Thérèse of Lisieux Quotes

yet I think Our Lord made use of it to show me that a soul in the state of grace has nothing to fear from the devil, who is a coward, and will even fly from the gaze of a little child.

"Our Lord made me understand that the only true glory is that which lasts for ever; and that to attain it there is no necessity to do brilliant deeds, but rather to hide from the eyes of others, and even from oneself, so that "the left hand knows not what the right hand does."[1]"

Time is thy barque, and not thy dwelling-place.

My God, how good Thou art! How well dost Thou suit the trial to our strength!

What sweet joy it is to think that God is just — that is, that He takes into account our weakness, He knows perfectly the fragility of our nature. What should I be afraid of? Oh! The infinitely just God who deigned to forgive with such kindness all the faults of the prodigal son [Lk. 15:21–24], should He not also be just toward me

"I am now at a time of life when I can look back on the past, for my soul has been refined in the crucible of interior and exterior trials. Now, like a flower after the storm, I can raise my head and see that the words of the Psalm are realised in me: "The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall want nothing. He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up on the water of refreshment. He hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice for His own Name's sake. For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils for Thou are with me."[6]"

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

I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Gal. 2:20).

Comprendí que el amor encierra todas las vocaciones, que el amor lo es todo, que abarca todos los tiempos y todos los lugares... en una palabra, que es eterno.

Love lives only by sacrifice

"The life of every missionary abounds in crosses," said Théophane Vénard. And again: "True happiness consists in suffering, and in order to live we must die."

Let me suppose that I had been born in a land of thick fogs, and had never seen the beauties of nature, or a single ray of sunshine, although I had heard of these wonders from my early youth, and knew that the country wherein I dwelt was not my real home — there was another land, unto which I should always look forward. Now this is not a fable, invented by an inhabitant of the land of fogs, it is the solemn truth, for the King of that sunlit country dwelt for three and thirty years in the land of darkness, and alas! — the darkness did not understand that He was the Light of the World.
...
From the time of my childhood I felt that one day I should be set free from this land of darkness. I believed it, not only because I had been told so by others, but my heart's most secret and deepest longings assured me that there was in store for me another and more beautiful country — an abiding dwelling-place.

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.

"Our Father, St. John of the Cross, says with great truth: "All good things have come unto me, since I no longer sought them for myself.

«El amor jamás encuentra pretexto de imposibilidad porque cree que todo lo puede y le conviene». La prudencia humana, por el contrario, tiembla a cada paso y, por decirlo así, no se atreve a apoyar el pie.