St. Thérèse of Lisieux — Her Wisdom in 25 Quotations
Marie Thérèse Martin was born January 2, 1873, the youngest of five daughters, to a deeply devout Catholic family. At 15, she entered the Carmel of Lisieux where she would spend the rest of her life. Like other saints and teachers of faith, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face experienced profound spiritual insights attained in prayer.
Little things done out of love are those that charm the Heart of Christ... On the contrary, the most brilliant deeds, when done without love, are but nothingness.
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We must do all that lies in our power; we must give without counting the cost; we must constantly renounce ourselves. In one word, we must prove our love by all the good works we can perform; but, since all that we can do is very little, it is of the greatest importance that we put our confidence in Him who alone sanctifies those works and that we recognize that we are indeed useless servants, hoping that the good Lord will give us through grace all that we desire.
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Even if the fire of love seemed to have gone out, I would keep on throwing fuel in it and Jesus would take care to light it up again.
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I understand so very well that it is only through love that we can render ourselves pleasing to the good Lord, that love is the one thing I long for. The science of love is the only science I desire.
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I know of no other means to reach perfection than by love. To love: how perfectly our hearts are made for this! Sometimes I look for another word to use, but, in this land of exile, no other word so well expresses the vibrations of our soul. Hence we must keep to that one word: love.
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Merit does not consist in doing or giving much. It consists in loving much.
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Directors make people advance in perfection by performing a great number of acts of virtue, and they are right. But my Director, who is Jesus Himself, teaches me to do everything through love.
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How easy it is to please Jesus, to ravish His Heart. We have merely to love Him, while, at the same time, forgetting ourselves.
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There is but one thing for us to do in the night of this life and that is to love, to love Jesus with all the energy of our heart and to save souls so that He may be loved by them. O let us cause Jesus to be loved by men!
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We have merely to love Him, without looking at ourselves, without examining our faults too much.
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Justice itself, and justice even more than any other divine perfection, seems to me to be clothed in love.
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A glance of love cast towards Jesus and the knowledge of our profound misery makes reparation for everything.
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My mother, how sweet is the way of love! No doubt, we are liable to fall, to fail in constancy, but love knows how to draw profit from everything. It quickly consumes anything that may be displeasing to Jesus, leaving only a humble and profound peace at the bottom of our heart.
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We must never refuse anyone, even when it costs us much pain. Think that it is Jesus who is asking this service of you; how eager and friendly you will then be in granting the favor requested.
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I must anticipate the desires of others; show that we are much obliged, very honored to be able to render service. The good Lord wants me to forget myself in order to give pleasure to others.
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I know now that true charity consists in bearing all our neighbors' defects — not being surprised at their weakness, but edified at their smallest virtues.
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He does not want us to love Him for His gifts, but for Himself alone... He is so beautiful, so ravishing even when He remains silent, even when He hides Himself.
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I do not desire sensible affection, a love that I feel, but only a love that is felt by Jesus. Oh! to love Him and cause Him to be loved!
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O my Jesus, You know well that it is not for the reward that I serve You, but solely because I love You and in order to save souls.
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Our love for Jesus is truly great when we do not feel its sweetness. It then becomes a martyrdom... When, on the contrary, we begin to seek ourselves, true love dies away. Unfortunately, many serve Jesus when He consoles them, but few are willing to keep Him company when He is asleep.
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If you wish to feel and to have an attraction for suffering, you are in search of your own consolation, for when we love anything, pain disappears.
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Take heart, Jesus hears even the last echo of our pain.
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Our Lord's love makes itself seen quite as much in the simplest of souls as in the most highly gifted, as long as there is no resistance offered to his grace.
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What a comfort it is, this way of love! You may stumble on it, you in prayer may fail to correspond with grace given, but always love knows how to make the best of everything; whatever offends our Lord is burnt up in its fire, and nothing is left but a humble, absorbing peace deep down in the heart.
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When I act as charity bids, I have this feeling that it is Jesus who is acting in me; the closer my union with him, the greater my love for all the sisters without distinction.
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