| Age | Sources and Pages | Code Number | Quotations | Relevant Key Words, Phrases and Their Code Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | SS 40. |
27-6-1 | Oh! dear Mother, with what care you prepared me for my first confession, telling me it was not to a man but to God I was about to tell my sins; I was very much convinced of this truth. |
26-6-1 (Confession), 39-6-1 (Pauline) |
| 11 | GCI 199, May 6, 1884, from Sr. Agnes of Jesus. |
27-11-1 | …When I ask this beautiful Child who He is and why He is present in this white Host, I hear a voice, more melodious than all heaven's concerts, answering me: “I am Theresita's Jesus; I have just left heaven to visit the little flower garden she has been preparing for Me for three months. I have a great desire to walk in it and to take my rest in it. Theresita's heart is about to become my heaven; I prefer her heart to the throne of gold and precious stones destined for me up above I will never leave the pretty lily cradle where I'm going to sleep…. I'll remain there forever…as long as the lilies don't fade…for sin alone can make me leave it, and sin alone can fade the lilies of her heart!”. |
15-11-8 (Union with Jesus), 39-11-11 (Pauline) |
| 14 | SS 99 -98. |
27-14-1 |
…He made me a fisher of souls.
I experienced a great desire to work for
the conversion of sinners, a desire I hadn't
felt so intensely before. I felt charity enter into my soul, and the need to forget myself and to please others; since then I've been happy! One Sunday, looking at a picture of Our Lord on the Cross, I was struck by the blood flowing from one of the divine hands. I felt a great pang of sorrow when thinking this blood was falling to the gound without anyone's hastening to gather it up. I was resolved to remain in spirit at the foot of the Cross and to receive the divine dew. I understood I was then to pour it out upon souls. The cry of Jesus on the Cross sounded continually in my heart: “I thirst!” (John 19:28.) These words ignited within me an unknown and very living fire. I wanted to give my Beloved to drink and I felt myself consumed with a thirst for souls. And yet, it was not the souls of priests that attracted me, but those of great sinners; I burned with desire to snatch them from the eternal flames. |
2-14-1 (Suffering, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 7-14-1 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 13-14-1 (Joyful Soul), 14-14-1 (The Little Way), 17-14-1 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 22-14-1 (Salvation of Souls), 27-14-1 (Sinners, Sins), |
| 15 | SS 149. |
27-15-1 | 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. |
5-15-1 (Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation), 8-15-1 (Weakness, Frailty), 26-15-1 (Confession), 29-15-1 (Consolation) |
| 16 | GCI 500, Jan. 6, 1889, LT74: to Sr. Agnes of Jesus. |
27-16-1 |
If you only knew how much I want to be indifferent to
the things of this earth. What do all created beauties mean
to me, I would be unhappy possessing them, my heart would
be so empty!… It is incredible how big my heart appears to
me when I consider all earth's treasures. But when I consider
Jesus, how little it appears to me!!
I would so much like
to love Him!… Love Him more than He has ever been loved!…
My only desire is to do the will of Jesus always! To dry away
the little tears that sinners make Him shed…. Oh! I do not
WANT Jesus to have any sorrow. On the day of my espousals,
I would like to convert all the sinners of this earth and
to save all the souls in purgatory!… The Lamb of Jesus is going to laugh when it sees this desire of the little grain of sand!… I know that it's folly, but, nevertheless, I would like it to be this way so that Jesus have not one single tear to shed. |
7-16-4 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 14-16-4 (The Little Way), 16-16-2 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-16-1 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 22-16-1 (Salvation of Souls), 39-16-2 (Pauline), 50-16-1 (Jesus's Wounds, Pains and Tears) |
| 16 | GCI 567 -568, May 30, 1889, LT 93: to Marie Guerin. |
27-16-2 |
Should I tell you something that has given me much sorrow?… It is that my little Marie has given up her Communions…on the feast of the Ascension and on the last day of Mary's month!… Oh! what sorrow this has caused Jesus!… The devil has to be very clever to mislead a soul in this way!… But don't you know, my dear, that this is the only goal of his desires? The evil one knows well that he can't make a soul that wants to belong totally to Jesus commit a sin, so he tries to make the soul believe it has. It is already much for him to put disturbance in this soul, but to satisfy his rage something else is needed; He wants to deprive Jesus of a loved tabernacle, and, not being able to enter this sanctuary, he wants, at least, that it remain empty and without any Master!… Alas, what will become of this poor heart?… When the evil has succeeded in drawing the soul away from Holy Communion, he has won everything…. And Jesus weeps!… Oh, my darling, think, then, that Jesus is there in the Tabernacle expressly for you, for you alone; He is burning with the desire to enter your heart…so don't listen to the devil, mock him, and go without any fear to receive Jesus in peace and love!…. …what offends Him and what wounds His Heart is the lack of confidence!… Dear little sister, receive Communion often, very often…. That is the only remedy if you want to be healed, and Jesus hasn't placed this attraction in your soul for nothing. |
4-16-1 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 14-16-11 (The Little Way), 15-16-1 (Union with Jesus), 18-16-1 (Holy Communion), 50-16-4 (Jesus's Wounds, Pains and Tears) |
| 17 | GCI 665, Sept. 3, 1890, LC 137: from Sr. Agnes of Jesus. |
27-17-1 | …He isn't giving you any consolation because you are in His arms, and you are not walking, He is carrying you…. Does the child in its Father's arms need any other consolation?… and so I can picture Jesus carrying His little grain of sand, and, burdened with this light load, He is running in search of souls…. The little grain of sand stirs, it leaps when it sees some poor wounded lambs hidden in the bushes…. And Jesus is pleased with its desires. He saves the poor sinners with the help of His little grain of sand…. |
4-17-2 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 22-17-3 (Salvation of Souls), 29-17-6 (Consolation), 39-17-6 (Pauline) |
| 21 | GCII 882, Aug. 19, 1894, LT 169: to Celine. |
27-21-1 | …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), 37-21-3 (Time), 49-21-2 (Trinity) |
| 22 | SS 180. |
27-22-1 |
This year, June 9, the feast of the Holy Trinity, I
received the grace to understand
more than ever before how much Jesus desires to be loved. I was thinking about the souls who offer themselves as victims of God's Justice in order to turn away the punishments reserved to sinners, drawing them upon themselves. This offering seemed great and very generous to me, but I was far from feeling attracted to making it. From the depths of my heart, I cried out: “O my God! Will Your Justice alone find souls willing to immolate themselves as victims? Does not Your Merciful Love need them too? On every side this love is unknown, rejected; those hearts upon whom You would lavish it turn to creatures seeking happiness from them with their miserable affection; they do this instead of throwing themselves into Your arms and of accepting Your infinite Love. |
4-22-2 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 14-22-3 (The Little Way), 17-22-7 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-22-6 (Mercy of God, Graces) |
| 22 | SS 181. |
27-22-2 | …Ah! since that happy day, it seems to me that Love penetrates and surrounds me, that at each moment this Merciful Love renews me, purifying my soul and leaving no trace of sin within it, and I need have no fear of purgatory. I know that of myself I would not merit even to enter there, but I also know that the Fire of Love is more sanctifying than is the fire of purgatory. I know that Jesus cannot desire useless sufferings for us, and He would not inspire the longings I feel unless He wanted to grant them. Oh! how sweet is the way of Love! How I want to apply myself to doing the will of God always with the greatest self-surrender! |
2-22-4 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 14-22-4 (The Little Way), 16-22-7 (His Will, Perfection, Sanctity), 17-22-8 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity) |
| 23 | SS 198 -199. |
27-23-1 |
And yet after all these misdeeds, instead of going and hiding away
in a corner, to weep over its misery and to die of sorrow,
the little
bird turns towards its beloved Sun, presenting its wet wings to
its beneficent rays. It cries like a swallow and in its sweet song
it recounts in detail all its infidelities, thinking in the boldness
of its full trust that it will acquire in even greater fullness
the love of Him who came to call
not the just but sinners. (Matthew 9:11.)
And even if the Adorable Star remains deaf to the plaintive chirping
of the little creature, even if it remains hidden, well, the little
one will remain wet, accepting its numbness from the cold and rejoicing
in its suffering which it knows it deserves. O Jesus, Your little bird is happy to be weak and little…. |
4-23-1 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 8-23-3 (Weakness, Frailty), 10-23-3 (Littleness), 17-23-5 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 23-23-3 (The Joy of Sufferings) |
| 24 | SS 213 -214. |
27-24-1 | Ah! may Jesus pardon me if I have caused Him any pain, but He knows very well that while I do not have the joy of faith, I am trying to carry out its works at least. I believe I have made more acts of faith in this past year than all through my whole life. At each new occasion of combat, when my enemy provokes me, I conduct myself bravely. Knowing it is cowardly to enter into a duel, I turn my back on my adversary without deigning to look him in the face; but I run towards my Jesus. I tell Him I am ready to shed my blood to the last drop to profess my faith in the existence of heaven. I tell Him, too, I am happy not to enjoy this beautiful heaven on this earth so that he will open it for all eternity to poor unbelievers. |
2-24-5 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 42-24-1 (Works, Actions, Great Actions), 50-24-1 (Jesus's Wounds, Pains and Tears) |
| 24 | SS 214. |
27-24-2 | …Also, in spite of this trial which has taken away all my joy, I can nevertheless cry out: “You have given me DELIGHT, O Lord, in ALL your doings.” For is there a joy greater than that of suffering out of love for You? The more interior the suffering is and the less apparent to the eyes of creatures, the more it rejoices You, O my God! But if my suffering was really unknown to You, which is impossible, I would still be happy to have it, if through it I could prevent or make reparation for one single sin against faith. |
2-24-6 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 23-24-3 (The Joy of Sufferings) |
| 24 | SS 258 -259. |
27-24-3 |
…Most of all I imitate the conduct of Magdalene; her astonishing or
rather her loving audacity which charms the Heart of Jesus also attracts
my own. Yes, I feel it; even though I had on my conscience all the sins that can be committed, I would go, my heart broken with sorrow, and throw myself into Jesus' arms, for I know how much He loves the prodigal child who returns to Him. It is not because God, in His anticipating Mercy, has preserved my soul from mortal sin that I go to Him with confidence and love…. |
4-24-2 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 17-24-8 (Love Jesus, The Love of God, Charity), 24-24-5 (Mercy of God, Graces), 27-24-3 (Sinners, Sins), 45-24-2 (Magdalene) |
| 24 | GCII 1133, June 21, 1897 LT 247 to l'abbe Bell- iere |
27-24-4 |
…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 l ove even more. |
5-24-5 (Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation), 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), 34-24-2 (Repentence, Contrition), 45-24-3 (Magdalene) |
| 24 | GCII 1134, June 21, 1897 LT 247 to l'abbe Bell- iere |
27-24-5 | I know there are some saints who spent their life in the practice of astonishing mortifications to expiate their sins, but what of it; “there are many mansions in the house of heavenly Father,” (John 14:2.) Jesus has said, and it is because of this that I followed the way He is tracing out for me. I try to be no longer occupied with myself in anything, and I abandon myself to what Jesus sees fit to do in my soul, for I have not chosen an austere life to expiate my faults but those of others. |
4-24-5 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment), 7-24-10 (Renunciation, Forget Self), 14-24-12 (The Little Way), 22-24-7 (Salvation of Souls), 33-24-1 (Penance, Mortifications) |
| 24 | LC 71, July 3. |
27-24-6 |
2. I was confiding to her my thoughts of sorrow and discouragement after having
committed a fault: “You don't act like me. When I commit a fault that makes me sad, I know very well that this sadness is a consequence of my infidelity, but do you believe I remain there? Oh! no, I'm not so foolish! I hasten to say to God: My God, I know I have merited this feeling of sadness, but let me offer it up to You just the same as a trial that You sent me through love. I'm sorry for my sin, but I'm happy to have this suffering to offer to You.” |
2-24-35 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials) |
| 24 | LC 89, July 11. |
27-24-7 | “One could believe that it is because I haven't sinned that I have such great confidence in God. Really tell them, Mother, that if I had committed all possible crimes, I would always have the same confidence; I feel that this whole multitude of offenses would be like a drop of water thrown into a fiery furnace. You will then tell the story about the converted sinner who died of love; souls will understand immediately, for it's such a striking example of what I'm trying to say. However, these things cannot be expressed in words.” |
4-24-13 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment) |
| 24 | LC 104, July 20. |
27-24-8 | 3. “Mortal sin wouldn't withdraw my confidence from me; don't forget to tell the story of the sinful woman! This will prove that I'm not mistaken.” |
4-24-14 (Trust, Confidence, Abandonment) |
| 24 | LC 110, July 25. |
27-24-9 |
7. After she had confided several little
faults for which she reproached herself,
she asked me if she had offended God. I answered simply that these little sins
were nothing and that she had done me a lot of good in telling me about them;
she appeared very much touched and she said later: “When I was listening to you, I was reminded of Father Alexis; your own words penetrated my heart as much as his.” Then she began to cry; I gathered up these tears, drying them with a little piece of linen, which Sister Genevieve keeps as relic. |
|
| 24 | LC 147, August 12. |
27-24-10 |
3. “Ever since the ear of corn, my sentiments regarding myself are even lower. But
how great the grace is that I received this morning when the priest began the
Confiteor before giving me Communion, and all the Sisters continued. I saw Jesus
very close to giving Himself to me, and this confession appears to me as such
a necessary humiliation. ‘I confess to Almighty God, to Blessed Virgin Mary,
to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly ….’ Oh! yes, I said to myself,
they do well to beg pardon from God and all the saints for me at this moment ….
Like the publican, I felt I was a great sinner. I found
God to be so merciful! I
found it so touching to address oneself to the whole heavenly court to obtain
God's pardon through its intercession. Ah! I could hardly keep from crying, and
when the Sacred Host touched my lips, I was really moved. “How extraordinary it is to have experienced this at the Confiteor! I believe it's because of my present disposition; I feel so miserable! My confidence is not lessened, on the contrary; and the word ‘miserable’ is not exact, because I am rich with all the divine treasures; but it's exactly because of this that I humble myself even more. When I think of all the graces God gave me, I restrain myself so as not to shed tears of gratitude continually. “I believe the tears I shed this morning were tears of perfect contrition. Ah! how impossible it is to give oneself such sentiments! It is the Holy Spirit, who gives them, He who ‘breathes where he wills .’” (John 3:8.) |
2-24-58 (Sufferings, Sacrifices, Crosses, Trials), 12-24-14 (Humility, Humbleness), 14-24-28 (The Little Way), 18-24-1 (Holy Communion), 24-24-25 (Mercy of God, Graces), 26-24-1 (Confession), 34-24-3 (Repentence, Contrition), 38-24-3 (Disposition) |
| 24 | LC 161- 2, August 21. |
27-24-11 |
“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.’(Luke 2:50) And that
other no less mysterious statement: ‘His father
and mother marveled at what
was said about him.’(Luke 2:33) 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), 25-24-5 (Glory) |
| 24 | LC 164, August 22. |
27-24-12 |
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!” |
5-24-10 (Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation), 29-24-5 (Consolation) |