Even when alone be cheerful, remembering always that you are in the sight of the angels.
-St. Therese
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Jesus, to me your love is more than maternal; at each moment you follow me, you watch over me.
-St. Therese Just as the sun shines at the same time on trees and flowers, like each one was the only one on earth, so does our Lord care for all souls in a special manner, as if they were each unique.
-St. Therese Sometimes, when I am in such a state of spiritual dryness that not a single good thougth accurs to me, I say very slowly the Our Father and the Hail Mary; and these prayers suffice to take me out of myself.
-St. Therese It is a comfort to remind ourselves that we don't have to make up long, elaborate and lengthy speeches to God, imploring him to come to our aid. This is especially helpful in times of spiritual dryness, or even just basic weariness. The Our Father, the prayer Jesus himself taught, and the Hail Mary, when we remember the Archangel Gabriel's salutation and invitation to Mary, will suffice. When we pray these two prayers, we pray with Jesus and Mary, which is always more than enough. Do not fear. The poorer you are, the more Jesus will love you. He will go far, very far, in search of you, if at times you wander off.
-St. Therese St. Therese continually emphasizes placing our trust in Jesus' ability to find and resue us, over our own abilities to come to Jesus. This was part of her "way of spiritual childhood." In fact, the "poorer" we are - in faith, in trust, in clarity - the more he will look for us. My actions, my little sufferings, can make God loved all over the world!
-St Therese St. Therese does something unique in her spiritual path. So often we think that suffering (be that events or situations) must be endured passively; that we must simply wait out our suffering with grace and whatever cheer we can muster. But St. Therese goes beyond that. She actively seeks opportunities for "small" sufferings, for little occasions that force herself to overcome herself. Surely these types of occasions come to all of us, frequently and often! St. Therese's "little way" was not to hide and wait. Instead, it was an active path of deliberately finding ways to offer sacrifice. This was not due to a sentimental understanding of suffering because she had not known real suffering, either. Remember that she lost her dearly loved mother to cancer and then her dearly loved sister left her to enter the convent. Then she herself was struck down with tuberculosis at a young age. St. Therese's "little way" gave her the key to turn all of this heartache into an offering that was deeply meaningful and full of purpose. She offered all of her suffering back to God so that he would be loved. She imitated, in her own little way, in the ordinary things of life, Jesus self-offering back to his Father. |
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