 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 10-10-1 (Littleness), 14-10-2 (The Little Way) |
| 10~11 | SS 74 -75. |
5-10-2 | …I understand now that I was making mental prayer without knowing it and that God was already instructing me in secret. |
36-10-1 (The Director of Directors) |
| 11 | SS 79 -80. |
5-11-1 | The day after my communion, the words of Marie came to my mind. I felt born within my heart a great desire to suffer, and at the same time the interior assurance that Jesus reserved a great number of crosses for me. I felt myself flooded with consolations so great that I look upon them as one of the greatest graces of my life. Suffering became my attraction; it had charms about it which ravished me without my understanding them very well. Up until this time, I had suffered without loving suffering, but since this day I felt a real love for it. I also felt the desire of loving only God, of finding my joy only in Him. Often during my Communions, I repeated these words of the Imitation: “ O Jesus, unspeakable sweetness, change all the consolations of this earth into bitterness for me.” This prayer fell from my lips without effort, without constraint; it seemed I repeated it not with my will but like a child who repeats the words a person he loves has inspired in him. |
2-11-2 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 14-11-3 (The Little Way), 17-11-2 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 18-11-2 (Holy Communion), 24-11-1 (Mercy of God, Grace), 29-11-1 (Consolation) |
| 11 | GCI 190, Mar. 1-6, 1884, LT 11: to Sr. Agnes of Jesus. |
5-11-3 | Every day, I try to perform as many practices as I can, and I do all in my power not to let a single occasion pass by. I am saying at the bottom of my heart the little prayers which form the perfume of roses, as often as I can. |
2-11-6 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 7-11-4 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 14-11-6 (The Little Way), 39-11-5 (Pauline) |
| 13 | SS 97 -98. |
5-13-1 |
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), 14-13-1 (The Little Way), 24-13-3 (Mercy of God, Graces), 49-13-1 (Trinity) |
| 14 | SS 107. |
5-14-1 | …Shouldn't they help the timid child who was chosen by God to be the apostle of apostles through her prayers and sacrifices in Carmel?… |
2-14-6 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials) |
| 14 | SS 109. |
5-14-2 |
…He forbade me to speak about my vocation to him until I was seventeen.
It was contrary to human prudence, he said, to have a child of fifteen
enter Carmel. This Carmelite life was, in the eyes of many, a life of
mature reflection, and it would be doing a great wrong to the religious
life to allow an inexperienced child to embrace it. Everybody would be
talking about it, etc., etc. He even said that for him to decide to allow
me to leave would require a
miracle. I saw all reasoning with him was
useless and so I left, my heart plunged into
the most profound bitterness.
My only consolation was prayer. I begged
Jesus to perform the miracle
demanded, since at this price only I'd be able to answer His call. …I knew Jesus was there sleeping in my boat, but the night was so black it was impossible to see Him; nothing gave me any light, not a single flash came to break the dark clouds. No doubt, lightning is a dismal light, but at least if the storm had broken out in earnest I would have been able to see Jesus for one passing moment. But it was night! The dark night of the soul! I felt I was all alone in the garden of Gethsemani like Jesus, and I found no consolation on earth or from heaven; God Himself seemed to have abandoned me…. |
2-14-7 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials) 29-14-1 (Consolation), 43-14-1 (Darkness) |
| 14 | SS 133. |
5-14-3 | …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), 25-14-2 (Glory) |
| 15 | SS 149. |
5-15-1 | This is so true that, a few months after I entered, Father Pichon, having come for the Profession of Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, was surprised to see what God was doing in my soul. He told me that he was watching me at prayer in the choir one evening, and that he believed my fervor was childish and my way was very sweet. My interview with the good Father was a great consolation to me, but it was veiled in tears because I experienced much difficulty in confiding in him. I made a general confession, something I had never made before, and at its termination he spoke the most consoling words I ever heard in my life: “In the presence of God, the Blessed Virgin, and all the Saints, I DECLARE THAT YOU HAVE NEVER COMMITTED A MORTAL SIN.” Than (sic.) he added: “Thank God for what He had done for you; had He abandoned you, instead of being a little angel, you would have become a little demon.” I had no difficulty in believing it; I felt how weak and imperfect I was and gratitude flooded my soul. |
8-15-1 (Weakness, Frailty), 26-15-1 (Confession), 27-15-1 (Sinners, Sins), 29-15-1 (Consolation) |
| 15 | GCI 478, Nov. 18, 1888, LT 67: to Mme. Guerin. |
5-15-2 | This morning, during my Holy Communion, I prayed very much to Jesus to give you His joys; alas! this is not what He is sending us for some time. It is the Cross, the Cross alone, which He is giving us in order to test us…. Oh! Aunt, if it had been only myself who was suffering, this would have been nothing, but I know the large share you took in our trial. For your feast, I would like to take away all sorrow and to take for myself all your pains. This is what I was asking for just now from Him whose Heart beats in unison with my own. I then felt that all He could give us of the best was suffering, and He was giving this only to His chosen friends; this answer proved to me that I was not answered, for I saw that Jesus loved dear Aunt too much to take away the Cross!… |
2-15-18 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 14-15-6 (The Little Way), 18-15-1 (Holy Communion) |
| 16 | GCI 563- 564, End of May (?), 1889, LT 91: to Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart. |
5-16-1 |
Time has passed since those blessed moments that slipped away in our
sweet nest…. Jesus has come to visit us…. He has found us worthy
to pass through the crucible of suffering…. Before my entrance into Carmel, our incomparable Father said when giving me to God: “I would like to have something better to offer to God.” Jesus has listened to his prayer… that other better thing was himself!… What a joy for a moment of suffering …. It is the Lord who has done this…. And the Lord loves Papa incomparably better than we love Papa; he is God's little child. And God, in order to spare him great sufferings, wills that we suffer for him!… |
2-16-26 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 16-16-11 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 23-16-10 (The Joy of Sufferings), 37-16-9 (Time) |
| 19 | GCII 752 -753, Aug. 15, 1892, LT 135: to Celine. |
5-19-1 |
…And this Beloved instructs my soul, he speaks to it in silence, in
darkness…. Recently, there came a thought to me which I have to tell
my Celine. It was one day when I was thinking of what I could do
to save souls, a word of the gospel gave me a real light. In days
gone by, Jesus said to His disciples when showing them the fields of
ripe corn: “
Lift up your
eyes and see how
the fields are already white
enough to be harvested,” (John 4:35.) and a little later: “
In truth, the harvest
is abundant but the number of laborers is small, ask then the master
of the harvest to send laborers.” (Matthew 9:37-38.) What a
mystery!… Is not Jesus
all-powerful? Are not creatures His who made them? Why, then, does
Jesus say: “Ask the Lord of the harvest that he send some
workers?” Why?… Ah!
it is because Jesus has so incomprehensible a love for us
that He wills that we have a share with Him in the salvation of souls.
He wills to do nothing without us. The Creator of the universe awaits
the prayer of a poor little soul to save other souls redeemed like it
at the price of all His Blood. Our own vocation is not to go out
to harvest the fields of ripe corn. Jesus does not say to us: “Lower
your eyes, look at the fields and go harvest them.” Our mission is
still more sublime. These are the words of Jesus: “
Lift your eyes and
see.” See how in my heaven there are empty places; it is up to you
to fill them, you are my Moses praying on the mountain, ask me for
workers and I shall send them, I await only a prayer, a sigh from
your heart! Is not the apostolate of prayer, so to speak, more elevated than that of the word? Our mission as Carmelites is to form evangelical workers who will save thousands of souls whose mothers we shall be…. |
3-19-1 (Silence, Hidden), 14-19-1 (The Little Way), 16-19-1 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 22-19-1 (Salvation of Souls), 40-19-1 (Participation to Salvation), 43-19-1 (Darkness) |
| 22 | SS 179. |
5-22-1 | I understand and I know from experience that: “The kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke17:21.) Jesus has no need of books or teachers to instruct souls; He teaches without the noise of words. Never have I heard Him speak, but I feel that He is within me at each moment; He is guiding and inspiring me with what I must say and do. I find just when I need them certain lights which I had not seen until then, and it isn't most frequently during my hours of prayer that these are most abundant but rather in the midst of my daily occupations. |
15-22-1 (Union with Jesus), 35-22-2 (Books), 37-22-1 (Time) |
| 23 | GCII 1041 -1042, Dec. 26, 1896, LT 213: to l'abbe Bell- iere. |
5-23-1 |
I assure you, Monsieur l'Abbe, I am doing all that is within my power
to obtain the graces necessary for you; these graces certainly will
be granted to you
since Our Lord never asks sacrifices from us above
our strength. At times, it is true, this divine Saviour makes us feel
all the bitterness of the chalice that He is offering our soul. When
He asks the sacrifice of all that is dearest in this world, it is
impossible, without a very special grace, not to cry out like Him in
the garden of agony: “
Father, let this chalice pass from me…however,
may your will be done and not mine.” (Matthew 26:39.) It is very consoling to think that Jesus, the Strong God, knew our weaknesses, that He trembled at the sight of the bitter chalice, this chalice that He had in the past so ardently desired to drink. Monsieur l'Abbe, your lot is really beautiful since Our Lord chose it for Himself and since He first wet His lips with the cup He is offering you. A Saint has said: “The greatest honor God can give a soul is not to give it much but to ask much from it!” Jesus is treating you then as a privileged one. He wills that you already begin your mission and that through suffering you may save souls. Is it not in suffering, in dying that He Himself redeemed the world?… Monsieur l'Abbe, you come seeking consolations from her whom Jesus has given you as a sister, and you have the right. Since Reverend Mother allows me to write you, I would like to respond to the sweet mission entrusted to me, but I feel the surest means of reaching my goal is to pray and to suffer…. Let us work together for the salvation of souls; we have only the one day of this life to save them and thus to give the Lord proofs of our love. |
2-23-14 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 8-23-7 (Weakness, Frailty), 14-23-8 (The Little Way), 16-23-5 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-23-15 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 22-23-5 (Salvation of Souls), 24-23-4 (Mercy of God, Graces), 29-23-1 (Consolations), 37-23-2 (Time) |
| 24 | SS 241. |
5-24-1 | … Ah! it is prayer, it is sacrifice which give me all my strength; these are the invincible weapons which Jesus has given me. |
2-24-14 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials) |
| 24 | SS 242. |
5-24-2 | …For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus. |
2-24-15 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 15-24-3 (Union with Jesus) |
| 24 | GCII 1058, Feb. 24, 1897, LT 220: to l'abbe Bell- iere. |
5-24-3 | …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? |
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 1072, Mar. 19, 1897, LT 221: to P. Rou- lland. |
5-24-4 | I am not at all worried about the future; I am sure God will do His will, it is the only grace I desire. One must not be more kingly than the king… Jesus has no need of anyone to do His work, and if He were to accept me, this would be out of pure kindness; but to tell you the truth, Brother, I rather believe Jesus will treat me like a little lazy thing. I do not want this, for I would be happy to work and suffer a long time for Him. So I am asking Him to be content with me, that is, to pay no attention to my desires of loving Him in suffering or of going to enjoy Him in heaven. I hope, Brother, that if I were to leave this exile, you would not forget your promise of praying for me. You have always welcomed my requests with such great kindness that I am daring to make one more request from you. I do not want you to ask God to deliver me from the flames of purgatory; Saint Teresa said to her daughters when they wanted to pray for her: “What does it matter to me to remain until the end of the world in purgatory if through my prayers I save a single soul?” These words find an echo in my heart. I would like to save souls and forget myself for them; I would like to save them even after my death. So I would be happy if you were to say then, instead of the little prayer you are saying and which will be always realized: “My God, allow my sister to make you still loved.” |
2-24-19 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 7-24-8 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 16-24-7 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-24-12 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 22-24-4 (Salvation of Souls), 24-24-6 (Mercy of God, Graces), 37-24-2 (Time) |
| 24 | GCII 1133, Jun. 21, 1897, LT 247: to l'abbe Bell- iere. |
5-24-5 |
…I love them too, I love their repentance, and especially…
their loving audacity! When I see Magdalene walking up before
the many guests, washing with her tears the feet of her adored
Master, whom she is touching for the first time, I feel that
her heart has understood the abysses
of love and mercy of the
Heart of Jesus, and, sinner though she is, this Heart of love
was not only disposed to pardon her but to lavish on her the
blessings of His divine intimacy, to lift her to the highest
summits of contemplation. Ah! dear little Brother, ever since I have been given the grace to understand also the love of the Heart of Jesus, I admit that it has expelled all fear from my heart. The remembrance of my faults humbles me, draws me never to depend on my strength which is only weakness, but this remembrance speaks to me of mercy and love even more. |
8-24-11 (Weakness, Frailty), 12-24-5 (Humility, Humbleness), 14-24-11 (The Little Way), 17-24-15 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-24-11 (Mercy of God, Graces), 27-24-4 (Sinners, Sins), 34-24-2 (Repentence, Contrition), 45-24-3 (Magdalene) |
| 24 | LC 99 -100, July 15. |
5-24-6 |
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…. |
14-24-18 (The Little Way), 16-24-25 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-24-24 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 21-24-4 (A Saint), 24-24-17 (Mercy of God, Graces) |
| 24 | LC 116, Jul. 29. |
5-24-7 |
1. One of the Sisters thought she was pleasing
Therese by bringing her a certain object, but it had
just the opposite effect. She showed her displeasure, thinking
someone had been deprived of the object in question, but
she was sorry immediately and begged pardon with tears
in her eyes: “Oh, I really beg pardon; I've acted through selfishness. Please pray for me!” A little later: “Oh, how happy I am to see myself imperfect and to have such need of God's mercy at the moment of my death!” |
24-24-20 (Mercy of God, Graces) |
| 24 | LC 137, Aug. 6. |
5-24-8 |
4. “
I can depend on nothing, on no good works
of my own in order
to have confidence. For example, I'd like to be able to say
that I've carried out all my obligations of reciting my prayers
for the dead. This poverty, however, was a real light and a grace
for me. I was thinking that never in my life would I be able
to pay my debts to God; this was real riches, real strength for me,
if I wanted to take it in this way. “Then I made this prayer to God: O my God, I beg You, pay the debt that I have acquired with regard to the souls in purgatory, but do it as God, so that it be infinitely better than if I had said my Offices for the Dead. And then I remembered with great consolation these words of St. John of the Cross' canticle: ‘Pay all debts.’ I had always applied this to Love. I felt this grace can't be expressed in words; it's far too sweet! We experience such great peace when we're totally poor, when we depend upon no one except God.” |
4-24-17 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 8-24-18 (Weakness, Frailty), 9-24-3 (Poor in Spirit), 14-24-24 (The Little Way), 16-24-31 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-24-27 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-24-22 (Mercy of God, Graces), 28-24-12 (Peace), 29-24-4 (Consolation), 42-24-9 (Works, Actions, Great Actions) |
| 24 | LC 146, Aug. 11. |
5-24-9 |
5 “I often pray to the saints without receiving any answers;but
the more deaf they are to my prayers, the more I love them.” I asked:“Why?” “Because I've had a great desire not to see God and the saints, and to remain in the night of faith, than others have desired to see and understand.” |
46-24-4 (Revelations) |
| 24 | LC 164, Aug. 22. |
5-24-10 |
9. “I have experienced pleasure at the thought that they are praying
for me; then I told God that I wanted all these
prayers applied
to sinners.” I asked: “You don't want them for your own consolation?” “No!” |
27-24-12 (Sinners, Sins), 29-24-5 (Consolation) |
| 24 | LC 199 -200, Sep. 25. |
5-24-11 |
7 She had said to me on one of
those last days of suffering: “O Mother, it's very easy to write beautiful things about suffering, but writing is nothing, nothing! One must suffer in order to know!” I had retained a painful impression from this statement of hers, when, that same day, appearing to remember what she had told me, she looked at me in a very special and solemn way, and pronounced these words: “ I really feel now that what I've said and written is true about everything. … It's true that I wanted to suffer much for God's sake, and it's true that I still desire this.” |
2-24-75 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), |
| 24 | LC 228, Sep. 26, from a note of Sr. Gene- vieve (Cel- ine). |
5-24-12 |
3. On one of the last day of her
life, in a moment of great suffering, she
begged me: “Oh! little Sister Genevieve, pray to the Blessed Virgin for me. I would pray so much to her if you were sick! One dares not ask for oneself.” She sighed once more, saying: “Oh! how necessary it is to pray for the agonizing! If you only knew!” |
2-24-77 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), |
Proceed to the next List 6: Perseverance, Patience, Endurance.