Quote of the day, 20 November: St. Thérèse

On 20 November 1887, Pope Leo XIII received pilgrims from the dioceses of Coutances, Bayeux, and Nantes in a private audience. Father Révérony, the Vicar General of Bayeux, introduced the pilgrims from Bayeux and Lisieux. Thérèse explains what happened during the papal audience in a letter to her sister, Pauline.

My dear little Pauline,

God is making me pass through real trials before having me enter Carmel. I am going to tell you how my visit with the pope went.

Oh! Pauline, if you could only have read my heart, you would have seen there a great confidence. I believe I did what God wanted me to do, and now there remains nothing for me to do but to pray.

Monseigneur [the bishop] was not there. M. Révérony [the Vicar General] was taking his place. For you to get an idea of the audience, it would be necessary for you to be there.

The pope was seated on a large chair, very high. M. Révérony was very close to him; he was looking at the pilgrims who were passing in front of the pope after kissing his foot, and he was saying a word about some of them. You can imagine how my heart was beating when seeing my turn come, but I did not want to return to my place without having spoken to the pope. I said what you were telling me in your letter but not all, for M. Révérony did not give me time.

He said immediately: “Most Holy Father, this is a child who wants to enter Carmel at fifteen, but the superiors are considering the matter at this moment.” (The good pope is so old that one would say he is dead; I would never have pictured him like this. He can hardly say anything. It is M. Révérony who talks.)

I would have liked to be able to explain my business, but there was no way. The Holy Father said simply: “If God wills it, you will enter.” Then they made me pass into another room.

Oh! Pauline, I cannot tell you what I felt. I was crushed. I felt I was abandoned, and then, I am so far, so far. . . .

I was crying a lot when writing this letter; my heart is heavy. However, God cannot give me trials that are above my strength. He has given me the courage to bear this trial. Oh! it is very great. . . . But, Pauline, I am the Child Jesus’ little ball; if He wishes to break His toy, He is free. Yes, I will all that He wills.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

LT 36, letter to Pauline Martin (Agnès of Jesus, OCD)
20 November 1887

Note: The bishop of Bayeux, Monseigneur Hugonin, did not participate in the pilgrimage. Monseigneur Germain, the bishop of Coutances, presented his 125 pilgrims, then left Father Révérony to introduce the pilgrims from Bayeux.

Thérèse of Lisieux, S & Clarke, J 1982, General Correspondence: Letters of Saint Therese of Lisieux: Volume 1 1877-1890, Centenary ed., Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington DC.

We always refer to the website of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux for the vast majority of our quotes concerning Saint Thérèse, Saint Zélie, and Saint Louis Martin, but if you would like to purchase any of the English translations that appear on the Archives website, please visit the website of our Discalced Carmelite friars at ICS Publications. 

Featured image: Pope Leo XIII, Charles M. Johnson, 1899, fumée engraving in black on tissue paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (Public domain)

#papalAudience #paulineMartin #popeLeoXiii #rome #stThereseOfLisieux

Pagan Community Notes for June 12, 2025

Covenant of the Goddess represented at Papal General Audience in Rome, GAIA global leaders rally for an ambitious plastics treaty, Summer Magick Fest and Pagan Spirit Gathering celebrate community and heritage, and World Day Against Child Labour calls for urgent global action to protect children’s rights.

https://wildhunt.org/2025/06/pagan-community-notes-week-of-june-12-2025.html

#covenantofthegoddess #papalaudience #gaia #plasticpollution #summermagickfestival #vaticancity #witchcraft #pagan #religion

Quote of the day, 20 November: St. Thérèse

Sunday, November 20, after dressing up according to Vatican regulations, i.e., in black with a lace mantilla as headpiece, and decorated with a large medal of Leo XIII, tied with a blue and white ribbon, we entered the Vatican through the Sovereign Pontiff’s chapel.

St. Therese of Lisieux

Even very young, the Servant of God said she would become a nun and consecrate herself to God, and nobody around her was surprised. She said she wanted to withdraw to the desert in order to belong to God alone. When our sister Pauline was admitted to the Carmel and the Servant of God heard what life inside was like, she realized it was in the Carmelite Order that her aspirations would be fulfilled.

You ask whether she prayed to God and sought counsel in order to resolve the problem of her vocation. I don’t think there was ever a problem of vocation for her. She never questioned whether or not she should consecrate herself to God. The answer was obvious to her. She wondered only how to reach her goal.

With regards to this, she sought counsel from Mother Agnes of Jesus, whom she would visit at the Carmel. The Jesuit priest Father Pichon, our family’s spiritual director, also encouraged her at this point. On Pentecost Sunday 1887, Thérèse shared her desire to become a Carmelite with our father. Marie, our eldest sister, had joined Pauline at the Carmel on 15th October 1886. With saintly faith and simplicity, our father gave her his consent, but our uncle and Thérèse’s legal guardian, Mr Guérin, was opposed to it. He said she should wait until she was a least 17. However he soon yielded, God having softened his heart in this matter.

There remained other difficulties to overcome: the ecclesiastical superior of the Carmel, Father Delatroëtte, refused to admit her because he considered her too young. Thérèse therefore had to appeal to the bishop. With this in view, she went to Bayeux with our father, but when she received only an evasive response, she decided that on her imminent trip to Rome, she would ask His Holiness Pope Leo XIII for the authorisation she sought [MsA 62r, ff]. She made this trip with our father and myself. The Holy Father did not give her a clear answer either [Papal audience, 20 November 1887] and referred the matter back to the Superiors of the Carmel and Providence.

Once back in France, Thérèse gave herself entirely over to the advice of her sister Pauline in the matter of her vocation [Cf. Ordinary Process, Witness 1, Sixteenth Question, 148r]. She wrote to his Lordship the Bishop of Bayeux, and on 28th December 1887, he replied and gave her the authorization she sought. However, desirous to appease the still protesting Superior, the Mother Prioress of the Carmel delayed her admittance until after Lent. It was therefore not until 9th April of the following year, 1888, that Thérèse stepped over the threshold to the cloister, accompanied by her father and the rest of her family.

Sr. Geneviève of St. Teresa, O.C.D.

(Celine Martin)
Apostolic Process, Witness 8
Response to Question 11

We always refer to the website of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux for the vast majority of our quotes concerning Saint Thérèse, Saint Zélie, and Saint Louis Martin. If you would like to purchase English translations for the collected works of St. Thérèse, please visit the website of our Discalced Carmelite friars at ICS Publications. 

Featured image: This portrait of Pope Leo XIII is a fumée engraving in black on tissue paper from the René Huyghe Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. American artist Charles M. Johnson created the engraving in 1899. Image credit: National Gallery of Art (Public domain)

#CarmelOfLisieux #CelineMartin #DivineProvidence #LeoXIII #papalAudience #pilgrimage #StThereseOfLisieux #testimony #vocations