Carmelite QuotesQuote of the day, 26 March: Saint Zélie Martin
As for me, I’m not so strong. For two weeks straight, I’ve had a fever. Thursday night I was so sick that I thought I was finished. I thought I had the same illness as my little Hélène.
As for me, I’m not confined to my bed, but I’m not doing well at all. I often have a fever, or, more accurately, I have a fever every day. I’m not suffering very much, but I have a constant headache and a general weakness. I have no more energy. I have no stamina for work, and I don’t have the heart for it.
Sometimes I imagine that I’ll go away as gently as my little Hélène. I assure you that I barely care for my own life. Ever since I lost this child, I feel a burning desire to see her again. However, those that remain need me, and, because of them, I ask God to leave me on this earth a few more years.
Saint Zélie Martin
Letter CF 53 to her brother, Isidore Guérin (excerpt)
6 March 1870
Letter CF 54 to her sister-in-law, Céline Fournet Guérin (excerpt)
27 March 1870
Image credit: Discalced Carmelites
Martin, Z & Martin, L 2011, A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863-1885, trans. Hess, AC, ed. Renda, F, Society of St. Paul, New York.
Featured image: This collage features the banner that was unfurled from St. Peter’s Basilica for the canonization of Saints Louis and Zélie Martin. Image credit: Carmelite Quotes
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