Part 18 (2/2)
Is it not clear that the constant remembrance of gifts bestowed serves to increase the love of the giver? How can he who ignores the riches he possesses, spend them generously upon others?”
But the above was not the only occasion on which the ”little Therese of Lisieux”[8] gave utterance to words that proved prophetic. In the month of April, 1895, while she was still in excellent health, she said in confidence to one of the older nuns: ”I shall die soon. I do not say that it will be in a few months, but in two or three years at most; I know it because of what is taking place in my soul.”
The novices betrayed surprise when she read their inmost thoughts.
”This is my secret,” she said to them: ”I never reprimand you without first invoking Our Blessed Lady, and asking her to inspire me as to what will be most for your good, and I am often astonished myself at the things I teach you. At such times I feel that I make no mistake, and that it is Jesus Who speak by my lips.”
During her illness one of her sisters had experienced some moments of acute distress, amounting almost to discouragement, at the thought of the inevitable parting. Immediately afterwards she went to the Infirmary, but was careful not to let any sign of grief be seen. What was her surprise when Therese, in a sad and serious tone, thus addressed her: ”We ought not to weep like those who have no hope.”
One of the Mothers, having come to visit her, did her a trifling service. ”How happy I should be,” thought the Mother, ”if this Angel would only say: 'I will repay you in Heaven!' At that instant Soeur Therese, turning to her, said: ”Mother, I will repay you in Heaven!”
But more surprising than all, was her consciousness of the mission for which Our Lord had destined her. The veil which hides the future seemed lifted, and more than once she revealed to us its secrets, in prophecies which have already been realised.
”I have never given the Good G.o.d aught but love; it is with Love He will repay.
AFTER MY DEATH I WILL LET FALL A SHOWER OF ROSES.”
At another time she interrupted a Sister, who was speaking to her of the happiness of Heaven, by the sublime words: ”It is not that which attracts me.”
”And what attracts you?” asked the other. ”Oh! it is Love! To love, to be beloved, and _to return to earth to win love for our Love!”_
One evening, she welcomed Mother Agnes of Jesus with an extraordinary expression of joy: ”Mother!” she said, ”some notes from a concert far away have just reached my ears, and have made me think that soon I shall be listening to the wondrous melodies of Paradise. The thought, however, gave me but a moment's joy--one hope alone makes my heart beat fast: the Love that I shall receive and the Love I shall be able to give!
”I feel that my mission is soon to begin--my mission to make others love G.o.d as I love Him ... to each souls my _little way_ ...
I WILL SPEND MY HEAVEN IN DOING GOOD UPON EARTH.
Nor is this impossible, since from the very heart of the Beatific Vision, the Angels keep watch over us. No, there can be no rest for me until the end of the world. But when the Angel shall have said: 'Time is no more!' then I shall rest, then I shall be able to rejoice, because the number of the elect will be complete.”
”And what is this _little way_ that you would teach to souls?”
”IT IS THE WAY OF SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD, THE WAY OF TRUST AND ABSOLUTE SELF-SURRENDER.
I want to point out to them the means that I have always found so perfectly successful, to tell them that there is but one thing to do here below: we must offer Jesus _the flowers of little sacrifices_ and win Him by a caress. That is how I have won Him, and that is why I shall be made so welcome.”
”Should I guide you wrongly by my _little way_ of love,” she said to a novice, ”do not fear that I shall allow you to continue therein; I should soon come back to the earth, and tell you to take another road. If I do not return, then believe in the truth of these my words: We can never have too much confidence in the Good G.o.d, He is so mighty, so merciful. As we hope in Him so shall we receive.”
On the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a novice said to her: ”I think that if you were to die to-morrow, after Holy Communion, I should be quite consoled--it would be such a beautiful death!” Therese answered quickly: ”Die after Holy Communion! Upon a great feast! Nay, not so. _In my 'little way'
everything is most ordinary; all that I do, little souls must be able to do likewise.”_
And to one of her missionary brothers she wrote: ”What draws me to my Heavenly Home is the summons of my Lord, together with the hope that at length I shall love Him as my heart desires, and shall be able to make Him loved by a mult.i.tude of souls who will bless Him throughout eternity.”
And in another letter to China: ”I trust fully that I shall not remain idle in Heaven; my desire is to continue my work for the Church and for souls. I ask this of G.o.d, and I am convinced He will hear my prayer. You see that if I quit the battle-field so soon, it is not from a selfish desire of repose. For a long time now, suffering has been my Heaven here upon earth, and I can hardly conceive how I shall become acclimatised to a land where joy is unmixed with sorrow. Jesus will certainly have to work a complete change in my soul--else I could never support the ecstasies of Paradise.”
It was quite true, suffering had become her Heaven upon earth--she welcomed it as we do happiness. ”When I suffer much,” she would say, ”when something painful or disagreeable happens to me, instead of a melancholy look, I answer by a smile. At first I did not always succeed, but now it has become a habit which I am glad to have acquired.”
A certain Sister entertained doubts concerning the patience of Therese. One day, during a visit, she remarked that the invalid's face wore an expression of unearthly joy, and she sought to know the reason. ”It is because the pain is so acute just now,” Therese replied; ”I have always forced myself to love suffering and to give it a glad welcome.” ”Why are you so bright this morning?”
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