# Reading the Writings of Therese of the Child Jesus 2025 Prayers and Other Writings Table of Contents For 2025, the texts chosen are as follows: 3.c.1. Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6) 3.c.2. Living on Love (Poem 17) 3.c.3. Abandonment is the Sweet Fruit of Love (Poem 52) 3.c.4. Why I Love You, O Mary! (Poem 54) 3.c.5. To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165) 3.c.6. To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) 3.c.7. To Abbé Bellière, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258) 3.c.8. Yellow Notebook, 6/7/12 August 1897 ## Presentation Reading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Theresian anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings ### Introductory Summary: Presentation In 2023, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of Therese of the Child Jesus (2nd January 1873), as well as the first centenary of her beatification (29th April 1923); and in 2025, we will be celebrating the first centenary of her canonisation (17th May 1925). At this point, the General Chapter of the Discalced Carmelites, held in Rome from 30th August to 14th September 2021, decided to propose to the Order a series of readings of Saint Therese’s writings. The General Definitory, in order to carry out this decision, has collaborated with the Province of Paris to prepare a programme of readings and reflections on the autobiographical Manuscripts and other writings of Therese. This programme will preferably be carried out during community meetings. The writings have been di-vided up as follows: - Year 2023: Manuscript A - Year 2024: Manuscripts B and C - Year 2025: Prayers and other writings. Each year, eight texts will be chosen and proposed to you. They will be accompanied by a short commentary and a few questions aimed at encouraging reflection and dia-logue. The main goal is to make us aware of the relevance of Therese’s experience and her message for us today. Presentation 3It would be good to read and meditate on Therese’s text individually, before the community dialogue. The latter could unfold in the following manner. 1. Reading of the text. 2. One of those present, having prepared a contribution in advance, discusses the text using the commentary (and other aids, if necessary). 3. Community dialogue on the text, following the model below: 3a. What is the text saying? Understanding the content and initial meaning of Therese’s text. 3b. What does the text say to us today? Discern the present-day relevance (social, ecclesial, spiritual...) of the text. 3c. What does the text say to me/us? Consider the personal and community relevance of the text. The purpose of this process is to allow Therese to speak to us herself, to question and encourage us, and to open ourselves to allow her to clarify and confirm our own personal and community path. The questions sug-gested are only indicative, and could perhaps be used in individual meditation and community sharing. 4 PresentationFor 2025, the texts chosen are as follows: 3.c.1. Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6) 3.c.2. Living on Love (Poem 17) 3.c.3. Abandonment is the Sweet Fruit of Love (Poem 52) 3.c.4. Why I Love You, O Mary! (Poem 54) 3.c.5. To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165) 3.c.6. To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) 3.c.7. To Abbé Bellière, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258) 3.c.8. Yellow Notebook, 6/7/12 August 1897 Presentation 5 ### General Introduction We continue our reading of the writings of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus for a third year, and for this new year we are going to read various texts taken not from the Manuscripts that we have perused in the last two years, but texts taken from her prayers and her letters, a selection of eight encounters in the works of the saint. If Saint Therese is renowned for anything, it is of course firstly for her saintliness, but also for her writings published under the name of ‘Story of a Soul’. Their ac-cessibility and their depiction of daily life allow people to feel close to the saint. Mystical graces are not really present in these writings, the standard content is her daily life, and her spiritual intuitions are carried by the Holy Spirit. It is truly a holiness of the everyday, of little things performed in faith and hope, all lived in great charity. Most people read the three manuscripts, but do not venture much into the other works, which are nonetheless quite numerous. If one wants to understand Saint Therese better and discern her doctrine so as to become disciples of her ‘little way’, we need to discover some of the rest of her works. This year of 2025, centenary of her canonization, is a year offered to everyone, to be able to immerse themselves more in Saint Ther-ese’s other writings, to become more familiar with them and discover all her genius. You will realize of course that these 8 texts are only a tiny part of the works of Saint Therese of Lisieux. It would really be a huge ben-6 Presentationefit for every person to be able to plunge into all of her works, to make them bedside reading. In any case, we issue that invitation for this year of grace, in the com-pany of Saint Therese of Lisieux. ## Text 1: Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6) Reading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings **Text 1:** Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6) Suggestion for the community meeting: 1. Read the text together 2. One of those present, having prepared a contribution in advance, discusses the text using the commentary (and other aids, if necessary). 3. Community dialogue on the text. It would be helpful to have made individual readings and reflections on Therese’s text before the community meeting. ### Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6) J.M.J.T.** Offering of myself as a Victim of Holocaust to God’s Merciful Love O My God! Most Blessed Trinity, I desire to Love You and make you Loved, to work for the glory of Holy Church by saving souls on earth and liberating those suffering in purgatory. I de-sire to accomplish Your will perfectly and to reach the degree of glory You have prepared for me in Your Kingdom. I desire, in a word, to be a saint, but I feel my helplessness and I beg You, O my God! To be yourself my Sanctity. Since You loved me so much as to give me Your only Son as my Savior and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of His merits are mine. I offer them to You with gladness, begging You to look upon me only in the Face of Jesus and in His heart burning with Love. I offer You, too, all the merits of the saints (in heaven and on earth), their acts of Love, and those of the holy angels. Finally, I offer You, O Blessed Trinity! the Love and merits of the Bless-ed Virgin, my Dear Mother. It is to her I abandon my offering, begging her to present it to You. Her Divine Son, my Beloved Spouse, told us in the says of His mortal life: “Whatsoever you ask the Father in my name he will give it to you!” I am certain, then, that You will grant my desires; I know, O my God! that the more You want to give, the more You make us desire. I feel in my heart immense desires and it is with confidence I ask You to come and take possession of my soul. Ah! I cannot receive Holy Communion as often as I desire, but, Lord, are You not all-pow-erful? Remain in me as in a tabernacle and never separate Your-self from Your little victim. 4 Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6)I want to console You for the ingratitude of the wicked, and I beg of you to take away my freedom to displease You. If through weakness I sometimes fall, may Your Divine Glance cleanse my soul immediately, consuming all my imperfections like the fire that transforms everything into itself. I thank You, O my God! for all the graces You have granted me, especially the grace of making me pass through the cru-cible of suffering. It is with joy I shall contemplate You on the Last Day carrying the scepter of Your Cross. Since You deigned to give me a share in this very precious Cross, I hope in heaven to resemble You and to see shining in my glorified body the sacred stigmata of Your Passion. After earth’s Exile, I hope to go and enjoy You in the Fa-therland, but I do not want to lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for Your Love Alone with the one purpose of pleasing You, consoling Your Sacred Heart, and saving souls who will love You eternally. In the evening of this life, I shall appear before You with empty hands, for I do not ask You, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is stained in Your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in Your own Justice and to receive from Your Love the eternal pos-session of Yourself. I want no other Throne, no other Crown but You, my Beloved! Time is nothing in Your eyes, and a single day is like a thousand years. You can, then, in one instant prepare me to ap-pear before You. In order to live in one single act of perfect Love, I OFFER MYSELF AS A VICTIM OF HOLOCAUST TO YOUR MERCI-FUL LOVE, Asking You to consume me incessantly, allowing the Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6) 5waves of infinite tenderness shut up within You to overflow into my soul, and that thus I may become a martyr of Your Love, O my God! May this martyrdom, after having prepared me to appear before You, finally cause me to die and may my soul take its flight without any delay into the eternal embrace of Your Merciful Love. I want, O my Beloved, at each beat of my heart to renew this offering to You an infinite number of times, until the shadows having disappeared I may be able to tell You of my Love in an Eternal Face to Face! Marie, Françoise, Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, unworthy Carmelite religious. This 9th day of June, Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, In the year of grace, 1895 ### Introduction to the Text We are starting this new cycle with a prayer that you probably know well, it is long and also full of rich teachings. We know that in October, 1894, Saint Therese discovered the key elements that were essential to her ‘little way’: childhood and mercy. At the end of 1895, Saint Therese re-turns in her Manuscript A (Ms. A, 84r), to the illumination of 9th June, 1895 (which, according to her sister Geneviève, occurred during the Eucharist). She abandoned herself in the secret of her heart during the Mass of 9th June, but she al-ready knew that this grace was not for her alone. Shortly after her Oblation to Merciful Love, Saint Therese was to draw in her sister Marie of the Sacred Heart. Some months later, it was to be ‘her’ novice Sister Marie of the Trinity who would make her Oblation, on 1st December of that same year of 1895. Questions and objections from the first disciples, and particularly her own spiritual experience, which was con-stantly evolving, led Therese to clarify the content and meaning of her offering. For that, it would be interesting to reread her dialogue in September, 1996 with Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart (Ms. B, 2r/5r). Spiritual childhood and oblation to merciful Love are henceforth inextricably linked in her doctrine. This Act of Oblation, pronounced the 9th June, Sunday of the Holy Trinity that year, certainly accentuated the strongly trinitarian nature of the prayer. Concerning the term ‘Vic-tim of Holocaust’, Therese had received extensive religious Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6) 7instruction and knew the different forms of sacrifice in the Old Testament. This term comes from Wisdom 3:6, found in Celine’s scripture notebook, copied for Therese. Concerning the term ‘Merciful Love’, this is the first time Therese uses it. It refers each time to the merciful love of Jesus. Therese’s oblation, however personal for her, was made as part of the Church, in that communion of saints which de-lighted her with joy and hope. In 1896-1897, Therese had to incorporate into her Obla-tion to Merciful Love a dimension of pain that was not foreseen at the start. The morning of 9th June, 1895, she was car-ried by joy alone. We know how, at first, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart refused the Oblation as a victim of love out of fear of suffering. ### For Community Discussion 1. What is the text saying? Understanding the content and initial meaning of Therese’s text. 2. What does the text say to us today? Discern the present-day relevance (social, ecclesial, spiritual...) of the text. 3. What does the text say to me/us? Consider the personal and community relevance of the text. The purpose of this process is to allow Therese to speak to us herself, to question and encourage us, and to open us up to her clarifying and confirming our own personal and community path. The questions suggested are only indicative, and could perhaps be used in individual meditation and community sharing. Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6) 9Questions: 1. What are the objects of Therese’s desire at the start of the prayer? Do we also have great desires, immense desires? Let us share our desires with each other. 2. How do we understand or desire or experience what Therese expresses by ‘empty hands’? In our apostolate or our work, do we really have ‘empty hands’? 3. In the Act of Oblation itself at the end, what is most striking to us and why? What are Therese’s essential attitudes? In what way could this prayer be considered as the expression of spiritual maturity? What does it mean to be spiritually mature? 4. This prayer is like a summary of the little way; is this a way which attracts us? If so, how are we living it out? 10 Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6)General Curia of the Teresian Carmel www.discalcedcarmelite.com 12 Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (Prayer 6) Design by Lorenzo Barone OCDSReading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings ## Text 2 Living on Love (Poem 17) Reading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings Text 2: Living on Love (Poem 17) Suggestion for the community meeting: 1. Read the text together 2. One of those present, having prepared a contribution in advance, discusses the text using the commentary (and other aids, if necessary). 3. Community dialogue on the text. It would be helpful to have made individual readings and reflections on Therese’s text before the community meeting. ### Living on Love (Poem 17) Living on Love 1. On the evening of Love, speaking without a parable Jesus said: “If someone wants to love me All his life, let him keep my Word My father and I will come to visit it. And of his heart making our home Coming to him, we will always love him! Filled with peace, we want him to stay In our Love!...” 2. To live on Love is to keep yourself Uncreated Word, Word of my God, Ah! you know it, divine Jesus, I love you The Spirit of Love sets me ablaze with its fire It is by loving you that I attract the Father My weak heart guards it without return. O Trinity! you are a prisoner of my Love!..... 3. To live on Love is to live from your life, Glorious King, delight of the elect. You live for me, hidden in a host I want to hide myself for you, O Jesus! Lovers need solitude A heart to heart that lasts night and day Your only look makes my bliss I live on Love!... 4. Living on Love is not on earth Set up your tent at the top of Tabor. With Jesus is to climb Calvary, It is to regard the Cross as a treasure!... In Heaven I must live of enjoyment 4 Living on Love (Poem 17)Then the trial will have fled forever But exiled I want in suffering to Live on love. 5. To live on Love is to give without measure Without claiming wages here below Ah! without counting, I give being sure That when one loves, one does not calculate!... To the Divine Heart, overflowing with tenderness I gave it my all.... lightly I run I have nothing left but my only wealth Live on love. 6. To live on Love is to banish all fear Any remembrance of past faults. Of my sins I see no trace, In an instant love burned everything... Divine flame, O most sweet Furnace! In your hearth I fix my stay It is in your fires that I sing at my ease: “I live on Love!...” 7. To live on Love is to keep within oneself A great treasure in a mortal vessel My Beloved, my weakness is extreme Ah, I am far from being an angel from heaven!... But if I fall with each passing hour Picking me up you come to my aid, Every moment you give me your grace I live on Love. 8. To live on Love is to navigate ceaselessly Sowing peace, joy in all hearts Pilot Aimé, Charity urges me Living on Love (Poem 17) 5Because I see you in the souls my sisters Charity is my only star In its clarity I sail without detour I have my motto written on my sail: “Live on love.” 9. Living on Love, when Jesus sleeps Is rest on the stormy waves Oh! do not be afraid, Lord, that I will awaken you I wait in peace for the shore of heaven.... Faith will soon tear its veil My hope is to see you one day Charity swells and pushes my sail I live on Love!... 10. To live on Love is, O my Divine Master Begging you to spread your fires In the holy and sacred soul of your Priest May he be purer than a seraph of heaven!... Ah! glorify your Immortal Church To my sighs, Jesus, don’t be deaf Me, her child, I immolate myself for her I live on Love. 11. To live on Love is to wipe your Face It is to obtain forgiveness from sinners O God of Love! may they come into your grace And may they bless your name forever... Until my heart resounds blasphemy To erase it, I always want to sing: “Your Sacred Name, I adore it and I Love it I live on Love!...” 6 Living on Love (Poem 17)12. To live on Love is to imitate Mary, Bathed in tears, in precious perfumes, Your divine feet, which she kisses delighted Wiping them with her long hair... Then rising, she breaks the vase Your Sweet Face it embalms in its turn. Me, the perfume with which I perfume your Face It’s my love!.... 13. “To live on Love, what strange madness!” The world tells me, “Ah! stop singing, Don’t waste your perfumes, your life, Usefully know how to use them!...» To love you, Jesus, what a fruitful loss!... All my perfumes are yours without return, I want to sing out of this world: “I am dying of Love!” 14. Dying of Love is a very sweet martyrdom And it’s the one I would like to suffer, O Cherubim! tune your lyre, Because I feel it, my exile will end!.... Flame of Love, consume me ceaselessly Live for a moment, your burden is very heavy for me! Divine Jesus, realize my dream: Die of Love!... 15. To die of love is my hope When I see my bonds breaking My God will be my Great Reward I don’t want to own anything else. Of his Love I want to be set ablaze I want to see Him, unite myself to Him always Here is my Heaven... here is my destiny: Live on love!!!... ### Introduction to the Text One cannot fail to be struck by the note of gravity in the fervour of this poem of love, written the 26th February 1895, some months before her Act of Oblation to Merciful Love. This poem is spontaneous, not produced in response to a particular request or on the occasion of a liturgical feast or the feast of one of the community sisters. ‘Living on love – Dying of love’, this is the heart of this great meditation of Therese’s at the time when she was beginning her manuscripts (Manuscript A was written in 1895, for the feast of her prioress and blood sister on 21st January 1896). The poem is doubtless dominated by a fashion of the time, when romances would use and abuse the leitmotif: here ‘Living on love is...’ which is repeated over and over. The poem ‘Living on Love’ was born in a single outflow during the long moments of adoration in the choir, in the presence of the Holy Sacrament exposed for the three days of Forty Hours (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday). Two by two, the sisters replaced each other every hour before the monstrance. Only the sanctuary was illuminated, and it is in this context that this poem flowed from Therese’s soul. While the first stanza is expressed in trinitarian mode, the second also brings in the three divine Persons, but in such a way that Jesus is at the heart of the Trinity. After that, nothing is said but of Jesus alone. 8 Living on Love (Poem 17)Stanza 4, from Tabor to Calvary, comes from an intervention by Sister Genevieve, who said to her sister Therese: ‘It’s beautiful, I say, but incomplete: you need a stanza on this theme: Living on Love is not to attach one’s tent to the summit of Tabor while on earth...’ Therese accepted this suggestion with good humour, even with gratitude. Stanza 11: ‘Wipe away blasphemy with love’ shows the image of Veronica wiping Jesus’ Face, symbolising the love which ‘wipes away’ blasphemy. Stanza 12 takes us from Saint Veronica to Saint Mary Magdalen. In Stanza 14, Therese is already hardly on earth any more, being completely oriented towards Heaven. ### For Community Discussion 1. What is the text saying? Understanding the content and initial meaning of Therese’s text. 2. What does the text say to us today? Discern the present-day relevance (social, ecclesial, spiritual...) of the text. 3. What does the text say to me/us? Consider the personal and community relevance of the text. The purpose of this process is to allow Therese to speak to us herself, to question and encourage us, and to open us up to her clarifying and confirming our own personal and community path. The questions suggested are only indicative, and could perhaps be used in individual meditation and community sharing. Living on Love (Poem 17) 9Questions: 1. Note the dynamic of the poem, totally based on the first stanza. Distinguish the two principal movements of the poem. What structure could one suggest for this poem? 2. What Gospel scenes come to mind when reading the stanzas of the poem? 3. How does Therese express in depth the Mysteries of faith and the dimensions of human existence (Eucharist, Pascal mystery, Reconciliation, Grace, Mercy, Mission of the Church, Liturgy, Suffering, Theologal virtues...)? 4. What is the essential spiritual combat as seen in the light of this poem? What is the spiritual combat of our world of today? What can Therese say to our world? 10 Living on Love (Poem 17)General Curia of the Teresian Carmel www.discalcedcarmelite.com 12 Living on Love (Poem 17) Design by Lorenzo Barone OCDSReading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings Text 3: Abandonment is the delicious fruit of love (Poem 52)Reading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings ## Text 3 Abandonment Is the Delicious Fruit of Love (Poem 52) Abandonment is the delicious fruit of love (Poem 52) Suggestion for the community meeting: 1. Read the text together 2. One of those present, having prepared a contribution in advance, discusses the text using the commentary (and other aids, if necessary). 3. Community dialogue on the text. It would be helpful to have made individual readings and reflections on Therese’s text before the community meeting. ### Abandonment Is the Delicious Fruit of Love (Poem 52) Abandonment is the delicious fruit of love (Poem 52) | | | |---|---| |1. There is on this earth|7. Only Surrender Delivers Me| |A marvelous tree|In your arms, oh Jesus| |Its root, O mystery!|It is he who makes me live| |Is in Heaven....|Of the lives of the elect.| |2. Never under its shade|8. To you I surrender myself| |Can anything hurt,|O my Divine Spouse| |There without fear of the storm|And I am not ambitious| |We can rest.|But for your gaze so sweet.| |3. of this Ineffable Tree|9. I want to smile at you| |Love is the name,|falling asleep on your heart| |And its delectable fruit|I want to say it again| |Is called Abandonment.|How I love you, Lord!| |4. This fruit from this life|10. Like the daisy| |gives me happiness|With the vermilion chalice| |My soul is happy|Me little flower| |By its divine smell.|I open myself to the sun.| |5. This fruit when I touch it|11. My Sweet Sun of Life| |Seems like a treasure to me|O my Loving King| |Bringing it to my mouth|It is your Divine Host| |It is even sweeter to me.|Little like me...| |6. It gives me in this world|12. Of his Celestial Flame| |An ocean of peace|The bright ray| |In this deep peace|Gives birth in my soul| |I rest forever...|To the perfect Surrender.| Abandonment is the delicious fruit of love J M. J T. 31st May 189713. All Creatures can leave me I will know without complaint Near you I can do without. 14. What If You Leave Me O my divine treasure Deprived of your caresses I want to smile still. 15. In Peace I Will await Sweet Jesus, your return And never suspend My songs of love. 16. No, nothing worries me Nothing can trouble me Higher than the lark My soul knows how to fly. 17. Above the Clouds The sky is always blue We touch the shores Where the Good Lord reigns. 18. I Await in Peace the glory of that heavenly abode Because I find in the Ciborium The sweet Fruit of Love! ### Introduction to the Text This poem dates from May 31st, 1897, and unlike the preceding one (Text 2 – Poem 17), was requested explicitly by Sister Ther-ese of Saint Augustine. It was she who had forced Therese’s hand to her first composition in 1893 (Poem 1: The Divine Dew or The Virginal Milk of Mary). As virtuous as she was rigid, this sister had made the vow of abandonment to God’s good pleasure. In the first three stanzas, we find the symbol of the tree, which is rare for Therese. For her, it never evokes the cross of Je-sus, as is usual in Christian literature. Here it is both the Paradise of Genesis and Song of Songs. In Stanzas 4, 5 and 6, the delectable fruit is the antithesis of that in Genesis. One can touch it without fear and eat of it, it will not bring the disorder of sin and death, but rather an ‘ocean of peace’ and ‘from this life gives me happiness’. Abandonment is the delicious fruit of love (Poem 52) 5Stanzas 7, 8 and 9 bring us into the abandonment of love. Abandonment here is delicious, its force and authenticity come from the fact that it is combined with passive abandonment and relinquishment. Stanzas 10, 11 and 12 show us the Eucharist as the source of abandonment. Stanzas 13, 14 and 15 connect abandonment and relinquishmeant, a theme begun a few stanzas earlier. Therese discreetly al-ludes to her spiritual trial. The poem concludes with stanzas 16, 17 and 18, with the vic-torious liberty of love. The same day, Mother Agnes cites stanza 17 and speaks of a ‘more powerful attraction to Heaven’ (Letter of correspondents of Therese, LC 182). ### For Community Discussion 1. What is the text saying? Understanding the content and initial meaning of Therese’s text. 2. What does the text say to us today? Discern the present-day relevance (social, ecclesial, spiritual...) of the text. 3. What does the text say to me/us? Consider the personal and com-munity relevance of the text. The purpose of this process is to allow Therese to speak to us herself, to question and encourage us, and to open us up to her clarifying and confirming our own personal and community path. The questions suggested are only indicative, and could perhaps be used in individual meditation and community sharing. ### Questions 1. This poem, one of Therese’s last, has 18 stanzas. One way to structure this poem is to divide it into 6 parts, each with 3 stanzas: what title could I give to each part? 2. 3. 4. What are the principal effects of Abandonment for Therese? This poem evokes in many ways the Mystery of the Eucharist: how does Therese understand this Mystery? What essential fruit does it produce in her life? What is our own relationship to the Eucharist, could we join with Therese in this? This poem by Therese could be seen as a spiritual testament, where she deepens the meaning of true abandonment. See Letters 226, 258 and 263 from the same period. ‘Perfect abandonment, that’s my only law’ (Poem 32). How do we experience this abandonment? How can we describe it? Does this impulse occupy a central place in our spiritual life and our apostolic activities? Abandonment is the delicious fruit of love (Poem 52) 7General Curia of the Teresian Carmel www.discalcedcarmelite.com 8 Abandonment is the delicious fruit of love (Poem 52) Design by Lorenzo Barone OCDSReading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings ## Text 4 Why I Love You, o Mary! (Poem 54) Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54) Reading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings Text 4: Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54) Suggestion for the community meeting: 1. Read the text together 2. One of those present, having prepared a contribution in advance, discusses the text using the commentary (and other aids, if necessary). 3. Community dialogue on the text. It would be helpful to have made individual readings and reflections on Therese’s text before the community meeting. ### Why I Love You, o Mary! (Poem 54) Why I Love You, O Mary! JMJT May 1897 (Air: Why did you deliver me the other day, oh my Mother) 1. Oh! I would like to sing, Mary, why I love you Why does your name so sweet make my heart leap And why the thought of your supreme greatness Could not inspire fear in my soul. If I contemplated you in your sublime glory And surpassing the brilliance of all the blessed That I’m your child I couldn’t believe O Mary, in front of you, I would lower my eyes!... 2. It is necessary for a child to cherish his mother May she cry with him, share his pains O my dear Mother, on the foreign shore To attract me to you, how many tears you shed!.... By meditating your life in the Holy Gospel I dare to look at you and approach you; Believing me your child is not difficult for me For I see you mortal and suffering like me... 3. When an angel from Heaven offers you to be the Mother Of the God who shall reign for all eternity I see you prefer, O Mary, what a mystery! The ineffable treasure of virginity. I understand that your soul, O Immaculate Virgin Is dearer to the Lord than the divine abode I understand that your soul, Humble and Sweet Valley Can contain Jesus, the Ocean of Love!... Oh! I love you, Mary, saying you are the servant Of the God whom you ravish by your humility. This hidden virtue makes you all-powerful. It draws the Holy Trinity into your heart. So the Spirit of Love overshadowing you The Son equal to the Father in you became incarnate.... Of his sinning brethren great will be the number Since we must call him: Jesus, your firstborn!... 5. O beloved Mother, despite my smallness Like you I have in me the Almighty But I do not tremble when I see my weakness: The mother’s treasure belongs to the child And I am your child, oh my dear Mother, Your virtues, your love, are they not mine? Also when in my heart descends the white Host Jesus, your Sweet Lamb, believes that he rests in you!... 6. You make me feel it, it’s not impossible To follow in your footsteps, O Queen of the elect, The narrow way to Heaven, you made it visible By always practising the humblest virtues. With you, Mary, I like to stay small, Of the grandeurs of here below I see the vanity, With Saint Elisabeth, receiving your visit, I am learning to practise ardent charity. 7. There I listen delighted, Sweet Queen of Angels To the sacred song that springs from your heart. You teach me to sing divine praises To glory in Jesus my Saviour. Your words of love are mystical roses, Which must embalm the centuries to come. In you the Almighty has done great things, I want to meditate on them, in order to bless him.Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54) 58. When the good Saint Joseph knew not the miracle That you wished to hide in your humility, You let him cry near the Tabernacle Which veils the divine beauty of the Saviour!... Oh! that I love, Mary, your eloquent silence, For me it’s a soft and melodious concert That tells me of the greatness and omnipotence Of a soul that awaits help only from the Heavens... 9. Later in Bethlehem, O Joseph and Mary! I see you shunned by all the locals No one wants to receive in his hotel Poor foreigners, the place is for the big ones..... The place is for the big ones - and it’s in a stable That the Queen of Heaven must give birth to a God. O my dear Mother, how lovable I find you How great I find you in such a poor place!.... 10. When I see the Lord wrapped in swaddling clothes When from the Divine Word I hear the faint cry O my dear Mother, I no longer envy the angels For their Mighty Lord is my beloved Brother!... How I love you, Mary, you who on our shores Have made this Divine Flower bloom!........ How I love you listening to the shepherds and the Magi And guarding with care all things in your heart!... 11. I love you mingling with the other women Who towards the holy temple directed their steps, I love you presenting the Savior of our souls To the blessed Old Man who presses him in his arms, At first smiling I listen to his song, But soon his accents make me shed tears. Gazing prophetically into the future Simeon offers you a sword of sorrows.6 Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54)12. O Queen of martyrs, until the evening of your life This painful sword will pierce your heart, Already you have to leave the soil of your homeland To avoid a king’s jealous fury. Jesus sleeps in peace under the folds of your veil Joseph comes to ask you to leave at once And your obedience is immediately revealed You leave without any delay and without reasoning. 13. In the land of Egypt, it seems to me, O Mary Your heart remains joyful in poverty, For is not Jesus the most beautiful Homeland, What does exile matter to you, you own the Heavens?... But in Jerusalem, a bitter sadness Like a vast ocean comes to flood your heart Jesus, for three days, hides from your tenderness, So that is true exile in all its rigour!... 14. Finally you see him and joy transports you, You say to the beautiful Child who charms the doctors: “O my Son, why do you act like this?” “Here are your father and I who were looking for you in tears.” And the Child God answers (oh what a deep mystery!) To the dear Mother who stretches out her arms towards him: “Why were you looking for me?... For the works of my Father “I have to work; don’t you know that?” 15. The Gospel teaches me that growing in wisdom To Joseph, to Mary, Jesus remains submissive And my heart reveals to me with what tenderness He always obeys his dear parents. Now I understand the mystery of the temple, The hidden words of my Lovable King. Mother, your sweet Child wants you to be the example Of the soul that seeks Him in the night of faith.Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54) 716. Since the King of Heaven wanted his Mother Plunged into the night, into the anguish of the heart; Mary, is it therefore good to suffer on earth? Yes, to suffer while loving, it is the purest happiness!... Everything He gave me Jesus can take it back Tell him never to bother with me... He may well be hiding, I agree to wait for him Until the day without sunset when my faith will be extinguished.... 17. I know that in Nazareth, Mother full of graces You live very poor, wanting nothing more No raptures, miracles or ecstasies Embellish your life, O Queen of the Chosen!.... The number of little ones is great on earth They can raise their eyes to you without trembling It is by the common way, incomparable Mother That you like to walk to guide them to Heaven. 18. Waiting for Heaven, O my dear Mother, I want to live with you, follow you every day Mother, contemplating you, I immerse myself with delight, Discovering in your heart abysses of love. Your maternal gaze banishes all my fears It teaches me to cry, it teaches me to rejoice. Instead of despising the pure and holy joys You want to share them, you deign to bless them. 19. Seeing the concern of the newly-weds of Cana That they can’t hide, because they’re running out of wine, To the Saviour you tell it in your solicitude, Hoping for help from his divine power. Jesus seems at first to push back your prayer “What does it matter,” He replies, “woman, to you and to me?” But deep in his heart, he calls you his Mother, And his first miracle, He works it for you...8 Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54)20. A day that sinners are listening to the teaching Of Him who would like to receive them in Heaven, I find you with them, Mary, on the hill. Someone tells Jesus that you would like to see him, So your Divine Son in front of the whole crowd, Of his love for us shows the immensity He said, “Who is my brother and my sister and my Mother? “If not he who does my will?” 21. O Immaculate Virgin, the most tender of mothers, Listening to Jesus, you don’t get sad But you rejoice that He makes us understand That our soul becomes his family here below Yes, you rejoice that he gives us his life, The infinite treasures of his divinity!... How not to love you, oh my dear Mother Seeing so much love and so much humility? 22. You love us, Mary, as Jesus loves us And you consent for us to distance you from Him. To love is to give everything and to give oneself You wanted to prove it by remaining our support. The Savior knew your immense tenderness He knew the secrets of your maternal heart, Refuge of sinners, it is to you that He leaves us When He leaves the Cross to wait for us in Heaven. 23. Mary, you appear to me at the top of Calvary Standing by the cross, like a priest at the altar Offering to appease the justice of the Father Your beloved Jesus, sweet Emmanuel... A prophet said so, O desolate Mother, “There is no pain like your pain!” O Queen of Martyrs, remaining in exile You lavish on us all the blood of your heart! Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54) 924. The house of Saint John becomes your only asylum The son of Zebedee is to replace Jesus..... This is the last detail that the Gospel gives, Of the Queen of Heaven it no longer speaks to me. But his deep silence, oh my dear Mother Does it not reveal that the Eternal Word Wants Himself to sing the secrets of your life To charm your children, all the Elect of Heaven? 25. Soon I will hear this sweet harmony Soon in the beautiful Heaven, I’ll go to see you You who came to smile at me in the morning of my life. Come and smile at me again... Mother... It is the evening now!... I no longer fear the brilliance of your supreme glory With you I suffered and now I want To sing on your lap, Mary, about why I love you And say forever that I am your child!...... Little Therese ### Introduction to the Text Therese, already very sick, confides to her sister Ce-line: ‘I still have something to do before I die. I have always dreamed of writing a song to the Holy Virgin that would ex-press all that I think of her.’ (Apostolic Process, Rome, 268). It is her last poem, like a will. Therese signs it with a failing hand, a humble and moving finale to her entire poetic work. In May 1897, she had begun to realize that her writings, including her poetry, would probably be diffused. She considered her thoughts on Mary to be an integral part of the significant work under preparation, perhaps the crowning achievemeant. Therese will give here the reasons for her filial love for Mary. In gathering together here her thoughts on the Virgin, she is not giving a list of ideas, but the fruit of her meditation and of her personal relationship with the Virgin Mary. The request that Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart makes of her along the same lines therefore anticipates an extremely deep desire of Therese herself. Sister Genevieve was right to note that Therese composed this swan-song ‘by herself, in every sense of the word’. It is in prayer that this long poem should be received. It is a sort of liturgical hymn of 200 alexandrines, composed during the month of May, 1997 (4 months before her death). With regard to the Virgin Mary, the only thing that con-cerns her is her real life, rather than her life as imagined! She instinctively turns to the Gospels, her only source of inspiration from then on. Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54) 11Her heart-based understanding had been refined in re-cent months in a thousand ways, but especially in two areas: the mystery of suffering, under the mill-wheel of trial; and the extent of the requirements of charity, resulting in special lights. The whole being wrapped in silence. Her eyes fixed on Mary, Therese made silence the great rampart of her whole contemplative life. It was stronger than ever in the night of faith. In the last stanza, number 25, we can see hope being pointed to in the heart of her great suffering. We see all the themes of her filial love resumed in the single: ‘She is my Mother!’ On 8th July, 1897, on transferring downstairs to the infirmary, Therese finds the Virgin of the Smile there to wel-come her. An hour before her death on 30th September, she gazed at her for a long time. ### For Community Discussion 1. What is the text saying? Understanding the content and initial meaning of Therese’s text. 2. What does the text say to us today? Discern the present-day relevance (social, ecclesial, spiritual...) of the text. 3. What does the text say to me/us? Consider the personal and community relevance of the text. The purpose of this process is to allow Therese to speak to us herself, to question and encourage us, and to open us up to her clarifying and confirming our own personal and community path. The questions suggested are only indicative, and could perhaps be used in individual meditation and community sharing. ### Questions 1. This last poem of Therese (May, 1897) is also one of the longest. It was difficult to select just a few parts. After reading it, and after a time of prayer with the Virgin Mary and Therese, what is the principal tenor of the relationship between Therese and the Virgin Mary? 2. ‘The mother’s treasure belongs to the child’: is it in this spirit that we experience our relationship with the Virgin Mary? What above all depends on us in our relationship with the Virgin Mary? 3. How should we live out our trials, our sufferings, our wounds with Mary? What is the principal acceptance that is nourished by our relationship with Mary? 4. ‘The Holy Virgin... Ah! What could I tell you? She’s my Mother!!!’ (RP. 8, 5). ‘How could I be afraid of someone that I love so much?’ (CJ, 7.7.1). We could share with each other on the place held by the Virgin Mary at the heart of our daily life. 14 Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54)General Curia of the Teresian Carmel www.discalcedcarmelite.com 16 Why I love You, O Mary! (Poem 54) Design by Lorenzo Barone OCDSReading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 ## Text 5 to Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165) To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165) Reading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings Text 5: To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165) Suggestion for the community meeting: 1. Read the text together 2. One of those present, having prepared a contribution in advance, discusses the text using the commentary (and other aids, if necessary). 3. Community dialogue on the text. It would be helpful to have made individual readings and reflections on Therese’s text before the community meeting. ### To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165) July 7, 1894. My dear Celine, Léonie’s letter worries us a lot... Ah! how unhappy she will be if she returns to the world! But I confess to you that I hope it’s only a temptation, you have to pray a lot for her. The good Lord can give her what she lacks... Our Mother is on a long retreat, so she is not going to write to you, she is thinking a lot of you and of Mary, she is going to pray a lot for her two little girls. I don’t know if you’re still in the same frame of mind as the other day, but I’m going to tell you anyway about a passage from the Song of Songs which perfectly expresses the state of a soul plunged into dryness and which nothing can rejoice or con-sole: “I went down to the garden of walnut trees, to see the fruits of the valley, to consider whether the vine had blossomed; and if pomegranates had grown... I no longer knew where I was... my soul was troubled because of the chariots of Aminadab” (chap. vi, verses x and xi...). This is indeed the image of our souls; often we descend into the fertile valleys where our heart loves to nourish itself, the vast field of scriptures which has so often opened before us to spread its rich treasures in our favour, this vast field seems to us to be an arid desert without water... We don’t even know where we are anymore, instead of peace and light we only find trouble or at least darkness... But like the bride we know the cause of our trial. Our soul is disturbed by the chariots of Aminadab... We are not yet in our homeland and the trial must purify us like gold in the crucible, we sometimes believe ourselves abandoned, alas! 4 To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165)Are the chariots, the meaningless noises which afflict us within us or outside of us? we do not know... but Jesus knows it well, He sees our sadness and suddenly his sweet voice is heard, a voice sweeter than the breath of spring: “Return, return, O Shulam-mite, return, return, that we may look upon you.! ‘’ (Song, Ch. 6, 5, 12). Such a call from our Spouse!... And what! We no longer dared even look at ourselves, we think we are so lacking in at-traction or adornment and Jesus is calling us, He wants to look upon us at leisure; but not only He, the other two persons of the Holy Trinity are coming with Him to take possession of our soul...Jesus had promised it long ago when he was about to ascend to his Father and our Father; He said with ineffable tenderness: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home in him.” Keeping the word of Jesus is the only condition of our happiness, the proof of our love for Him. But what is this word?... It seems to me that the word of Jesus is Himself... Him Jesus, the Word, the Word of God!... He tells us this later in the same Gospel of St John, praying to his Father for his disciples. He expresses himself thus: “Sanctify them by your word, your word is truth”; in another place Jesus teaches us that He is the way, the truth, the life. So we know what is the Word that we must keep; we will not ask Jesus, like Pilate, “What is Truth?” We have it, the Truth. We keep Jesus in our hearts!... Many times as the Bride we can say, “Our Belov-ed is a bunch of myrrh,” that He is a bridegroom of blood to us... But how sweet it will be for us to hear one day these sweet words come from the mouth of our Jesus: “It is you who have remained constantly with me in all the trials that I have had, so I have pre-pared for you my kingdom as my Father has prepared it for me (gospel). The trials of Jesus, what a mystery! So he has trials too? Yes, He has and often He is alone treading the wine in the press, He is looking for comforters and cannot find any... Many serve Jesus when He consoles them, but few consent to keep company with Jesus sleeping on the waves or suffering in the garden of agony!... Who would want to serve Jesus for Himself?... Ah! it will To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165) 5be us... Celine and Therese will unite more and more, in them will be fulfilled this prayer of Jesus: “My Father, may they be one as we are one.” Yes, Jesus is already preparing his kingdom for us, as his Father has prepared it for him. He prepares it for us by leaving us in the trial, He wants our face to be seen by creatures, but that it is hidden so that no one recognizes us but He alone!... But also what happiness to think that the Good God, the entire Trinity is watching us, that it is within us and enjoys looking upon us. But what does the Trinity want to see in our heart? if not “music choirs in an army camp?” (Song ch. vii, v. 1) “How then can we sing the songs of the Lord in a foreign land?... For a long time our harps have been suspended from the willows of the shore. We cannot use them!’’... Our God, the guest of our soul knows this well, so He comes to us with the intention of finding a home, an EMPTY tent in the midst of the battlefield of the earth. He asks only that and He Himself is the Divine Musician who takes care of the concert... Ah! If we could hear this ineffable harmony, if a single vibration reached our ears! “We don’t know how to ask for anything properly, but it is the Spirit who asks in us with groans that cannot be expressed” (St Paul). We therefore have only to deliver our soul, to abandon it to our great God. What does it matter then that it is without gifts that shine on the outside since within shines the King of Kings with all his glory! How great a soul must be to contain a God!... and yet the soul of a day-old child is a Paradise of delights to him, what will it be like for ours who have struggled, suffered to steal the heart of their Beloved?... -------My darling Céline, I assure you that I don’t know what I’m telling you, it shouldn’t have any sequel, but it seems to me that you’re going to understand all the same!... I would like to tell you so many things!... 6 To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165)Don’t answer me a long letter to tell me about your soul, a single short word will suffice, I prefer that you write a very amusing letter for everyone. The good Lord wants me to forget myself, to give pleasure. I kiss my good Uncle, my dear Aunt, and my little Sister. For my darling Papa, I smile at him and guard him through his VISIBLE angel to whom I am so intimately united that we are one!... Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face rel.carm.ind. ### Introduction to the Text Here we are changing register to look at one or two of her numerous letters. There are 276 letters dating from 4th April 1877 to 24th August 1897. They are addressed to 26 different recipients, including 9 members of Martin and Guerin families. Celine is Therese’s favoured correspondent during the six years of her ‘exile’, before her entry into the Carmel (14/09/1894). The letter we have chosen here is addressed her sister Celine on 7th July 1894, while the latter was on holiday at the La Musse property of the Guerin family (the family of Therese’s mother and her uncle, Isidore). The Guerin family arrived on 4th July, accompanied by M. Martin and Celine. This letter occurs while her sister, Mother Agnes was prioress (February 1893-March 1896). The first months of her priorate unfolded in euphoria. For Therese it was a time of rest in a valley. But an internal call soon pulled her away from her oasis. The au-tumn and winter of 1893-1894 witnessed a vigorous effort at stripping herself, not without interruptions. The path of her exodus then passed by a new ‘desert, arid and without water’, as shown by the letter we have proposed. The letter is full of quotations from Scripture, explicit and implicit, that spring spontaneously from Therese’s heart. Therese corresponded intensely with Celine, particularly in 1893 (Lt 141 to 145, 147 and 149) and in 1894 (LT 161-162, 165, 167 to 169). Being very at ease with her sister, she expressed herself freely. These letters are therefore a treasure for exploring Ther-ese’s heart. Those who wish, may therefore reread some of those letters, or even the letters that Celine addressed to Therese. ### For Community Discussion 1. What is the text saying? Understanding the content and initial meaning of Therese’s text. 2. What does the text say to us today? Discern the present-day relevance (social, ecclesial, spiritual...) of the text. 3. What does the text say to me/us? Consider the personal and community relevance of the text. The purpose of this process is to allow Therese to speak to us herself, to question and encourage us, and to open us up to her clarifying and confirming our own personal and community path. The questions suggested are only indicative, and could perhaps be used in individual meditation and community sharing. ### Questions 1. On reading Letter 165, how does Therese read and interpret Scripture? 2. «Keeping Jesus’ word, that’s the only condition of our happiness, the proof of our love for Him, But what is this word?... It seems to me that the word of Jesus, it’s He Himself, the Word, the Word of God!» What is our experience of the Word of God, in the light of this conviction of Therese? 3. «We just have to give up our soul, to abandon it to our great God. What does it matter if it has no gifts glittering on the exterior, since inside shines the King of Kings in all His glory!» Do we believe that Jesus «alone arranges the events of our life in exile?» (LT 149)? In what sense can we understand that Jesus is guiding all that we live? 10 To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165)General Curia of the Teresian Carmel www.discalcedcarmelite.com 12 To Celine, 7th July 1894 (Letter 165) Design by Lorenzo Barone OCDSReading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings ## Text 6 to Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) Reading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings Text 6: To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) Suggestion for the community meeting: 1. Read the text together 2. One of those present, having prepared a contribution in advance, discusses the text using the commentary (and other aids, if necessary). 3. Community dialogue on the text. It would be helpful to have made individual readings and reflections on Therese’s text before the community meeting. ### To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) J.MJ.T. Carmel de Lisieux 9th May 1897 My Brother, I received with joy, or rather with emotion, the relics that you were good enough to send me, your letter is almost a goodbye letter for Heaven, it seemed to me as I read it that I heard the story of the trials of your ancestors in the apostolate. On this earth where everything changes, only one thing remains stable, it is the conduct of the King of heaven with re-guard to his friends; since he raised the standard of the Cross, it is in its shadow that all must fight and win the victory: “All mis-sionary life is fruitful on the Cross” said Th. Vénard, and again: “True happiness is to suffer. And to live we must die.” My Brother, the beginnings of your apostolate are marked with the seal of the cross, the Lord treats you as privileged; it is much more by persecution and by suffering than by brilliant preaching that He wishes to consolidate his reign in souls. You say, “I’m still a little child that can’t talk.” Father Mazel, who was ordained a priest the same day as you, could not speak either, however he has already picked the palm... Oh! that the divine thoughts are above ours!... On learning of the death of this young missionary whom I heard named for the first time, I felt inclined to invoke him, I seemed to see him in Heaven in the glorious choir of Martyrs. I know that in the eyes of men his martyrdom does not bear this name, but in the eyes of the good God this inglorious sacrifice is no less fruitful than those of the 4 To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226)first Christians who confessed their faith before the courts. Per-secution has changed form, Christ’s apostles have not changed sentiments, so their Divine Master cannot change his rewards except to increase them in comparison with the glory which is denied them here below. I do not understand, my brother, that you seem to doubt your immediate entrance into Heaven if the infidels take your life. I know that one must be very pure to appear before the God of all Holiness, but I also know that the Lord is infinitely Just and it is this justice which frightens so many souls which is the subject of my joy and my trust. To be just is not only to exercise severity to punish the guilty, it is also to recognize right intentions and to reward virtue. I hope as much for God’s justice as for his mercy. It is because He is just that “He is compassionate and gentle, slow to punish and full of mercy. Because He knows our frailty, He remembers that we are only dust. As a father has tenderness for his children, so the Lord has compassion on us»... O my Brother, hearing these beautiful and consoling words of the Prophet-King, how can one doubt that the Good Lord can-not open the doors of his kingdom to his children who loved him to the point of sacrificing everything for him, who not only left their family and their homeland to make him known and loved, but also wanted to give their lives for the one they loved... Jesus was right to say that there is no greater love than this! How, then, would He allow Himself to be overcome in generosity? How would He purify in the flames of purgatory souls consumed with the fires of divine love? It is true that no human life is free from faults, only the Immaculate Virgin pre-sents herself absolutely pure before the Divine Majesty. What joy to think that this Virgin is our mother! Since she loves us and knows our weakness, what do we have to fear? Here are many sentences to express my thoughts or rather to fail to do so, To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) 5I simply wanted to say that it seems to me that all missionaries are martyrs by desire and will, and that therefore not one should go to purgatory. If there remains in their soul at the moment of appearing before God some trace of human weakness, the Blessed Virgin obtains for them the grace to make a perfect act of love and then gives them the palm and the crown which they have so well deserved. That, my Brother, is what I think of the justice of the good God, my way is entirely one of trust and love, I do not un-derstand the souls who are afraid of such a tender Friend. Some-times when I read certain spiritual treatises in which perfection is shown through a thousand obstacles, surrounded by a host of illusions, my poor mind gets tired very quickly, I close the learned book which breaks my head and dries up my heart and I take the Holy Scripture. So everything seems luminous to me, a single word reveals infinite horizons to my soul, perfection seems easy to me, I see that it suffices to recognize one’s nothingness and to abandon oneself like a child in the arms of the Good Lord. Leaving to great souls, to great minds the beautiful books that I cannot understand, let alone put into practice, I rejoice in being little since only children and those who look like them will be admitted to the celestial banquet. I am very happy that there are several mansions in the kingdom of God, because if there were only the one whose description and path seem incomprehensible to me, I could not enter it. I would like, however, not to be too far from your residence; in consideration of your merits, I hope that the good Lord will give me the grace to participate in your glory, just as on earth the sister of a conqueror, even if she were deprived of the gifts of nature, participates despite her poverty, to the honours rendered to her brother. 6 To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226)The first act of your ministry in China seemed delightful to me. The little soul whose mortal remains you blessed was indeed to smile upon you and promise her protection to you and yours. How I thank you for counting me among them! I am also deeply touched and grateful for the memory you have at Holy Mass for my dear parents. I hope they are now in possession of Heaven towards which all their actions and desires were directed; that does not prevent me from praying for them, because it seems to me that blessed souls receive great glory from the prayers which are made for them and which they can dispose of for other suffering souls. If, as I believe, my father and my mother are in Heaven, they must look and bless the brother whom Jesus gave me. They had so longed for a missionary son!... I was told that before I was born, my parents hoped that their wish would finally come true. If they could have penetrated the veil of the future, they would have seen that it was indeed through me that their desire would be accomplished; since a missionary has become my brother, he is also their son, and in their prayers they cannot separate the brother from his unworthy sister. You pray, my Brother, for my parents who are in heaven, I often pray for yours who are still on earth, it is for me a very sweet obligation and I promise you to be always faithful to ful-fil it, even if I leave exile and then even more perhaps, since I will know better the graces that will be necessary for them; and then, when their race here below is finished, I will come to seek them in your name and will introduce them to Heaven. How sweet will be the family life we will enjoy for all eternity! While waiting for this blessed eternity, which in a short time will open up for us, since life is only a day, let us work together for the salvation of souls; I can do very little, or rather absolutely nothing if I were alone, what consoles me is to To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) 7think that by your side I can be of some use; indeed the zero by itself has no value, but placed near unity it becomes powerful, provided however that it puts itself on the right side, after and not before!... That’s just where Jesus placed me and I hope to remain there always, following you from afar, through prayer and sacrifice. If I listened to my heart I wouldn’t finish my letter to-day, but the end of the silence is about to ring, I have to take my letter to our good Mother who is waiting for it. So I beg you, my brother, to kindly send your blessing to the little zero that the Good Lord has placed near you. Sr Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face rel.carm.ind. ### Introduction to the Text Father Adolphe Roulland of the Paris Foreign Missions So-ciety (MEP) was Therese’s second spiritual brother, following Fr. Maurice Belliere. While still at the Seminary, he asked the Carmel of Lisieux for a spiritual sister. Mother Marie de Gonzague, prioress at the time, chose Therese. On 20th June 1896, eight days be-fore his ordination and having received the reply, he wrote to the prioress to thank her for having given him « an auxiliary angel in my apostolate... Thanks to the prayers that will be made for me at the Carmel, I will win souls for our God ». After being ordained as priest on 28th June 1896, he went to the Carmel on the 3rd July following, and conversed in the parlour with Therese. 8 To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226)The eight letters addressed to Adolphe Roulland convey a deep and mystic alliance, which Therese worked on to define and deepen further during the last months of her life. It is in this climate that Therese was also drawn by the prospect of mission; long before taking responsibility for her two mis-sionary priests, Therese was drawn by the idea of becoming an apostle. But not just to be a simple apostle. Therese wanted to become the Apostle of the apostles. Therese did not want to be the first among the Twelve, but put herself in the principal role of receiving the Good News – before the mission started – before becoming the initiator of the apostolic mission, like Mary of Mag-dala returning from the tomb. In the fire of this personal commitment to mission, she pro-posed to Father Roulland a definition of the apostolic union that was already more explicit: the latter no longer involved the union of two beings, but extended to the gift of God, who alone can re-spond to the missionary’s prayer by lighting up Therese’s heart so as to awaken souls for God; the connection between Therese and the missionary is not direct, as Roulland imagined it, but indirect; and in Therese’s mind, her prayer would not touch the missionary but, by the grace of God, the heart of unbelievers directly: « Not being able to be a missionary in action, I wanted to be one by love and penitence. » Father Roulland was to be a missionary in China, from where he corresponded with Therese and the Prioress of the Carmel. Called back to France in 1909, he was a witness at the two Pro-cesses of Therese. The relics that Therese refers to at the start of the letter are locks of Father Roulland’s hair. This letter is a veritable course of theology on the right un-derstanding of what is the justice of God. ### For Community Discussion 1. What is the text saying? Understanding the content and initial meaning of Therese’s text. 2. What does the text say to us today? Discern the present-day relevance (social, ecclesial, spiritual...) of the text. 3. What does the text say to me/us? Consider the personal and community relevance of the text. The purpose of this process is to allow Therese to speak to us herself, to question and encourage us, and to open us up to her clarifying and confirming our own personal and community path. The questions suggested are only indicative, and could perhaps be used in individual meditation and community sharing. ### Questions 1. This essential letter of Therese brings together the evocation of numerous dimensions of her spirituality, at the moment of only a few months before her entry into Life. Based on this letter, we could share with each other on these realities that were essential for Therese: • Her understanding of the apostolate in our relationship with Christ • Her way of understanding divine Justice • The place of the Virgin Mary • Her evocation of purgatory • Her way of envisaging retribution 2. How should we characterize perfection in relation to holiness, as Therese presents them here? 3. We could also share with each other on the role, influence and importance of the communion of saints and prayer of intercession in our lives. (For example, how do we live out the prayers of intercession in the offices of Lauds and Vespers?) 4. Note her insistence on the unavoidable reality of imperfections in the spiritual life. How do we experience them in our own lives? To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) 11General Curia of the Teresian Carmel www.discalcedcarmelite.com 12 To Father Roulland, 9th May 1897 (Letter 226) Design by Lorenzo Barone OCDSReading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings ## Text 7 to Father Belliere, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258) To Father Belliere, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258) Reading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings Text 7: To Father Belliere, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258) Suggestion for the community meeting: 1. Read the text together 2. One of those present, having prepared a contribution in advance, discusses the text using the commentary (and other aids, if necessary). 3. Community dialogue on the text. It would be helpful to have made individual readings and reflections on Therese’s text before the community meeting. ### To Father Belliere, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258) To Father Belliere, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258) J.MJ.T. July 18, 1897 Jesus + My poor and dear little Brother, Your pain touches me deeply, but see how good Jesus is. He allows me to write to you again to try to console you and this will probably not be the last time. This gentle Savior hears your complaints and your prayers, that is why He still leaves me on earth. Do not believe that I am distressed by it, oh! no, my dear little brother, on the contrary, because I see in this behavior of Jesus how much He loves you!... I doubtless explained myself very badly in my last little note, since you tell me, my dear little brother, “not to ask you for this joy that I feel at the approach of happiness”. Ah! if for a few moments you could read my soul, how surprised you would be! The thought of heavenly happiness not only causes me no joy, but I sometimes wonder how it will be possible for me to be happy without suffering. Jesus, no doubt, will change my na-true, otherwise I would regret the suffering and the valley of tears. I never asked the good Lord to die young, that would have seemed cowardly to me, but He from my childhood deigned to give me the intimate persuasion that my journey here below would be short. It is therefore the very thought of accomplishing the will of the Lord that makes all my joy. O my little brother, how I wish I could pour the balm of consolation into your heart! I can only borrow the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, He cannot be offended by them since 4 To Father Belliere, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258)I am his little wife and consequently his possessions are mine. I therefore say to you, like He did to those close to him: “I am go-ing to my Father, but because I have spoken to you in this way, your heart is filled with sadness, yet I am telling you the truth: it is in your interest that I go away. You are sad now, but I will see you again, and your heart will be happy and no one will take that joy away from you.» Yes, I’m sure of it, after my entry into life, my dear little brother’s sadness will change into a peaceful joy that no creatrue can take from him. I feel it, we must go to Heaven by the same way, that of suffering united to love. When I will be at the port I will teach you, dear little brother of my soul, how you will have to navigate the stormy seas of the world with the abandon and the love of a child who knows that his Father cherishes him and cannot leave him. alone in the hour of danger. Ah! that I would like you to understand the tenderness of the Heart of Je-sus, what He expects of you. In your letter of the 14th you made my heart tremble gently, I understood more than ever to what extent your soul is sister to mine since it is called to rise towards God by the elevator of love and not to climb the steep staircase of fear... I am in no way surprised that the practice of familiarity with Jesus seems to you a little difficult to achieve; we cannot get there in a day, but I am sure of it, I will help you much more to walk this delicious way when I am delivered from my mortal envelope, and soon like St Augustine you will say: “Love is the weight that pulls me down.” I would like to try to make you understand by a very simple comparison how much Jesus loves even imperfect souls who entrust themselves to Him: I suppose that a father has two mischievous and disobedient children, and that coming to pun-ish them he sees one who trembles and goes away from him in terror, yet having in his heart the feeling that he deserves to be To Father Belliere, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258) 5punished; and that his brother, on the contrary, throws himself into the father’s arms saying that he regrets having hurt him, that he loves him and that, to prove it, he will be good from now on; then this child asks his father to punish him with a kiss, I do not believe that the heart of the happy father can resist the filial confidence of his child whose sincerity and love he knows. He is not unaware, however, that his son will fall back into the same faults more than once, but he is ready to forgive him always, if his son still seizes his heart... I am not telling you anything about the first child, my dear little brother, you must understand if his father can love him so much and treat him with the same indulgence as the other... But why talk to you about the life of trust and love? I explain myself so badly that I have to wait for Heaven to talk to you about this happy life. What I wanted to do today was con-sole you. Ah! how happy I would be if you welcomed my death as Mother Agnes of Jesus did. You are probably unaware that she is twice my sister and that it was she who served as my mother in my childhood, our good Mother was very afraid that her sen-sitive nature and her great affection for me would make my de-parture very bitter to her; the opposite happened; she speaks of my death as of a celebration and it is a great consolation for me; I beg you, my dear little brother, try like her to persuade yourself that instead of losing me you will find me, and that I will never leave you again. Ask the same grace for the Mother whom you love and whom I love even more than you love her, since she is my visible Jesus. I would gladly give you what you ask for if I had not taken a vow of poverty, but because of it I cannot even have an image, it is our Mother alone who can satisfy you and I know that she will satisfy your desires. Precisely, in view of my approaching death, a sister photographed me for the feast of our Mother. The novices exclaimed when they saw me that I was looking a bit serious, it seems that I am usually more smil6 To Father Belliere, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258)ing, but believe, my little brother, that if my photograph does not smile at you, my soul will not stop smiling at you when she will be near you. Farewell my dear and very beloved brother, be-lieve that I will be your true little sister for all eternity. Th. of the Child Jesus, rel. carm. ind. ### Introduction to the Text Father Maurice Belliere was born on 10th June 1874 in Nor-mandy. In his youth he had to overcome many trials, and, as he himself says, «passed through many storms». He believed that he was to live the rest of his life with the awareness of having wasted his best years. When called up to military service and conscious of his own frailty, he feared the worst for his priestly vocation. Bowed down under the weight of his sinful past and doubtful of his capacity to hold out, he wrote a letter to the Carmel at Lisieux, imploring them, as he said, to «entrust to the prayer of one of your sisters the salvation of my soul, and to obtain for me the grace to remain faithful to the vocation that I have received from God». Therese was chosen for this undertaking. Maurice, who was in his second year of theology at the diocesan seminary, thus received the lifeline thrown to him by Therese. That is how a spiritual friendship began. Maurice and Therese never met, but they were deeply united by their fate. Their correspondence, which began two years before Therese’s death, amounts to 21 letters. Maurice wanted to be a missionary, and was accepted by the Society of Missionaries of Africa, the White Fathers. His vocation generated a missionary desire in Therese also. Their friendship was formed around their common ideal, a common desire for the love, simplicity and cordiality of Christ. He became for her the brother she had never had, and she became for him the sister he needed. Therese was already seriously ill: the tuberculosis from which she was suffering was already at an ad-vanced stage and there was no longer any cure available. In spite of this, she wrote magnificent letters to her hesitant ‘little brother’ to encourage him in his vocation. From her very first letter, she re-minded him of the law that would dominate his future, namely the temptations and trials that inevitably accompany every apostle. He would have to learn to accept them. 8 To Father Belliere, 18th July 1897 (Letter 258)Therese realised very quickly that priests were men, who were both frail and weak. But, as she writes: «No human frailty can be an obstacle to preaching the Gospel, as long as the flame of love burns in the heart of the Church». Later, Maurice was to re-read these letters on several occasions and even made a collection of his chosen passages, while studying at Carthage. Later again, in Malawi, when he was ill and rather discouraged, he will have cer-tainly found in their message the remedy for his despair. ### For Community Discussion 1. What is the text saying? Understanding the content and initial meaning of Therese’s text. 2. What does the text say to us today? Discern the present-day relevance (social, ecclesial, spiritual...) of the text. 3. What does the text say to me/us? Consider the personal and community relevance of the text. The purpose of this process is to allow Therese to speak to us herself, to question and encourage us, and to open us up to her clarifying and confirming our own personal and community path. The questions suggested are only indicative, and could perhaps be used in individual meditation and community sharing. ### Questions This is one of Therese’s last letters to Father Belliere who was very much distressed by the prospect of Therese’s approaching death. 1. In what frame of mind does she invite him to live with perseverance? 2. 3. 4. 5. How does she invite us to live suffering? Notice how she links here for the first time love, suffering and abandonment. Here Therese the symbol of the elevator, developed in Manuscript C some weeks earlier. What does this symbol evoke for us in the context of this letter? How does Therese invite us to behave when we become conscious of our faults, whatever they are? What is the fundamental attitude to cultivate without fail towards God? How does she picture her relationship with us after her physical death? What is our relationship with our deceased brothers and sisters? With Therese today? ## Text 8 Yellow Notebook, 6th/ 7th/ 12th August 1897 Reading the writings of Therese of the Child Jesus Teresian Anniversaries 2023-2025 2025: Prayers and other writings Text 8: Yellow Notebook, 6th/ 7th/ 12th August 1897 Suggestion for the community meeting: 1. Read the text together 2. One of those present, having prepared a contribution in advance, discusses the text using the commentary (and other aids, if necessary). 3. Community dialogue on the text. It would be helpful to have made individual readings and reflections on Therese’s text before the community meeting. ### Yellow Notebook, 6th/ 7th/ 12th August 1897 Yellow Notebook, 6th/ 7th/ 12th August 1897 August 6 4... I cannot lean on anything, on any of my works to have confidence. Thus I would have liked to be able to say to myself: I am quit of all my offices of the dead. But this poverty was for me a real light, a real grace. I thought that I had never been able in my life to discharge a single one of my debts to the good God, but that it was for me a real wealth and a strength, if I wanted it. So I made this prayer: O my God, I beg you, discharge the debt that I contracted towards the souls of Purgatory, but do it in God, so that it would be infinitely better than if I had said my offices of the dead. And I remembered with great sweetness these words from the canticle of St John of the Cross: “Pay off all debts.” I had always applied this to Love... I feel that this grace cannot come... It was too sweet! One experiences such great peace in being absolutely poor, in counting only on the good Lord. 8 I asked her in the evening during Matins what she meant by “remaining a little child before the good Lord.” She replied: It is to recognize one’s nothingness, to expect everything from the good God, as a little child expects everything from his fa-ther; it is to worry about nothing, to gain no fortune. Even among the poor, the child is given what he needs, but as soon as he grows up his father no longer wants to feed him and says to him: Work now, you can do enough for yourself. It was in order not to hear this that I did not want to grow up, feeling incapable of earning my living, the eternal life of Heav-en. So I always remained small, having no other occupation than 4 Yellow Notebook, 6th/ 7th/ 12th August 1897that of picking flowers, the flowers of love and sacrifice, and offering them to the good Lord for his pleasure. To be small is still not to attribute to oneself the virtues that one practises, believing oneself capable of something, but to recognize that the good Lord places this treasure in the hand of his little child so that he uses it when needed; but it is still God’s treasure. Finally, it is not to be discouraged by one’s faults, be-cause children often fall, but they are too small to do themselves much harm. August 7 4 Oh! if I were unfaithful, if I committed even the slightest infidelity, I feel that I would pay for it with frightful troubles, and I could no longer accept death. So I keep saying to the good Lord: “O my God, please save me from the misfortune of being unfaithful.” What infidelity are you talking about? Of a thought of pride maintained voluntarily. If I said to myself, for example: I have acquired such a virtue, I am certain of being able to practise it. Because then it would be relying on one’s own strength, and when one is there, one risks falling into the abyss. But I will have the right, without offending God, to do little stupid things until my death, if I am humble, if I remain very small. Look at the little children: they keep breaking, tearing, falling, all the while loving their parents very, very much. When I fall like this, it makes me see my nothingness even more and I say to myself: What would I do, what would I become, if I relied on my own strength?!... I understand very well that Saint Peter fell. This poor Saint Peter, he relied on himself instead of relying solely on the strength of God. I conclude that, if I said: “O my God, I love you too much, you know it well, to stop at a single thought against the faith”; Yellow Notebook, 6th/ 7th/ 12th August 1897 5my temptations would become more violent and I would certainly succumb to them. I am quite sure that if Saint Peter had humbly said to Je-sus: “Grant me, please, the strength to follow you until death”, he would have had it immediately. I am also certain that Our Lord said no more to his Apos-tles by his instructions and his sensitive presence than he told us to ourselves by the good inspirations of his grace. He could well have said to St. Peter: Ask me for the strength to accomplish what you want. But no, because he wanted to show him his weakness, and because, having to govern the whole Church which is full of sinners, he had to experience for himself what man can do without the help of God. ... Before his fall, Our Lord said to him: “When you have turned back, confirm your brothers”. This meant: Persuade them by your own experience of the weakness of human forces. August 12 3 Since the epi, I have had even lower feelings about myself. But how great is the new grace that I received this morning, when the priest began the Confiteor before giving me communion and all the sisters continued it. I saw there the good Jesus very close to giving himself to me, and this confession seemed to me such a necessary humiliation. “I confess to God, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to all the Saints that I have sinned greatly…” Oh! yes, I said to myself, we do well to ask forgiveness for me at this moment, from God, from all the Saints... I felt, like the publican, a great sinner. I found the good Lord so merciful! I found it so touching to address the entire Celestial Court, to obtain God’s forgiveness through their intercession. Ah! I almost cried, and when the Holy Host was on my lips, I was very moved. 6 Yellow Notebook, 6th/ 7th/ 12th August 1897... How extraordinary it is to have experienced this at the Confiteor! I believe it is because of my present disposition; I feel so miserable! My confidence is not diminished, on the contrary, and the word “miserable” is not right, because I am rich in all the divine treasures; but it is precisely for this that I humble myself more. When I think of all the graces that the good Lord has given me, I hold myself back so as not to continually shed tears of gratitude. ... I believe that 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 blows where he wills.” ### Introduction to the Text In 1921-1924, when the process was nearing its end, Moth-er Agnes put together for herself, in a notebook bound in light brown verging on yellow, the most complete collection of Ther-ese’s words, and gave it this neutral title: ‘Words collected during the last months of our little saint Therese’. In 1927, she released to the public ‘The last words of Therese: Novissima Verba. Last conversations of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, May-September 1897’. Let us return to the origin of this writing. In mid-1897, with her illness deteriorating, Therese’s two sisters, Mother Agnes (Pauline) and Sister Genevieve (Celine) were acting as nurse aide and nurse’s aide. When Therese took up writing again at the beginning of June, working on Manuscript C, Mother Agnes for her part took the initiative of noting down her sister’s words in pencil on loose sheets, and took advantage of the first days when her sister was busy with her manuscript to note down also the conversations she had with her in April and May. She recounted to the Process: «During the last days of her life, I took notes each day on what I had witnessed of the details of her days, and especially the words she spoke.» Handing to the tribunal the collection of these words, she presented them as follows: «the textual words recorded by me from the very mouth of the servant of God and saved bit by bit in a notebook; which seemed to her to be exhausting and paralysed her outpourings, but she let me do it in simplicity, still fearing to cause me trouble.» Sister Genevieve certified at the same Process the significance and precision of her sister’s notes: «She would write at the very moment that Sister Therese of the Child Jesus was speaking to those who approached her bed; she wrote the ex-act words, just as the dear little invalid was saying them.» 8 Yellow Notebook, 6th/ 7th/ 12th August 1897This text allows one to follow Therese in the last stage of her life: her great suffering, her spontaneity, her gaiety, her humour that was inseparable from a solid common sense and great depth, her great freedom and her total abandonment, in confidence and love, culminating in the last words: «My God... I love you!» So it is not strictly one of Therese’s writings, but it gives us information on the last months of Therese, and of her states of mind before entering into Life. ### For Community Discussion 1. What is the text saying? Understanding the content and initial meaning of Therese’s text. 2. What does the text say to us today? Discern the present-day relevance (social, ecclesial, spiritual...) of the text. 3. What does the text say to me/us? Consider the personal and community relevance of the text. The purpose of this process is to allow Therese to speak to us herself, to question and encourage us, and to open us up to her clarifying and confirming our own personal and community path. The questions suggested are only indicative, and could perhaps be used in individual meditation and community sharing. ### Questions 1. Spiritual poverty is at the heart of Theresian spirituality. How does Therese characterise this poverty through these extracts of the Last Conversations? 2. Starting from Last Conversations 6/8/8, name the 3 dimensions that are inseparable from Theresian littleness. 3. Do we seek to let God’s works shine through us and through others, including in our distress? Notice the importance for Therese of remaining a useless servant who does not attribute anything good or any good work to herself (cf Last Conversations 7/8/4 above). 4. How does Therese invite us to recognise our faults and our falls from grace (see also LT 191 and LT 261 2r)? How does she bear witness here to the permanent reality of the Divine Mercy and to the manner of accepting it in our lives? --- **Source:** OCD General Curia, *Theresian Anniversaries 2025: Prayers and Other Writings* (Rome: OCD General Curia, 2025).