Thérèse of Lisieux Quotes

One day, one of my teachers at the Abbey asked me what I did on my [5]free afternoons when I was alone. I told her I went behind my bed in an empty space which was there, and that it was easy to close myself in with my bed curtain and that “I thought.” “But what do you think about?” she asked. “I think about God, about life, about ETERNITY ... I think!” The good religious laughed heartily at me, and later on she loved reminding me of the [10]time when I thought, asking me if I was still thinking. I understand now that I was making mental prayer without knowing it and that God was already instructing me in secret.

Offer to God the sacrifice of never gathering any fruit. If He will that throughout your whole life you should feel a repugnance to suffering and humiliation — if He permit that all the flowers of your desires and of your good will should fall to the ground without any fruit appearing, do not worry. At the hour of death, in the twinkling of an eye, He will cause fair fruits to ripen on the tree of your soul.

My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice. They can move hearts far better than words.

-St. Therese of Lisieux

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

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.

"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.

Love alone counts.

Si la tela pintada por un artista pudiera pensar y hablar, ciertamente no se quejaría de ser tocada y retocada incesantemente por un pincel y tampoco envidiaría la suerte de este instrumento pues sabría que la belleza del que está revestida no se la debe al pincel sino al artista que lo mueve. Por su parte, el pincel no podría gloriarse de la obra maestra hecha por él, pues sabe que los artistas no se inquietan, se ríen de las dificultades y a veces se dan el gusto de elegir instrumentos endebles y defectuosos.

"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]"

Most of us pass our lives away eating the husks of life. Within them, beneath the rind, is a sweeter fruit than ever we have tasted. How shall we find it unless the rind is peeled away by Wisdom greater than our own, by a Love whose ways are strange and bewildering to us.

Love can do all things. The most impossible tasks seem to it easy and sweet. You know well that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, as at the love with which we do them. What, then, have we to fear?

No obstante, sigo teniendo la misma confianza audaz de llegar a ser una gran santa, pues no me apoyo en mis méritos -que no tengo ninguno-, sino en Aquel que es la Virtud y la Santidad mismas. Sólo él, contentándose con mis débiles esfuerzos, me elevará hasta él y, cubriéndome con sus méritos infinitos, me hará santa.

I thank Our Lord that He let me find nothing but bitterness in human affections. I should have been caught easily, and had my wings clipped...Our Lord knew that I was far too weak to face temptation; He knew that I would certainly have burnt myself in the bewildering light of earthly things, and so He did not let it shine in my eyes. Where stronger souls find joy but remain detached because they are faithful, I found only misery.

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

Then, overcome by joy, I cried, 'Jesus, my love. At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and then I will be all things.