Quote of the day, 21 January: Mother Agnès of Jesus

Recently a tiny shellfish gave me a lesson in interior recollection. I had difficulty in opening it because it resisted strongly, and I said to myself: “It is quite a vigorous little creature: no one would think it is so far from the sea.”

It taught me a great lesson. I must be sufficiently filled with the water of recollection to resist as strongly as he did the pressure of work and various happenings of the day, anything that could make me lose the drop of water which makes possible my union with God.

Mother Agnès of Jesus, o.c.d. (Pauline Martin)

Little Counsels of Mother Agnes of Jesus, OCD Saint Therese’s Sister, Pauline (excerpt), Compiled by the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Ada (Parnell) Michigan

Featured image: Comboni Missionary Father David Bohnsack, mccj captures the humble, contemplative gaze of a child in Abéché, Chad. Image credit: David Bohnsack, mccj (By permission).

#counsel #MotherAgnesOfJesus #PaulineMartin #recollection #unionWithGod

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.

St. Thérèse kneels before Pope Leo XIII, 20 November 1887 at the Vatican | Photo credit: Fr. Paul Embery via Catholic Church of England and Wales / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

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

Quote of the day, 12 November: St. Thérèse

Loreto really charmed me! And what shall I say about the Holy House? Ah! how deep was my emotion when I found myself under the same roof as the Holy Family, contemplating the walls upon which Jesus cast His sacred glance, treading the ground bedewed with the sweat of St. Joseph, under this roof where Mary had carried Jesus in her arms, having carried Him in her virginal womb. I beheld the little room in which the angel had appeared to the Blessed Virgin. I placed my rosary in the little bowl of the Child Jesus. What ravishing memories!

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Manuscript A, folio 59 verso

My dear Thérésita,

Monseigneur is awaiting the end of the trip in order to make his decision.

Today, really confide your entire affair to the Blessed Virgin. There, in that blessed house where she worked, prayed, suffered, what delightful things she is about to make your heart understand. One does not go to the Blessed Virgin’s home without coming back with hands filled with graces. Oh, little home of Nazareth, you are worth a thousand times more than all the palaces of this world! There, truly, is heaven’s vestibule!. . .

Little Friend and fiancée of little Jesus, don’t forget that He grew up under this roof of mystery. . . . Don’t forget that He wept there often, very often; He wept there with love and with the desire to see all souls take flight towards Him, and He wept with sorrow when seeing so few would love Him in the future!

When the Blessed Virgin noticed that her Darling was weeping, it was then that she quickly placed the mysterious ball in His hand, and He smiled immediately. . . on the dear ball was written this name: Thérésita of the Child Jesus.

Adieu, adieu, little pilgrim, little toy of Jesus. Fear nothing, for Jesus says to you as He said formerly to St. Teresa: “Nobody will be able to snatch you from My Hands!”

Your confidante,
Agnes of Jesus
r.c.ind.

You should also pray to good St. Joseph, for he, too, worked for Him and suffered in this little house, thrice blessed.

Your little letter pleased me very much; don’t worry about your handwriting. When we are traveling, this is insignificant.

Agnès of Jesus, O.C.D. (Pauline Martin

Letter LC 57 From Sister Agnes of Jesus to Thérèse
November 9, 1887

Note: This letter was addressed to St. Thérèse at Loreto, Italy, mailed at the same time as two letters to St. Louis Martin and Céline Martin, and a note from Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart to Thérèse. At the beginning of this letter, Pauline explains Bishop Hugonin’s decision to postpone his answer concerning Thérèse’s vocation until after the trip to Rome was over. Thérèse took this as a negative answer: “I learned from one of your letters, Mother, that he was no longer favorably disposed toward me. My only plank of salvation was in the permission of the Holy Father, but to obtain it I had to ask for it, I had to dare speak to the pope in front of everybody. This thought made me tremble” (Ms A 62r).

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.

Thérèse & Foley, M 2005, Story of a Soul: The autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Study edn, translated from the French by Clarke, J, ICS Publications, 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. 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: The famed image of Our Lady of Loreto in the Basilica of the Holy House. Image credit: kppl / Adobe Stock (File 207764768).

#207764768 #BlessedVirgin #CelineMartin #ChildJesus #familyLife #HolyHouseOfLoreto #PaulineMartin #pilgrimage #SantaCasaDiLoreto #StThereseOfLisieux

Quote of the day, 12 September: Mother Agnès of Jesus

We must first taste the cross if we wish to taste love.

A desire for suffering is not indispensable to true love, and the simple desire to accomplish God’s Will in everything makes us participate in the same secret strength which enabled Jesus to tell His Father during His agony, “Thy Will, not Mine be done.”

Happiness is completely compatible with crosses and the austerities of a penitential life. We never have a reason for not being happy, as long as we do not somehow try to escape from the sweet yoke of God.

Our goal is not suffering, our goal is Heaven, for ourselves and many other souls; first, a Heaven of peace here below, and afterwards a heaven of glory. We must not complain of the length of our sufferings, for after all, they are only a road leading to a life of eternal blessedness in which the other will seem no more than a flash of lightning.

Mother Agnès of Jesus, OCD (Pauline Martin)

Little Counsels of Mother Agnès of Jesus, OCD

Little Counsels of Mother Agnes of Jesus, OCD Saint Therese’s Sister, Pauline (excerpt), Compiled by the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Ada (Parnell) Michigan

Featured image: A radiant cross shrouded in red light glows with a sunburst halo, evoking the glory of the Resurrection. Image credit: Oksana / Adobe Stock. Asset ID# 1124491169. Licensed under Adobe Stock standard terms. Generated with AI.

#CrossOfChrist #heaven #MotherAgnèsOfJesus #PaulineMartin #suffering

Quote of the day, 23 August: Pauline Martin

At the beginning of 1944, the escalating air war brought fear of bombing raids to our region.

“It could very well happen,” Mother Agnès declared. “At times, I feel anguished. Then I think of Our Lord’s agony: ‘He was seized with sadness, weariness, and dread. My soul is sorrowful even unto death!’ (cf. Mk 14:33–34). If you knew how much these passages comfort me. I had them copied out specially so I could reread them.”

“Are you afraid?” someone asked her as the air raid siren wailed.

“Yes, but I abandon myself to God. Only what he permits will happen. We must trust him. He has his reasons. If he wants everything destroyed, we’ll bear it…”

And she concluded:

“Jesus said: ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away’ (Mt 24:35). Yes, everything here below must pass, but God will always remain with us.”

Mother Agnès of Jesus, o.c.d. (Pauline Martin)

Obituary Circular of Mother Agnès of Jesus (1952)

Note: From 6 June to 22 August 1944, dozens of bombardments demolished 2100 out of 2800 buildings in Lisieux and destroyed most of the religious institutions and two churches, killing more than one-tenth of the population, including 60 religious men and women. On the evening of June 7, fire consumed the residence of the Carmelite chaplains and the Office Central de Lisieux pilgrim center, thereby threatening the Carmelite monastery and its chapel. A less precarious shelter was required—the crypt of the Shrine of St. Thérèse in Lisieux. Mother Agnès (age 82) and the Carmelites settled at the top of the crypt in the right-hand chapel, which is dominated by a reproduction of the Virgin of the Smile. They emerged on 23 August 1944 when Lisieux was finally liberated from the German occupiers.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: The Shrine of St. Thérèse in Lisieux, seen atop the hill in the background of this photo from June 1944, was the last stronghold and shelter amid the Allied bombardments of the town. In the crypt of the basilica, the Carmelite nuns took refuge against what one called “the storm of iron and fire.” Image credit: Médiathèque de Lisieux, PhotosNormandie / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#acceptance #bombingOfLisieux #circularLetter #PaulineMartin #WorldWarII

Quote of the day, 2 July: St. Thérèse of Lisieux

She went for the last time before the Blessed Sacrament in the oratory in the afternoon; but she was at the end of her strength. I saw her look at the Host for a long time and I guessed it was without any consolation but with much peace in her heart.

Mother Agnès of Jesus (Pauline Martin)
Yellow Notebook, 2 July 1897

O God, hidden in the prison of the tabernacle! I come with joy to you each evening to thank you for the graces you have given me. I ask pardon for the faults I committed today, which has just slipped away like a dream….

O Jesus! How happy I would be if I had been faithful, but alas! Often in the evening, I am sad because I feel I could have corresponded better with your graces…. If I were more united to You, more charitable with my sisters, more humble and more mortified, I would feel less sorrow when I talk with you in prayer.

And yet, O my God, very far from becoming discouraged at the sight of my miseries, I come to you with confidence, recalling that those who are well do not need a doctor but the sick do. I beg you, then, to cure me and to pardon me. I will keep in mind, Lord, that the soul to whom you have forgiven more should also love you more than the others!

I offer you every beat of my heart as so many acts of love and reparation, and I unite them to your infinite merits. I beg you, O my Divine Bridegroom, to be the Restorer of my soul, to act in me despite my resistance; and lastly, I wish to have no other will but yours.

Tomorrow, with the help of your grace, I will begin a new life in which each moment will be an act of love and renunciation. Thus, after coming each evening to the foot of your Altar, I will finally reach the last evening of my life. Then will begin for me the unending day of eternity when I will place in your Divine Heart the struggles of exile!

Amen.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Prayer 7 for Sister Martha of Jesus at her request

Thérèse of Lisieux, S & Clarke, J 1977, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Her Last Conversations, Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington DC.

Thérèse, Gaucher, G & Kane, A 1997. The Prayers of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: The Act of Oblation, ICS Publications, Washington, DC.

Featured image: A young Discalced Carmelite nun kneels in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament at the Carmel of Valladolid, Spain, embodying the spirit of Thérèse’s evening prayer of thanksgiving and intimate communion with Jesus “hidden in the prison of the tabernacle.” Image credit: © Ángel Cantero, archivalladolid / Flickr (Some rights reserved).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
What can St. Thérèse teach us about having honest conversations with Jesus in the tabernacle, rather than simply reading formal prayers?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#abandonment #BlessedSacrament #PaulineMartin #prayer #StThereseOfLisieux

Quote of the day, 3 February: Pauline Martin

My beloved little sister, you’ll be able to come on Friday [January 29th], the elections won’t be until Monday or Tuesday [February 1st and 2nd].

I can’t be without you for a moment. Who could understand such a union! Let us love the good Lord well! Everything is here, and there’s nothing out there!

The weather is so sad! We need to create a Blue Sky in our hearts.

Soeur Agnès de Jésus (Pauline Martin)

Letter from Sr. Agnès de Jésus to Sr. Marie du Sacré Coeur (Marie Martin)
25-28 January 1886

Note: On 3 February 1886, Mother Marie de Gonzague was elected to her third term as prioress of the Discalced Carmelite monastery of Lisieux. At the time of her death in 1904, she had served 6 years as sub-prioress and 21 years as prioress of the community. You can read the biography of Mother Marie de Gonzague on the website of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux.

 

Mother Marie de Gonzague
(Marie Davy de Virville)
Caen, 20 February 1834 – Lisieux, 17 December 1904
Credit: Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

#CarmelOfLisieux #elections #MarieMartin #MotherMarieDeGonzague #nuns #PaulineMartin #prioress #SrAgnèsDeJésus

Quote of the day, 10 January: Marie Martin

My dear little daughter, I don’t want the eve of such a beautiful day to pass by without speaking a little word to her from her Jesus. Her Jesus! He has made her a bed of lilies! “My beloved browses among the lilies!” [Song 6:3], says the spouse in the Canticle.

I want to give my little daughter the only picture that is dear to me among all others…. Aunt at Le Mans [Sr. Marie-Dosithée, V.S.M.] gave it to me, and I am attached to it, for it says much to my heart.

But all for the little fiancée of Jesus! What is too beautiful for her?

Oh! yes, “…happy the lily that remained without spot until the hour of reaping” [inscription on the holy card mentioned above]. One day, we shall reap, rejoicing! [Ps 126:5] And this hour will come! And it will be a day without clouds, and the more we shall have suffered the more radiant that day will be. Then! then! Ah! I keep silent…. This day will be so beautiful, it will be so sweet, this day which will have no setting!!

My whole heart to my dear angel, whom I adorned for Jesus on the day of her First Communion and whom I’ll adorn on the day of her espousals.

Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, O.C.D. (Marie Martin)

Letter LC 107 to St. Thérèse, 9 January 1889

Note: During the Ordinary Process, Pauline Martin explained the date chosen for St. Thérèse’s clothing: “Having begun her postulancy in April, at the age of 15 years and three months, normally she could have received the habit within six months, before the end of October; in fact, she wasn’t clothed until 10 January 1889. Around that time our father was very ill, and we hoped that this delay would enable him to attend her clothing ceremony at a later date.”

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.

Featured image: The lilium longiflorum is also known as the Easter lily. Image credit: Golden Age Photos / Adobe Stock (Stock photo)

#CarmeliteHabit #Clothing #happiness #Jesus #lilies #MarieMartin #PaulineMartin #StThérèseOfLisieux

Quote of the day, 3 January: St. Zélie

My little girl was born last night, Thursday [January 2], at eleven-thirty. She’s very strong and in very good health. They tell me she weighs eight pounds. Let’s say six, which is still not bad. She seems very sweet…

I barely suffered a half hour. What I felt before was practically nothing. She’ll be baptized tomorrow, Saturday. The only thing missing to make the celebration complete is all of you. Marie is going to be the godmother, and a little boy close to her age will be the godfather.

I received your letter, as well as the box containing the New Year’s gifts. I don’t know if I should scold you. I want to very much, and yet I also want to thank you, but everything is too beautiful and too expensive. Céline wore her beautiful fur and muff for the first time on the first day of the year.

I wish all of you a happy New Year. Please remember me to Monsieur and Madame Fournet and Monsieur and Madame Maudelonde.

I look forward to sending you a longer letter. I can’t write a long one today.

Marie and Pauline have been on vacation since Tuesday evening. They’ll stay with me until Monday or Tuesday.

Saint Zélie Guérin Martin

Letter CF 84 to her sister-in-law Céline Fournet Guérin
3 January 1873

Note: M. and Mme. Fournet were the parents of Céline Fournet Guérin, the wife of St. Zélie’s brother Isidore. M. and Mme. Maudelonde were Céline Guérin’s sister, Marie-Rosalie Fournet Maudelonde and her husband César. The Maudelonde, Guérin and Martin families often saw each other in Lisieux or on vacation, especially at Trouville.

Martin, Z 2011, A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863-1885, Society of St. Paul, New York.

Featured image: Photographer Glen Bledsoe captures this image of a vintage cradle and bedroom in the Methodist Parsonage at Willamette Heritage Center in Salem, Oregon. Image credit: glenbledsoe / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#Alençon #baptism #birth #CélineGuérin #letter #MarieMartin #PaulineMartin #StThérèseOfLisieux #StZélieMartin

In order to deepen her knowledge, Little Thérèse did what the Apostles did when they took Our Lord aside and asked Him to explain His parables to them. She spoke His language and thereby slipped into the depth of the Heart of God to snatch from Him secrets of perfection and love and reveal them on earth. She saw what she expected to see, an abyss of simplicity and uncomprehended love.

The fundamental disposition of heart which Little Thérèse spoke of: it is a mixture of humility, of trust, of habitual recourse to God in distress; it is even sometimes a kind of supernatural joy at experiencing one’s misery and great need of help from above at every moment. In short it is the Truth, true Divine Love, the true light which we must welcome and increase within ourselves by the practice of fraternal charity.

In spite of her beautiful desires, St. Thérèse was simplicity itself. What looks great and sublime in her was necessary for her canonization so that her Little Way might have some authority, but the essence of the Little Way is simply confidence, humility, and the greatest simplicity. This was not affected by her beautiful desires for suffering and martyrdom.

To give God full freedom to do what He pleases with us—that is true love, absolute trust. Have a constant desire to prove your love to Jesus.

Mother Agnès of Jesus, O.C.D. (Pauline Martin)

Little Counsels of Mother Agnes of Jesus, OCD Saint Therese’s Sister, Pauline (excerpt), Compiled by the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Ada (Parnell) Michigan

Featured image: Photographer Satria Bagaskara captured this image of a little white butterfly from the Pieridae family in Klojen, Jawa Timur, Indonesia. Image credit: pexels.com (Stock photo)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/09/25/agnes-trulove/

#humility #Jesus #joy #love #MotherAgnèsOfJesus #PaulineMartin #simplicity #StThérèseOfLisieux #trust #truth