Thérèse of Lisieux Quotes

"I understood the words of the Imitation: "Be not solicitous for the shadow of a great name.

The world's thy ship and not thy home.

In Heaven, God will do all I desire, because on earth I have never done my own will.

"And it is the Lord, it is Jesus, Who is my judge. Therefore I will try always to think leniently of others, that He may judge me leniently, or rather not at all, since He says: "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.

My happy disposition completely changed after Mamma's death. I, once so full of life, became timid and retiring, sensitive to an excessive degree. One look was enough to reduce me to tears, and the only way I was content was to be left completely alone. I could not bear the company of strangers and found my joy only within the intimacy of the family.

If I did not simply live from one moment to another, it would be impossible for me to be patient, but I only look at the present, I forget the past, and I take good care not to forestall the future.

That beautiful day passed just as the saddest ones do, since the most radiant of days has a tomorrow.

One time I was expressing surprise that God should not give equal glory in heaven to all His elect, and I was afraid that everyone would not be happy. Then Pauline told me to go get Papa’s big glass and to put it next to my little dice cup, and to fill them with water. Then she asked me which one was the most full. I told her that one was as full as the other and that it was impossible to put in more water than they could hold. Then my dear mother helped me understand that in Heaven, God would give to His elect as much glory as they could hold, and so the last would have nothing to envy about the first.

Señor, yo soy demasiado pequeña para dar de comer a tus hijas. Si tú quieres darle a cada una, por medio de mí, lo que necesita, llena tú mi mano; y entonces, sin separarme de tus brazos y sin volver siquiera la cabeza, yo entregaré tus tesoros al alma que venga a pedirme su alimento. Si lo encuentra de su gusto, sabré que no me lo debe a mí, sino a ti; si, por el contrario, se queja y encuentra amargo lo que le ofrezco, no perderé la paz, intentaré convencerla de que ese alimento viene de ti y me guardaré muy bien de buscarle otro.

Life is passing, and eternity is drawing near. Soon we shall live the very life of God. After we have been filled at the source of all bitterness, our thirst will be quenched at the very Fountain of all sweetness.

We must despise all these temptations and pay no attention whatsoever to them.

God would never inspire me with desires which cannot be realized; so in spite of my littleness, I can hope to be a saint.

It is consoling that he who must judge us dwell in us to save us always from all of our miseries, and to pardon us.

O my Beloved! this was but the prelude of graces yet greater which Thou didst desire to heap upon me. Let me remind Thee of them to-day, and forgive my folly if I venture to tell Thee once more of my hopes, and my heart's well nigh infinite longings — forgive me and grant my desire, that it may be well with my soul. To be Thy Spouse, O my Jesus, to be a daughter of Carmel, and by my union with Thee to be the mother of souls, should not all this content me? And yet other vocations make themselves felt — I feel called to the Priesthood and to the Apostolate — I would be a Martyr, a Doctor of the Church. I should like to accomplish the most heroic deeds — the spirit of the Crusader burns within me, and I long to die on the field of battle in defence of Holy Church.

The vocation of a Priest! With what love, my Jesus, would I bear Thee in my hand, when my words brought Thee down from Heaven! With what love would I give Thee to souls! And yet, while longing to be a Priest, I admire and envy the humility of St. Francis of Assisi, and am drawn to imitate him by refusing the sublime dignity of the Priesthood. How reconcile these opposite tendencies?

Like the Prophets and Doctors, I would be a light unto souls, I would travel to every land to preach Thy name, O my Beloved, and raise on heathen soil the glorious standard of Thy Cross. One mission alone would not satisfy my longings. I would spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth, even to the most distant isles. I would be a Missionary, not for a few years only, but, were it possible, from the beginning of the world till the consummation of time. Above all, I thirst for the Martyr's crown. It was the desire of my earliest days, and the desire has deepened with the years passed in the Carmel's narrow cell. But this too is folly, since I do not sigh for one torment; I need them all to slake my thirst. Like Thee, O Adorable Spouse, I would be scourged, I would be crucified! I would be flayed like St. Bartholomew, plunged int

Love lives only by sacrifice