Thérèse of Lisieux Quotes

O amor nutre-se de sacrifício. Quanto mais a alma se nega as exigências da natureza, tanto mais robusta e abnegada se torna a sua ternura.

to dedicate oneself as a Victim of Love is not to be dedicated to sweetness and consolations; it is to offer oneself to all that is painful and bitter, because Love lives only by sacrifice and the more we would surrender ourselves to Love, the more we must surrender
ourselves to suffering

I shall take good care to stay just where I am, quite certain that beyond the somber clouds, my beloved Sun is shining still!

"«La niña es un verdadero diablillo, que viene a acariciarme deseándome la muerte: "¡Cómo me gustaría que te murieras, mamaíta...!" La riñen, y me dice: "¡Pero si es para que vayas al cielo! ¿No dices que tenemos que morirnos para ir allá?" Y cuando está con estos arrebatos de amor, desea también la muerte a su padre»."

By humiliation alone can Saints be made.

I know that all that multitude of sins would disappear in an instant, even as a drop of water cast into a flaming furnace.

I am not dying; I am entering life.

Clearly we must not be attached to anything, no matter how innocent, because it will slip from our grasp when least expected; nothing but the eternal can content us.

Without the interior light of grace I would have undoubtedly pitied myself, but in the midst of darkness I found myself divinely illumined.

Just as the sun shines on all the trees and flowers as if each were the only one on earth, so does God care for all souls in a special manner.

Yo soy esa hija, objeto del amor preveniente de un Padre que ha enviado a su Verbo para rescatar no a los justos sino a los pecadores. Quiere que yo lo ame porque me ha perdonado, no mucho sino TODO. No esperó que lo amase mucho como santa Magdalena, sino que ha querido que yo sepa cómo me había amado con un amor de inefable previsión, ¡a fin de que ahora lo ame hasta la locura!... He oído decir que no se ha hallado un alma pura que ame más que un alma arrepentida. ¡Cuánto querría desmentir esa expresión!...

El amor verdadero se alimenta de sacrificios. Cuanto más se niega el alma las satisfacciones naturales, tanto más desinteresado se vuelve su cariño.
Al amar a Cristo, el corazón se ensancha y puede dar incomparablemente más cariño a los que le son queridos que si se hubiera concentrado en un amor egoísta e infructuoso.

i can nourish myself on nothing but truth

Et le Seigneur se pencha, il cueillit doucement la fleur embaumée, il détacha sans effort sa grappe chérie du cep amer de l'exil, la trouvant totalement dorée des feux de l'Amour divin.

But above all I imitate Mary Magdalene’s behavior, her surprising — or rather her loving — audaciousness that charmed Jesus’ Heart and captivates mine [Lk. 7:36–38]. Yes, I feel it. Even when I might have on my conscience all the sins that can be committed, I would go with a heart broken with repentance to throw myself into Jesus’ arms, because I know how much He cherishes the prodigal who comes back to Him [Lk. 15:20–24]. It’s not because God, in His kind mercy, has preserved my soul from mortal sin that I rise and go to Him in confidence and love.