| Age | Sources and Pages | Code Number | Quotations | Relevant Key Words, Phrases and Their Code Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | SS 73. |
9-10-1 | …I must admit this type of life had its charms for me. Wisdom is right in saying: “ The bewitching of vanity overturns the innocent mind!” (Wisdom 4:12.) At the age of ten the heart allows itself to be easily dazzled, and I consider it a great grace not to have remained at Alencon. The friends we had there were too worldly; they knew too well how to ally the joys of this earth to the service of God. They didn't think about death enough, and yet death had paid its visit to a great number of those whom I knew, the young, the rich, the happy! I love to return in spirit to the enchanting places where they live, wondering where these people are, what became of their houses and gardens where I saw them enjoy life's luxuries? And I see that all is vanity and vexation of spirit under the sun, (Ecclesiastes 2:11.) that the only good is to love God with all one's heart and to be poor in spirit here on earth. |
14-10-1 (The Little Way), 17-10-1 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-10-1 (Mercy of God, Graces) |
| 14 | SS 105. |
9-14-1 | …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), 10-14-1 (Littleness), 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) |
| 14 | SS 121 -122. |
9-14-2 | I understood true greatness is to be found in the soul, not in a name, since as Isaias says: “The Lord will call his servants by ANOTHER NAME,” (Isaias 65:15.) and St. John says: “ To him that overcomes I will give a white stone, and on the stone a NEW NAME written which no man knows but the one who receives it.” (Apocalypse 2:17.) It is in heaven, then, that we shall know our titles of nobility. Then shall every man have praise from God (1 Corinthians 4:5.) and the one who on earth wanted to be the poorest, the most forgotten out of love of Jesus, will be the first, the noblest, and the richest! |
7-14-3 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 14-14-5 (The Little Way), 17-14-9 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity) |
| 16 | GCI 595, Nov. 21, 1889, LC 119: from Sr. Marie of the Angels. |
9-16-1 | …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), 10-16-2 (Littleness), 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) |
| 19 | GCII 761- 762, Oct. 19, 1892, LT 137: to Celine. |
9-19-1 | …And He answered: “The foxes have their lairs, the birds of heaven their nests, but I have no place to rest my head.” (Matthew 8:20.) This is where we must descend in order that we may serve as an abode for Jesus. To be so poor that we do not have a place to rest our head. This is, dear Celine, what Jesus has done in my soul during my retreat…. You understand, there is question here of the interior. Besides, has not the exterior already been reduced to nothing by means of the very sad trial of Caen?… In our dear Father, Jesus has stricken us in the most sensitive exterior part of our heart; now let us allow Him to act, He can complete His work in our souls…. What Jesus desires is that we receive Him into our hearts. No doubt, they are already empty of creatures, but, alas, I feel mine is not entirely empty of myself, and it is for this reason that Jesus tells me to descend…. He, the King of kings, humbled Himself in such a way that His face was hidden, and no one recognized him… and I, too, want to hide my face, I want my Beloved alone to see it, that He be the only one to count my tears…that in my heart at least He may rest His dear head and feel that there He is known and understood!… |
2-19-1 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 3-19-2 (Silence, Hidden), 7-19-1 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 11-19-1 (Nothingness), 14-19-2 (The Little Way), 15-19-1 (Union with Jesus) |
| 23 | GCII 999- 1000, Sep. 17, 1896, LT197: to Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart. |
9-23-1 | 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), 10-23-7 (Littleness), 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) |
| 23 | GCII 1038 Dec. 24, 1896, LT 211: to Sr. Marie Gene- vieve. Christ- mas 1896. |
9-23-2 |
If you only knew how much you delight my heart and that of my little
Jesus, oh, how happy you would be!… But you do not know, you do not
see, and your soul is in sadness.
I would like to console you, and,
if I do not do it, it is because I know the value of suffering and
anguish of heart. Oh, my dear child! If you only knew
how my soul
was plunged into bitterness when I saw my tender spouse St. Joseph
coming back sadly to me without having found an inn. If you want to bear in peace the trial of not pleasing yourself, be at the door of your house, but do not fear, the poorer you are the more Jesus will love you…. |
2-23-12 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 14-23-7 (The Little Way), 28-23-3 (Peace) |
| 24 | SS 226 -227. |
9-24-1 |
…Ah!
what peace floods the soul when she rises above
natural feelings. No,
there is no joy comparable to that which the truly poor in spirit
experience.
If such a one asks for something with detachment, and if this thing is not
only refused but one tries to take away what one already has, the poor
in spirit follow Jesus' counsel: “
If anyone take away your coat, let go
your cloak also.” (Matthew 5:40.) To give up one's cloak is, it seems to me, renouncing one's ultimate rights; it is considering oneself as the servant and the slaves of others…. |
2-24-10 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 7-24-1 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 14-24-5 (The Little Way), 28-24-3 (Peace) |
| 24 | LC 91, Jul. 12. |
9-24-2 |
3. To Mother Marie de Gonzague: “I had nothing in my hands. Everything I have, everything I merit is for the Church and for souls. If I were to live to eighty, I will always be as poor as I am now.” |
|
| 24 | LC 137, Aug. 6. |
9-24-3 |
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), 5-24-8 (Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation), 8-24-18 (Weakness, Frailty), 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 199, Sep. 24. |
9-24-4 |
10. “You don't have any intuition about the day of
your death?” “Ah! Mother, intuitions! If you only knew the poverty I'm in! I know nothing except what you know; I understand nothing except through what I see and feel. But my soul, in spite of this darkness, is in an astonishing peace.” |
28-24-16 (Peace) |
| 24 | LC 221, Aug. 5, from a note of Sr. Gene- vieve. |
9-24-5 |
2. She tried to teach me poverty of spirit
and heart by words
like this: “ Bobonne must keep herself in her position; she must not try to be a great lady, never!” And because I still had to recite a Little Hour of my Office, she said: “Go and recite None. And remember that you are a very little none [nun], the last of the nones!” |