One of the things that so much popularized the little saint
was her autobiography, which she wrote out of Obedience. The book titled ‘Story
of a Soul’, has been a source of light and inspiration to many. Thus, she
merited the title of Doctor of the Church because of that simple but glorious writing.
Here are some of the extracts from the book and some other of
her writings that shows the spirit and life of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus,
who Pope St. Pius X described as the greatest saint of Modern time.
1.
“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice,
here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right
and doing it all for love.”
2.
“The world's thy ship and not thy home.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
3.
“Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just
what God wants us to be.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
4.
“I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful,
that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the
perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that
if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would no longer be
enamelled with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our lord's
living garden.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
5.
“When one loves, one does not calculate.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
6.
“God would never inspire me with desires which cannot be
realized; so in spite of my littleness, I can hope to be a saint.”
7.
“I know now that true charity consists in bearing all our neighbours’
defects--not being surprised at their weakness, but edified at their smallest
virtues.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
8.
“When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens,
I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus
9.
“My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice, these are my
invincible arms; they can move hearts far better than words, I know it by
experience.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
10.
“Then, overcome by joy, I cried, 'Jesus, my love. At last I
have found my vocation. My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my
mother, I will be love, and then I will be all things.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
11.
“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.”
12.
“Another time I was working in the laundry, and the Sister
opposite, while washing handkerchiefs, repeatedly splashed me with dirty water.
My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face, to show the offender I
should be glad if she would behave more quietly; but the next minute I thought
how foolish it was to refuse the treasures God offered me so generously, and I
refrained from betraying my annoyance. On the contrary, I made such efforts to
welcome the shower of dirty water, that at the end of half an hour I had taken
quite a fancy to this novel kind of aspersion, and I resolved to come as often
as I could to the happy spot where such treasures were freely bestowed.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
13.
“At first sight, it appears easy to do good to souls, to make
them love God more, and mould them according to one’s own ideas; but in
practice one finds that one can no more do good to souls without God’s help
than make the sun shine in the night.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
14.
“When Charity is deeply
rooted in the soul it shows itself exteriorly: there is so gracious a way of
refusing what we cannot give, that the refusal pleases as much as the gift”
-St. Theresa of the Child
Jesus.
15.
“I have not the courage to force myself to seek
beautiful prayers in books; not knowing which to choose I act as children do
who cannot read; I say quite simply to the good God what I want to tell Him,
and He always understands me."
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
16. “This childish incident was a
forecast, so to speak, of my whole life. Later on, when the way of perfection
was opened out before me, I realised that in order to become a Saint one must
suffer much, always seek the most perfect path, and forget oneself. I also
understood that there are many degrees of holiness, that each soul is free to
respond to the calls of Our Lord, to do much or little for His Love—in a word,
to choose amongst the sacrifices He asks. And then also, as in the days of my
childhood, I cried out: ‘My God, I choose everything, I will not be a Saint by
halves, I am not afraid of suffering for Thee, I only fear one thing, and that
is to do my own will. Accept the offering of my will, for I choose all that
Thou willest.”
-St.
Theresa of the Child Jesus.
17.
“That
evening at the hour when the sun seems to sink into the vast ocean, leaving
behind it a trail of glory, I sat with Pauline on a bare rock, and gazed for long
on this golden furrow which she told me was an image of grace illumining the
way of faithful souls here below. Then I pictured my soul as a tiny barque,
with a graceful white sail, in the midst of the furrow, and I resolved never to
let it withdraw from the sight of Jesus, so that it might sail peacefully and
quickly towards the Heavenly Shore.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
18. “O Jesus! Would that I could tell
all little souls of Thine ineffable condescension! I feel that if by any
possibility Thou couldst find one weaker than my own, Thou wouldst take delight
in loading her with still greater favours, provided that she abandoned herself
with entire confidence to Thine Infinite Mercy. But, O my Spouse, why these
desires of mine to make known the secrets of Thy Love? Is it not Thyself alone
Who hast taught them to me, and canst Thou not unveil them to others? Yea! I
know it, and this I implore Thee! . . . I ENTREAT THEE TO LET THY DIVINE EYES
REST UPON A VAST NUMBER OF LITTLE SOULS, I ENTREAT THEE TO CHOOSE, IN THIS
WORLD, A LEGION OF LITTLE VICTIMS OF THY LOVE.”
-St.
Theresa of the Child Jesus.
19. “The good God does
not need years to accomplish His work of love in a soul; one ray from His Heart
can, in an instant, make His flower bloom for eternity”
20. “Ah! since that
day love penetrates me and surrounds me; this Merciful Love each moment renews
and purifies me, leaving in my heart no trace of sin. No, I cannot fear
Purgatory; I know that I do not merit even to enter with the Holy Souls into
that place of expiation, but I know too that the fire of Love is more
sanctifying than the fire of Purgatory, I know that Jesus cannot will needless
suffering for us, and that He would not inspire me with the desires I feel if
He were unwilling to fulfil them.”
-St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.
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