Part 20 (1/2)

[5] An allusion to the obituary notice sent to each of the French Carmels when a Carmelite nun dies in that country. In the case of those who die in the odour of sanct.i.ty these notices sometimes run to considerable length. Four notices issued from the Carmel of Lisieux are of great interest to the clients of Soeur Therese, and are in course of publication at the Orphans' Press, Rochdale; those of the Carmel's saintly Foundress, Mother Genevieve of St.

Teresa, whose death is referred to in Chapter VIII; Mother Mary of Gonzaga, the Prioress of Therese; Sister Mary of the Eucharist (Marie Guerin), the cousin of Therese (Chapter III); and most interesting of all, the long sketch, partly autobiographical, of Mother Mary of St. Angelus (Marie Ange), the ”trophy of Therese,”

brought by her intercession to the Carmel in 1902--where the writer made her acquaintance in the following spring; she became Prioress in 1908, dying eighteen months later in the odour of sanct.i.ty, aged only 28. [Ed.]

[6] Cf. Job 13:15.

[7] John 3:34.

[8] When asked before her death how they should pray to her in Heaven, Soeur Therese, with her wonted simplicity, made answer: ”You will call me 'Little Therese'--_pet.i.te Therese.”_ And at Gallipoli, on the occasion of her celebrated apparition in the Carmel there, when the Prioress, taking her to be St. Teresa of Avila, addressed her as ”our holy Mother,” the visitor, adopting her then official t.i.tle, replied:--”Nay, I am not our holy Mother, I am the Servant of G.o.d, _Soeur Therese of Lisieux_.”

This, her own name of Soeur Therese, has been retained in the present edition, unless where it was advisable to set down her name in full--Sister Teresa of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face. The name of the ”Little Flower,” borrowed by her from the Blessed Theophane Venard, and used so extensively in the pages of her ma.n.u.script, is the one by which she is best known in English-speaking lands. [Ed.]

[9] Cf. Prov. 19:11.

[10] Matt. 25:49.

[11] Wisdom 6:7.

[12] Cf. Ps. 75[76]:10.

[13] Cf. Ps. 17[18]:5.

[14] Cf. Ps. 22[23]:4.

[15] From the last poem written by Soeur Therese.

[16] Ps. 115[116]:15.

[17] John 12:24, 25.

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COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES OF SOEUR THeReSE, THE LITTLE FLOWER OF JESUS

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Most of what follows has been gathered from the conversations of Soeur Therese with her novices. Her advice cannot but prove helpful to souls within the cloister, and likewise to many in the world who may be attracted by her simple and easy _little way_ to G.o.d.

One of the novices, greatly discouraged at the thought of her imperfections, tells us that her mistress spoke to her as follows:

”You make me think of a little child that is learning to stand but does not yet know how to walk. In his desire to reach the top of the stairs to find his mother, he lifts his little foot to climb the first step. It is all in vain, and at each renewed effort he falls. Well, be like that little child. Always keep lifting your foot to climb the ladder of holiness, and do not imagine that you can mount even the first step. All G.o.d asks of you is good will.