Correspondence with Sister Germaine

Sister Germaine Le Conte (1908-1917), Carmelite nun from Angers

Sister Marie de la Trinité became the official correspondent of a young professed (1906) from the Carmel of Angers, Sister Germaine Le Conte, an enthusiastic conquest of Thérèse and, moreover, her relative on the paternal side (letter 14). For her, Mary of the Trinity enters fully into her role as witness to the rising glory of Thérèse and as apostle of the little way. The first letter preserved is from 1908, a time when “the cult of Thérèse exploded in the universe” (letter 3). Wonders and wonders rain down everywhere. Marie de la Trinité makes herself the living reporter. His zeal was also deployed in a very unexpected sector: an embryo of Procure was born opposite the Carmel in 1912 (letter 21).

Another consequence of the incredible “rain of roses”: the Church must act quickly so as not to be overtaken by the vox populi in the canonization of Thérèse. The prodigious activity of the vice-postulator, Msgr. de Teil, was almost taken aback. Trial of the Writings (May 1910), Trial of the Ordinary (1910-1911), Apostolic Trial (1915-1917) follow each other at a steady pace. The letters that follow provide us with first-hand information on the mechanism of these assizes, the emotions and fatigue of the witnesses, among whom Marie de la Trinité occupies a prominent place. Pilgrimages, on the other hand, begin to multiply “from all the ends of the earth” (letter 21). Bishops take advantage of their ad limina visit to make the detour to Lisieux, kneel on the tomb of the Carmelite nun (exhumed for the first time on September 6, 1910), and pray at the closing (Mgr Lemonnier largely granting such permissions). All of this is consoling, of course, but “takes time”. And we agree with the narrator when she affirms: “It is a wonder that we can manage to cope with everything while maintaining our religious life” (letter 22).

1. May 3, 1908 to Sr. Germaine.

My dear little sister,

Finally, I can find a little free time to tell you myself how much your beautiful image gave me pleasure. I would have liked to express my joy to you immediately but, you see, little Thérèse takes up all my free time, I have to take photographs, arrange relics, what do I know? a lot of things outside of my jobs that barely give me time to breathe. I confess to you, however, that this increased fatigue is very pleasing to me, I am even proud to think that Sr Thérèse is using me to help her do good on earth. You too, my dear little sister, you can help him; she had told me that after her death, she had to often fill her little hands with roses in order to give her the joy of being able to spread them over the world. [We find this word, undated, in the Red Notebook of Sister Marie de la Trinité, p. 102]. So, by our small acts of virtue, our outbursts of love, we can fulfill his most ardent desire.

You would like me, dear little sister, to write to you what I know about our seraph. With what joy I would do it if... I had the time! Nothing pleases me more than talking about my dear little Mistress, the one who was given to me as an Angel as soon as I entered this blessed Carmel of Lisieux. For 3 1/2 years I had the invaluable happiness of living in his intimacy, which I consider to be one of the greatest graces of my life. But I also want to tell you, to console you for not having enjoyed my privilege, that her absence does not make me suffer and that I feel her even closer to me than when we were together. When it was on earth, I had to put up with it being shared with each other, but now I possess it without sharing, and it is I think the privilege of all those who are part of the legion of little souls of which she is the queen. The memory of his examples of virtue can also, like me, fuel your fervor. Don't you have the story of his beautiful soul? Especially after our last edition [the 1907 edition, considerably enriched compared to the previous ones] what else can I tell you? Perhaps a few intimate details, a few personal consolations that would not add much to this comprehensive book. Take comfort, then, dear little sister, and know that three quarters and a half of the community who lived with our little queen only knew her through the story of her soul. I admit that if such a thing had happened to me I would have a mortal regret, but Jesus gave me the grace to know her and to appreciate her all the time that I lived with her.

I think the photo of Ste Agnès that I am sending you will please you. It is our dear artist Sr Geneviève who composed this painting by copying the figure of her beloved Thérèse [Sr Geneviève was inspired by the portrait of Thérèse at thirteen to paint the Blessed Virgin. Then, by crowning the head of the Virgin with roses, we made a bust of Saint Agnes]. I can assure you that there is no photograph that reminds me of our Angel better, she finally has this something angelic, celestial, this expression that one could not catch in photography; also not one pleased us and did not entirely remind us of it. That is why she has been photographed so many times and, you must have noticed, because of her mobile face, they are almost all different.

Really time passes too quickly, I already have to leave you but not without thanking you again for the Communion you made for me, I was very touched and I have no doubt that the good Lord grants me this grace. which I need the most. For me, at this moment, it would be a grace of strength to bear the ordeal of our darling little Mother's change. "Elections kill the little ones," said a saintly little Visitandine. Me, I am of this opinion, and I do not promise that my "shell" will not serve me at least during the first days of this painful change. Ah! when will we be in Heaven where we will have neither changes nor separations! (...)

Your little sister who loves you very much
Sr Marie of the Trinity and the Holy Face
(little toy of the Child Jesus)

PS I make small sacrifices to help the devil out of the possessed poor. Yesterday I couldn't help laughing because leaving an unfinished letter at the first stroke of the bell I said hastily: "That's for the devil!..." (‑‑‑)

2. May 17, 1908. 

(...) To respond to your desire, I am sending you this small group representing our two dear Mothers [Mother Marie‑Ange, who has just been elected prioress on May 8 and Mother Agnès of Jesus]; it has been almost 2 years since this photo was taken, Sr. Marie-Ange was then very ill from the chest and we were almost certain of her imminent end, but the good God so good had pity on us and against all human forecasts preserved for us the angel of our Carmel. Especially since she became our little Mother, it is marvelous to see the strengths He gives her. Pray so that Jesus will continue them more and more for the happiness of our little Carmel.

You are right, dear little sister, our new little Mother and Mother Agnes of Jesus, it's the same, it's still Jesus; and even, without looking at the point of view of faith, their souls are so similar and are so united that one cannot love one without the other.

I see that you are always greedy for Thérèse again, but your greed will only be truly satisfied in Heaven. long enough I think to do good and encourage souls. One of the features that still does me the most good is the first one where she compared me to a little child at the bottom of the stairway to perfection. (‑‑‑)

I don't have time to tell you more about it, my dear little sister. I am sending you the program of my love games to show you what I am spending my time at the bottom of the stairs while waiting for the divine elevator. Keep it as long as you want, I didn't have time to copy it for you. (‑‑‑)

3. August 12, 1908.

(‑‑‑) Oh! it's up to you now to come and ask me for lessons in littleness, you who, in the cradle, are in the front rank of the legion of little souls of which Therese is the queen. Don't grow up, don't move from your cradle, Jesus will do everything for you... You know, all children in the cradle go straight to Heaven, so stay there until you're 90, if necessary! (‑‑‑) “The desire of the Queen of Heaven” is for you personally. It was not to me but to Sr Geneviève that Sr Thérèse of the Child Jesus had dedicated it. During her postulancy she was called Marie de la Sainte Face, but the Superiors made her change her name to give her that of our holy Foundress. Is equal ! I don't think they were well inspired to do that because his first prophetic name suited him so well! Finally! mustn't the sacrifice be hidden everywhere, even in the name!

You asked me, dear little sister, to tell you the traits that I brought back to Thérèse's life. Here they are in all simplicity (...) I have also copied for you the other unpublished poems that she composed for me and that you will find attached. Eh ! I believe you will be happy! Pay me generously with prayers and tell little Jesus to help me in my overflowing task... Thérèse gives me a crazy job. His worship explodes into the universe; Letters and orders abound from all sides, she knows very well that all the profit from sales goes to swell her beatification fund, so she takes care of business! that's wonderful ! However, that doesn't surprise me, I even foresaw it when he was alive; sometimes I would tell her about it so she would laugh, but wouldn't say no... (‑‑‑)

Your little sister who cherishes you in Jesus our All
Mary of the Trinity and the Holy Face rc ind.

If you want other engravings like the ones we send you, we will leave them at 0,20c.
The little merchant from Thérèse's shop

[Follows the exact copy of PN 11 et PN 12 ; then Mary of the Trinity continues]:

These verses speaking of two Takings of the Habit demand explanation. So here it is: At the age of 16 1/2, I joined the Carmel on the Avenue de Messine in Paris. After spending 2 1/2 years in this fervent Carmel, I was obliged to leave it for health reasons. I languished for almost a year in the world but seeing that the community did not want to receive me again before I was 21 and not feeling the strength to wait so long without dying of pain, I came to present myself at the Carmel of Lisieux which charitably opened its doors to the poor little exile on June 16, 1894. Ah! what a providential test! and how I find that I did not pay too much for the invaluable graces that awaited me in this blessed Carmel.

A trait that will interest you among others: Sr. Th. de l'EJ was no stranger to this ordeal which made me suffer so much at the time! Our Mothers of the Avenue de Messine being on good terms with our Mothers of Lisieux, they spoke to them about me, telling them that they too had a very young sister like their little Th. he took from the “little queen” the desire to know me and even to possess me... At that time the Government was talking about making a law which would prohibit the communities from receiving subjects before they were 21 years old. “Oh! said little Thérèse to herself, if they send me away I know very well what I will do: I will go and find little Sister Agnès of Jesus (that was my name) and we will live together in sweet intimacy until we have reached old enough to enter Carmel. Jesus, who took pleasure in fulfilling the slightest wishes of his little queen, allowed me to fall ill with a very serious anemia, at the same time as I was assailed with many heartaches and despite all the encouragement that our Mothers gave me. , I was intimately convinced of my exit and my return to another Carmel. I didn't hide my feelings from them, which surprised them a lot; I myself could not explain this strange thing to myself because I was very happy in the Carmel of Messina and I would have given anything to die there. Later this mystery was unveiled and I can still see the sweet tears that little Thérèse shed when she saw me at her side, having become her inseparable little sister as she had wished...

I did not count on having the opportunity to reply to your letter so soon, which gave me so much pleasure. Oh ! how I thank Thérèse for having so intimately united our two souls so well made to understand each other and to walk side by side in her little path of childhood. The pretty little photograph that you offer me so delicately delights me, I am going to make an image of it and put it in the Gospel that I carry on my heart (‑‑‑)

See, dear little sister, how grateful I am to Jesus for all the graces he has showered on me; more than anyone else I would be guilty if I did not love him madly. And yet, what failings in my love! What returns on myself! There would be something to discourage me by seeing myself so imperfect, if the doctrine of our Angel did not come to raise my courage. Listen to his language: "It is enough to humble oneself, to bear one's imperfections with gentleness: this is true holiness (to Latvia) for us” or even: “For me, I experience great joy, not only when people find me imperfect, but above all, when I feel that I am. And a thousand other quotes that you know as well as I do. Ah! what truly divine language! What saint until now has been able to make us know the good God better?

It's time for me to stop; I don't really know how rambling this letter is (...) I wish you, beloved little sister, and your fervent Community a happy 30th! May our Angel of love rain down on your dear Carmel his abundant shower of roses so fruitful for souls!

5. After May 5, 1909.

(‑‑‑) How beautiful is the miracle you have sent us; with what marked joy Bishop de Teil who happened to be here took it away! He is tirelessly devoted to Thérèse's cause and will bring it to fruition in a short time. From the train she walks, in less than 10 years she will be beatified. Its rain of roses falls more and more abundantly on the earth. Ah! as Jesus delights in glorifying his little Queen insofar as she wanted to remain small and unknown on earth.

A rich Englishman absolutely wants to have a statue made for him by the most skilful artist, he leaves it to us, offering to pay whatever it takes. According to the advice of Mgr de Teil we will have it made in white marble, it will not be a lesser expense of 10.000 Fr. See how she is really treated like a little Queen.

Our little thaumaturge recreated us well on Good Shepherd Day. That day we received the news that she had miraculously healed a cow in a Visitandine convent. The sale of milk is their livelihood; now, one day they found their poor cow paralyzed and inert in the stable; already, they had lost another cow from the same disease, it was for them a loss of 4 to 500 Fr. . (‑‑‑)

It seems to me, darling little sister, that I have answered all your questions, I hope you will be happy. Ah! I still remember one thing: you are surprised by my poetry: “A lily among thorns” when I had such pious parents. It's true, but as I told you, we were a lot of children and our parents didn't have much time to take care of us; we therefore enjoyed a great deal of freedom, so I very often went shopping alone in Paris, or else in consultation with classmates we went on Thursdays for walks and have fun together without our needing to report home. If the good Lord had not given me my vocation so early, I infallibly feel that I would have lost myself with my ardent nature and the great need for love that I felt, but the passion that I had for Carmel surpassed all the other passions that kindled in my heart. Ignoring the evil I did not apprehend the danger and yet I ran more than one! But Jesus was watching and always kept me well.

I've taken up this letter I don't know how many times, so it shouldn't have much of a follow-up. We have just returned from celebrating our beloved Mother. Unfortunately we are sorry to see her ill again; it's a relapse of her chest disease and the fever she already has at 38,2° doesn't stop worrying us. Pray with us I pray that Jesus heals her as soon as possible, you cannot imagine the treasure we have in her, we appreciate her more every day, we will never be able to thank God enough for having given her to us , she is really a second little sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus! The gifts from our Sisters were many and varied, all had worked for our little Queen, and it was very useful because we are not enough to satisfy the people who ask us for her relics. (...)

I prayed for you during your Retreat; I was there one day with you on April 30, the 13th anniversary of my profession and the 18th anniversary of my first entry into Carmel. What a joy to grow old like this in the service of the good God!

I always count on your prayers to help me become a saint. Alas! I'm so far away! I will always have tried, and since the good Lord only asks for effort, I don't worry about success and leave it to Him. Let's only aim for one thing like our little Thérèse: to love Jesus, to make him loved by our little efforts of virtue constantly renewed.

6. July 17, 1909.

(‑‑ ‑) You too, dear little sister, you will have to suffer for my letters which will be increasingly rare and short. Thérèse wants it that way since she gives me so much work, but what she also wants is that I love you more and more, I feel it in your memory, which comes back to me quite often and which obliges me every times to pray for you. Simple and short prayer in the manner of Thérèse and yours which consists in asking the good God "to set you ablaze with his Spirit of love and to grant you the grace to make him much loved".(to Latvia)

Your story of Thérèse protecting your little nest really interested me, it proves that she remains the same in Heaven as on earth You doubtless know that she had told Sr Marie du Sacré-Coeur who wanted to destroy the blackbirds that ate the strawberries: "If you let them, I promise you that you will not lose it and that I will send you fruit after my death. Now, since his death we have received more strawberries each year than our garden can supply. (‑‑‑)

I am so poor in virtues! but I don't worry about that again, am I not rich with all the infinite treasures of my Spouse Jesus! He gave me the key to all his wealth and I confess that I draw from it lavishly... proportion of what they are distributed.

You must never scold Thérèse when she does not grant what is asked of her, I always thank her for everything, convinced that she is doing the best. My 2 little sisters Violette and Marguerite‑Marie keep failing the Telegraph competition, and yet they need to find a job. Therese knows all that, that's enough for me, I don't worry about anything.

Thérèse's first brother, very fraternal with her, went to join her 1 years ago, after having suffered in body and soul a real martyrdom [He is Fr. Belliere, Thérèse's first brother]. No, she does not spare her true friends or rather, according to the expression of Fr. Raymond, she chisels them in the image of Jesus. —His 2nd brother, a very devoted missionary, rarely gives us news of him. May Thérèse grant you graces and may she show that you are her darling little sister!... Good! you're becoming touchy like me, that's my great fault, he makes me suffer a lot but he gives me plenty of roses to fill Therese's little hand. On that account I am not sorry to keep it until my death. If Thérèse says little about her prayer, it is because she had nothing else to say about it: prayer of faith, very simple, such as little souls like us can have. (‑‑‑)

7. September 6, 1909.

(‑‑‑) You ask me, little sister, how Thérèse can pick up roses in the middle of the battlefield that is your soul, but don't you know that it is precisely in the middle of thorns that the most beautiful roses? It is therefore with both hands that she picks them from you, Thérèse's little rosebush which only keeps and feels within you the thorns. Ah! you are not alone in suffering these lapses of the imagination, these various temptations during the Office In this, we are indeed sisters. Formerly I felt a great deal of pain about them, today I treat them as one would bothersome flies. Gently I bring my soul back to the present moment without rushing it or reproaching it for its deviations, I don't even seem to be surprised and I see that this method does me more good than all the troubles and reproaches to which I would abandon myself. The R. Father Pichon said to us in one of his retreats [probably that of October 23-31, 1907]: “Each temptation leaves in the soul a ray of beauty of the virtue opposed to this temptation. This thought does me a lot of good, isn't it consoling?

How can you think you are below me! Ah! if you lived with me, how encouraged you would be to find that we are absolutely alike with all our little faults. I say "small" because as long as we recognize them and have the desire to correct ourselves, they are not deep and do not cause Jesus pain because they serve us rather as a step to arrive to Him through suffering and humiliation.

“A saint is one who always gets up again”. I don't remember who said that, but “always getting up” means that you always fall! So you see that holiness is quite affordable for both of us: always get up, and above all never worry because it is a lack of trust and abandonment to Jesus. We "little ones" must have the humility to recognize all our duty to Him, accept to see our efforts sterile, our powerlessness for any good.

I am all day in calculations so that even to Jesus I speak of calculations. This morning during Thanksgiving, I proposed this problem to Him: “A nothing united to the All, how much is that? » He answered me: « That makes Everything! » And I, very happy, offered him this « Everything » for souls. I had forgotten my indigence and my misery, and in fact it no longer existed: "To you too, Thérèse points to the sky without saying a word." What do you want her to tell you? Let's do what she did, practice what she said. Our heart then will be like a vase of perfume for our Beloved. Isn't it much better for us to send him perfumes than for him to allow his little queen to give us some? The little queen!... She never smelled perfumes during her life, she only smelled the Cross. » (‑‑ ‑)

8. December 31, 1909.

It is the case to say that love finds impossibility in nothing, because coming to you in the rush hour where I am is not feasible, I count on the little Jesus to make my pen run quickly and tell you in a few minutes what I would like to tell you in a day! My car to go to the crèche was in a public car, nothing could be better! It was in the middle of a rush of parcels and people that I went there, so I arrived there more or less dusty and with my clothes in disarray!

Germaine would have been alarmed, Trinité has not lost an ounce of her peace, she prefers to think that little Jesus is always happy with her, even when she does not feel it, that makes her happy, and the baby Jesus loves happy hearts; even if he would like to be saddened by our little infidelities, he doesn't stay angry for long if he sees us serve him again with beaming faces. On the contrary, if He sees us sad and always brooding over our miseries, that makes Himself sad! What a grace Jesus gives you to get you through this dark night of trials of all kinds, so purifying and which brings us so close to Him! I can assure you that I keep you company — you will see that in heaven — but Jesus made me understand the value of such a grace so well that I don't know how to express my gratitude to him; I am already tasting its delicious fruits by a greater detachment from the consolations of the earth, by a closer union with Him.

So, for example, I cannot tell you how much the long illness of our dear Mother Marie-Ange benefited me, 6 whole months without any direction, not even being able to approach Mother Agnès of Jesus who never left her side, I You must admit that it was hard for my exuberant nature to bear its sorrows and struggles alone, but how much this ordeal has strengthened my soul and given it wings! That this purification was necessary to me and how I thank God for not having spared me it. It is the same with all other kinds of test, oh! if we knew how to take advantage of it, how soon we would become saints!

This is what Mother Marie-Ange did, you will see this in her long and beautiful circular letter, you will see that it is not without suffering a lot and in any case that one arrives at holiness. But what is this short time of suffering compared to the eternal bliss that awaits us?

I think it will please you if I tell you the signs that Jesus already wanted to give us the glory of his faithful spouse. The day after his death (November 12) around 5 p.m., at the time when we were finishing the Office of the Dead in the Choir, the neighbors saw above our monastery an immense globe of fire the size of a large round table. Amazed, they came to tell the tourières: “Surely the Carmelites have had revelations about the Sister who has just died. And they told what they had seen; our Tourières Sisters had also witnessed it. As for us, we saw nothing, since we were at the Choir, but this story filled us with joy and proved to us that Thérèse had wanted to go downstairs with Marie-Ange to assure us of their protection.

A lady benefactor of our Carmel residing in Paris was getting ready to come to the burial of Our Mother; before she left she sent her children's governess to buy the finest sheaf of flowers she could find. No sooner had she given the commission than her whole house was perfumed with a celestial odor of orange tree perfume: it was like a wedding! Her husband was able to enjoy this supernatural perfume. You judge of the consolation they experienced!

However, all these signs were not enough for our dear Mother [Mother Agnès of Jesus]. She asked God for an indisputable sign proving or rather confirming to him that Mother Marie-Ange had been straight to Heaven. And now she received a letter from an exiled Carmel (I would tell you his name, but he asked us for the secret) who told her that on September 11 at 9 a.m.—the precise hour when Mother Marie-Ange left earth— a sister had had the intimate conviction that the Mother Prioress of the Carmel of Lisieux had just died and she felt like a bliss which filled the choir, she remained in this celestial joy until midnight, because it was the day of the holy hour. Oh ! how touched we were by this detail!

This is how God glorifies his little souls, this is how he will glorify us one day, because we are part of it, but in the meantime we have to bear the cold of the dark night, the intolerable pain of not feeling that we love and that we are loved, in a word, we must put up with our purgatory here on earth so that we can only throw ourselves into the bosom of God to consume ourselves there eternally.

My little sister here I am carried away talking to you for a long time and time is passing... How am I going to make up for it? It's a shower of letters if not roses in my shop, only yesterday I had 40 order letters to serve! Also my games of skittles and spinning top are well finished, since my baby Jesus adopted to play "shopkeeper" he doesn't want to do anything else anymore. All of his merchandise is so appealing that he makes the universe abound here, so I don't know where to turn!

Oh ! how happy we are to have Thérèse's little Mother for our mother, living with her is heaven anticipated! However, we cannot enjoy it much, one direction per month, no more, and apart from that, she is absorbed by the work that Thérèse gives and moreover, at this moment, by the circular of Mother Marie Ange, 8 days ago Let her work on it and it's no small job! She writes to your dear Mother details about Thérèse, which is why I am not giving you any.

Sr Isabelle of the Sacred Heart was elected sub-prioress: it is still a conquest of Thérèse like Mother Marie-Ange, she is only 27 years old, she is of a rare intelligence and very virtuous. As trustee we have Sr Madeleine de Jesus 35 years old, she is at the same time 1^st nurse, you wouldn't believe how good and devoted she is... You see that we are well provided for, besides Thérèse sends us some elite subjects. (‑‑‑)

9. January 16, 1910.

Thank you for communicating our brother's letter. How interesting and edifying! Only, scold him for not having yet dared to offer himself to the good God to be his martyr, this is a misplaced humility and which is far from the way "of the little ones" to whom all daring is precisely permitted. because of the simplicity of their confident love. (‑‑‑)

As for the color of Thérèse's eyes, we can hardly define it, a dubious gray-brown colour. As for the sensitive favors of which she deprives some and fills others, the why remains the secret of the good God and we should not see in this the mark of his love.

Yesterday we received a letter from Madagascar telling us that a small child of a pagan woman being dying, a nun hastened to baptize him, leaving the poor woman as a remedy an image of Thérèse. The next day the pagan arrived at the Mission, her healthy child in her arms: "The beautiful lady, whose picture you gave me, I saw her last night, she said, she approached of my child, placed a white robe on him and when she disappeared my child was cured! Well, is it because Therese showed herself to this pagan that she loves her better than us? What is most surprising in this story is that Thérèse during her lifetime had read an analogous event in the missions, a child thus cured by the Most Blessed Virgin and she had said to Mother Agnès of Jesus: "This are things like this that I will do when I am in Heaven” [Yellow Book 25.6.1]

10. April 3, 1910.

(‑‑‑) I was quite sure that Mother Marie‑Ange's circular would be an encouragement for your soul as it is for mine. I, too, have the ugly faults that she fought so well, but to correct them the good Lord used means other than depriving me of Holy Communion. That one would have rather despaired me [and it would have been contrary to Thérèse's teaching; see to Latvia et to Latvia].

To correct me, He allowed me to find only bitterness when I was looking for myself or else that I was given so much work that I had no time to go and enjoy my "Little Mother" or to envy those who could enjoy it. It was a harsh treatment for my loving heart, but I felt it was so useful that it was with all my heart that I repeated this prayer every day: “O Jesus, change for me all the consolations of the earth into bitterness. "I feel my heart free and I love all the more strongly...

There is a very big error in your letter, and it must be retracted as soon as possible because Thérèse could never bear it and she banned it from her method of teaching “toddlers”. “It's so sad, you say, to constantly upset our beloved Jesus. Little souls so full of good will like us never hurt Jesus! They can fall at any moment but their falls only amuse Jesus because they serve to make them smaller, more humble still.

Oh ! how this truth dilates the soul! it makes him taste from this life an anticipated heaven. I ask my little Thérèse to make it clear to you.

Since my last Retreat — a month ago — my soul has been particularly happy because of my resolution. I had seen how much there was to redo in me on the point of charity by rereading the chapter which deals with it in the Story of a Soul. At the moment of making my resolution, I thought of the words of a saint: "Suffer everything from others and make them suffer nothing." »

“To suffer everything from others! I said to myself, it's not gay! Waking up every morning with this prospect didn't sit well with me. I called on little Thérèse and Mother Marie-Ange to let me know clearly what the good Lord was asking of me. Immediately I thought that I was very foolish in wanting to suffer everything from others in this way and that, on the contrary, it was necessary to take the resolution not to suffer anything from anyone; doing like Thérèse who, for example, when the noise of a sister tired her, listened to it and offered it to Jesus as a melody. Since I practiced this resolution I have never been so happy in my life, I no longer have to fight against certain shortcomings of our Sisters and I feel my love growing for them.

But that's talking too much about me, let's come to our little Thérèse. You were no doubt amazed by the new “Rain of Roses”. (‑‑‑)

A month ago, she performed another miracle here in the kitchen. Sr. Jeanne-Marie, the youngest of our sisters of the white veil, a real little saint, had done some very tiring housework one day. Several times during the day she had asked little Thérèse to come and help her. Around 5 o'clock in the evening she saw that the kettle in the stove was empty and, despite her fatigue, she offered herself to Sr. Marie-Madeleine who was in the kitchen to help her fill it. She took the opportunity to completely empty the kettle and clean it before adding fresh water.

Then they threw in a first jug of water and went to pump a second one. When they brought it, what was their astonishment to see the kettle full to the brim. However, to fill it you need 1 large jugs of water. They had no doubt that Thérèse herself had come to their rescue. The whole Community was very struck by this incident. Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart even keeps a small bottle of this water which she calls miraculous [ Sister Jeanne-Marie (1886‑1960) herself filed at the Ordinary Trial the fact in question, which occurred on February 23, 1910].

Our beloved Mother made this fact the subject of her exhortation to the next Chapter, she told us that this prodigy meant that for a small act of charity we immediately obtain from Jesus a fullness of living water which comes to fill our souls. That many sinners before the well of salvation say like the Samaritan woman: "This well is too deep and we have nothing to draw from." And now our little drop of charity made the water of grace rise to their lips!...

Don't think, however, that Thérèse always acts like this for us. Just yesterday a sister asked me to come and serve as a nun. Realizing my hesitation, because she knew that I didn't have time, Our Mother said to me: "Go all the same, you will see that Little Thérèse will return your act of charity by helping you in her turn. . Yes, in a beautiful way! When I get back to our cell, I knock over our inkwell on the floor, which draws the shape of a devil with horns on the floor! And my whole morning must have been spent removing that horrible stain. In truth, it is a kick from the devil that enrages our confidence in Thérèse.

His cause will make very rapid progress. Msgr. our bishop has received the order from Rome to proceed promptly with the search for the writings of the “Servant of God”. At this time he is writing a Pastoral Letter which will have to be read on 3 consecutive Sundays throughout the diocese and which will officially announce the trial and will order, under the penalties prescribed by the Church, that all the writings of Sr. Th. of the Child Jesus be communicated in originals or in certified true copies to the ecclesiastical authority, to be submitted to Rome for revision by theologians.

As soon as this letter has appeared, we will send it to the Carmels with the Articles of the Oral Process which Bishop de Teil has just composed and on which we will each be questioned, under the faith of the oath before a tribunal of six priests who have themselves taken oath. I assure you that we are going to have a serious and solemn year, and we will really need your prayers because we are going to have an immense task. Not wanting to part with the originals, we have to copy all his manuscript, his poems, his letters, etc.

Father Flamérion came recently, he told what the devil had told him in his exorcism [Father Flamerion, SJ (1851‑1925) succeeded Father de Haza in 1909 as exorcist of the diocese of Paris. He will testify at the Trial of the Ordinary of Therese's power over Satan — will retract her testimony! - and of new to the Apostolic Process. His reports to the Carmel of Lisieux in 1910‑1911 seem to have excited people's imaginations. Bishop de Teil wisely warned against the “revelations” of the devil: “It's always tricky to have to deal with the devil, who is the liar par excellence. (February 20, 1909). As early as 1905 Father Pichon already wrote: “We must not trust the demon speaking through the mouth of a possessed person. » (August 23, 1905, to Marie du Sacré-Coeur.) Sister Marie du Sacré-Coeur ended up writing, disillusioned: « We no longer speak of exorcisms (...). We no longer concern ourselves with the devil who always repeats the same thing and never wants to leave the body of the possessed either in the name of the Blessed Virgin or in the name of the saints. June 1, 1913, to Sister Françoise-Thérèse]. 

Thank you for your pretty little image which gave me such great pleasure, it is indeed with a little Jesus like that that I play but that does not prevent my great devotion to the adorable Face of suffering Jesus. Here is the “head” I say to myself one day while contemplating it, but where is the body? And I seemed to hear him say to me: “My body is you! » Yes, it is we who are the members of this adorable Chief and how can we be surprised then to be in suffering, contempt, humiliation?... It takes too long to explain my thoughts to you... You guess it.

11. May 25, 1910 to Sr. Germaine

The revision of the writings of our dear little saint is over. These dear writings will now take their way to Rome where they will be severely examined by theologians. How grand and penetrating is all this! We were 6 to be thoroughly questioned about these writings. But before that we were made to swear one after the other on our knees, our hands on the Holy Gospels, to tell the truth and to hide nothing of what we knew about the questions that would be put to us, under penalty of perjury. This first ceremony took place in the Choir, with the 2 gates open, in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Mr. Vicar General [Quirie], the Superior of the Major Seminary named Promoter of the Faith [Dubosq] — between us (devil's advocate) but he is basically very favorable for our little sister — and Mr. Canon Deslandes secretary of the Bishopric and appointed Notary of the Cause. It was quite imposing, I assure you.

Then we went in turn to the visiting room, where the interrogations were to take place. Our beloved Mother began, then Sr Marie du Sacré-Coeur, Sr Geneviève, me, Sr Marthe and Sr Marie-Madeleine lay brothers, novices of Thérèse. There, we were made to take the same oath again, then the interrogations began and all our answers were scrupulously written by the notary. These questions boiled down to whether the writings we delivered were completely authentic, without any changes, whether we delivered everything correctly, whether we kept the originals with respect and love.

I am giving you all these details, dear little sister, knowing full well that they will interest you and all our dear mothers and sisters in Angers. Ah! How can I describe my feelings to you on seeing these great and beautiful things that are happening to my little sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus, once my little companion in exile, my intimate confidant, the one I cherished so much and who herself lavished on me? even so much love... I believe that this is the first time since the world began that a saint has been canonized who has done nothing extraordinary, neither ecstasies nor revelations, nor mortifications that frighten the little souls like ours. Her whole life can be summed up in this single word: she loved the good God in all the little ordinary actions of common life, accomplishing them with great fidelity. She always had great serenity of soul in suffering as in enjoyment because she took everything as coming from the good God. But... I forget that my time is very limited and that if I had to follow the inclination of my heart to tell you about her, my day would pass.

I must, however, tell you of his gracious visit on my birthday. So, last Saturday [May 21, eve of Trinity], our Mother came to tell me: “There is a letter today! go get it from us. I entered her office and saw that our beloved Mother had adorned the chair on which she usually places all the letters of order, images and medals, to celebrate me. I was overjoyed and very touched by such delicacy, when suddenly the apartment was filled with a sweet smell of incense, I looked everywhere to find out where this perfume came from. Our Mother came in, I immediately asked her if she felt anything? And on her negative answer I added: “It's not possible, my Mother, you must have burned incense. But she told me no and that quite simply, it was Therese who wanted to join her in celebrating me. This celestial perfume lasted almost 10 minutes, my emotion was so strong that I cried for a long time, I felt at the same time in my soul an impression of such sweet grace! Really I needed this consolation, my soul was almost discouraged by the abundance of work, the more I devoted myself to face it, the more it increased. This encouragement from my darling little sister gave me courage.

Now, I almost regret having told you that, I'm afraid you still think that Thérèse loves you less for not granting you her favours, when it's quite the opposite! I am indeed convinced that if I had been stronger, less defeated, Thérèse would never have done that and it is rather confusing for me to see that my imperfection almost forced her to grant me this favor. These kinds of graces are never granted on earth as a reward but only as an encouragement. Here below the reward of virtue, the proof of God's satisfaction for us, is trial, temptation, suffering of all kinds... Ah! that we delude ourselves into wanting to believe the contrary!

The story of the chickens of Sr Agnès de Jesus touched us but not surprised us, Sr Thérèse of the Child Jesus loved little chickens very much and, as soon as you had loaded her with your brood, you could be sure that she would do just fine! (...)

I send you (...) a parcel of the skin of our little Thérèse! I can see you from here opening wide questioning eyes to find out how I got this skin. Well, there it is ! You know that I had the consolation of being his nurse for nearly a year (like 3rd being only a novice). The year of his death, in the month of May, they put blisters on his chest, the burnt skin fell off but I took care to pick it up carefully [Whether or not we like the idea of ​​keeping such a “relic” , let us recall that Thérèse underwent several times the painful treatment of blisters cf. DE, pp. 148-150, 164, 797. Marie de la Trinité had been an auxiliary in the infirmary since the election of March 1896 (therefore a witness to Thérèse's first hemoptysis). Sr. Th. of the Child Jesus noticed this, but she was so simple that she helped me in my pious larceny and gave it to me herself!

But yes, I have a particular devotion to Sr Marie de St Pierre, moreover all those who love the Holy Face are my friends. Oh ! how many thanks I owe him for this adorable Face! Not only do I owe my vocation to him, but even my religious name. I told you I think this triangle miraculously inlaid on the glass of the lamp which burned day and night in our house in front of the Holy Image [the complete story is told in the Circular of Mary of the Trinity]. And since then, what benefits I am indebted to him!

12. August 6, 1910. to Sr. Germaine

(‑‑‑) If you could actually “do the little hen in the garden” you would see the overflow of work that falls to us. Letters for the store have gone up to 60 a day and moreover it is the immediate preparation of our depositions. Bishop constituted the tribunal of which he is a part with nine canons last August 2, and they took the oath before an assembly of 180 priests. It is on the 12th of this month (your beloved Mother's Day and my 36th birthday) that the 1st session will take place and they will continue until September 30th. Ah! why can't you enter our Carmel at this moment with your dear Mother and Sr. Th. oath; and that you would be edified, encouraged! Ah! that she will be greatly glorified our little Queen. How I rejoice to see that his hidden virtues, that his great sufferings are going to be exposed in full light. There are still certain prejudices in those who question us but they will quickly fall before our revelations...

13. October 9, 1910. to Sr. Germaine

Do you know that when the coffin was opened on September 6, the carpenter and his son smelled a sweet perfume of violets exhaling from the side of his head. They were so touched that in gratitude they sent us a magnificent wreath of white violets to be placed in the cell of our little saint. A religious of the Holy Spirit also enjoyed the same privilege.

We too were privileged, but... it's too long to tell you I prefer to send you the summary of this grace that I wrote the same evening; Please send it back to me because it will help me in my deposition.

- Your 1000 Aves of September 6 have obtained a greater grace than the healing of the blind man. You have undoubtedly heard of the “Sillon” which has just been condemned. However, it was to be feared that the Chief, Marc Sangnier, would revolt and lead all his comrades into the schism. Thanks to Thérèse, nothing came of it. Surprised to see his beautiful letter of submission to the Holy Father and his comrades dated 6 7th [September], Our Mother, at the invitation of Bishop de Teil, wrote to him (to Marc Sangnier) to congratulate him and ask him if Therese had something to do with his dispositions. Here is an excerpt from a letter which he replied to her on September 15: “At the very moment when the cruel ordeal that I have just gone through was beating down on me, I received, sent by an unknown person, a small brochure dedicated to Sr Thérèse of the Child Jesus. No sooner had I begun to read it than I immediately felt a very sweet consolation and a sort of interior comfort in making myself very small and in abandoning myself to the will of God in following Sr Thérèse. It is in this disposition that I wrote in our newspaper La Démocratie the 7 Articles that you have read. This letter has a very great value, to serve the Cause of our little Thérèse, Bishop de Teil proposes to show it himself to the Pope. [The hidden story of Marc Sangnier's so meritorious submission was addressed by J. Caron in La Croix of November 2, 17. Bishop de Teil had the letter of September 1973, 15 read to Pope Pius X on October 1910 of the same year . He had first taken her through Thérèse's letter on frequent communion (to Latvia). Pius X then expressed his satisfaction (CG 1, 488). And it was after reading Marc Sangnier's letter - the original of which the pope wanted to keep - that his joy redoubled and he concluded insistently: "Bisogna far presto questo Processo."]

We are counting on your discretion not to publicize this fact as well as that of Gallipoli, of which I want to say a few words to you [it is still a question of Gallipoli in letters 2, 14, 16, 17. After a serious investigation of the facts (18 ‑1910), Bishop de Teil appended the account in the second edition of the Articles (PO, 1911‑98). We have already noticed that Mary of the Trinity knows all these facts well. when she filed on March 13, 1911, introducing the words "My way is sure" (cf. letter 16) in Thérèse's statement quoted in 1907. The Bishop of Nardo, Bishop Giannattasio in turn deposited on August 21-22, 1911 and refers to the testimony of Mary of the Trinity to give more weight to the Saint's posthumous words: "My way is sure and I was not mistaken in following it."]

The holy Mother Prioress continues to have very mysterious relations with Sr Thérèse, she sees her quite frequently and (the latter) leaves evidence of her visits which it is impossible to doubt. “She is often seen towards dawn, writes the Mother Prioress to us, her face is very beautiful, brilliant, her clothes shine with a light like transparent silver, her words have the melody of an angel. »

“Little Thérèse is the jewel of the Heart of Jesus”... Words of the Mother Prioress. She tells us that she corrects her for her shortcomings, consoles her in her trials, telling her to encourage her all that she has suffered here below. Before the exhumation she warned her that only her bones would be found but that they would perform wonders like she had not yet done... Her last letter was perfumed with a sweet and very strong perfume of orange tree which the Community enjoyed and Our Mother having asked her if she had not perfumed her letter, she answered him, 2 days ago, that her question made her laugh a lot, that she had not touched any perfume . She told us that on the 1st day of the novena for the 30th, she and her Community had smelled mysterious perfumes of roses, incense and other "very sweet" flowers in Thérèse's little 500 Fr. 2 banknotes of 50 Fr. that they keep were scented.

Thérèse continues to relieve their poverty by bringing them a few tickets from time to time. The Bishop of Gallipoli had lost a 100 Fr. note. Inwardly he begged Therese to bring them to the Mother Prioress. A few days later and without knowing anything, the Mother Prioress told the Bishop that while doing their expense accounts they had found that they had a surplus of 100 Fr. without being able to explain the source. Another time the bishop locked the little box, leaving only one note of 100 or 50 Fr. and when he came back to open the box he found two. All of these marvels require careful examination. Bishop de Teil will leave these days for Gallipoli sent by our diocesan Tribunal to carry out a rigorous investigation.

Our depositions are not over. Our “little Mother”, Sr Marie du Sacré-Coeur and Sr Geneviève passed by. The Tribunal will return in February for the other witnesses, including myself.

My darling little sister, I have not yet thanked you for your little letter which gave me so much pleasure and so much good. Ah! that Thérèse loves you! how well you walk in her little way!... Our "little Mother" is also very touched by the trust and affection of her two little girls from Angers, she would like to please them by writing to them, but she is so overworked!... She makes up for it by giving me permission to write you all our little family secrets, in that she gives you a great proof of her love. (‑‑‑)

14. November 6, 1910. 

A word in haste to give you the information that Sr. Geneviève has just given me, because we are overwhelmed.

Mr Bohard, of an exemplary piety, had had many children; he was Mayor of his country (Athis in the Orne). His sister, Mlle Bohard, had married M. Martin; From this marriage was born Captain Martin, grandfather of Sr Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Miss Bohard your aunt [Sophie Bohard, cousin of the Martins], the Madeline family, Mrs. St Arsene of the Abbey of Lisieux, descended from Mr. Bohard, Mayor of Athis, while Sr. Thérèse of the Child Jesus descends from Miss Bohard, her sister. (...)

If you are allied to the family of Sr Thérèse, it is on her father's side but not on her mother's side. All that is certain is that you are more than his little cousin, you are his true soul sister and it is a bond stronger than that of blood.

Excuse me for being so brief. I will write to you at greater length after the Retreat that we will have from the 17th to the 25th.—Monsignor de Teil is very happy with his trip to Rome and Gallipoli. Everything is very true and with other touching details that I will tell you. But... do I have to tell you?... yes, like my little sister; well, I had trouble telling you about Marc Sangnier since I was not understood... From now on, if you want me to remain free with you, do not show my letters to the whole Community. I speak to you with simplicity, telling you the facts as I know and understand them without further study; if a few errors slip into my stories, it's ignorance on my part, so we laugh about it, very well, but don't take offense, because it closes my heart... you understand, don't you?

Your little sister Marie of the Trinity

Yes, Sr. Th. hoped that Jesus, granting her desire, always remained in her under the sacramental species, and this is also my conviction. I will tell you about it in my next letter. (‑‑‑)

15. January 3, 1911.

The backlog of letters for Christmas and New Year's Day prevented me from coming to you as I would have liked from December 25th. (...)

I remember that I promised you some details on the opinion that we have that Jesus-Eucharist dwelt continually in the soul of our little saint (...)

Everything I ask for, I think the good Lord gives it to me and this thought expands my soul, collects it, does it good. If I'm wrong (which I don't believe) well, my mistake will have helped me to unite myself more to Jesus and I won't regret it.

I am leaving you very quickly, darling little sister, I hope that you have understood me and that you will think like me for the greater expansion of your soul in love. I wouldn't reason with everyone like I do with you, only our Little Mother really knows me, the others wouldn't understand. (‑‑‑)

16. April 18, 1911.

(‑‑‑) I was in a hurry to find this free moment to talk to you and even then it will be too short for my liking to tell you so many things! Inevitably I must restrict myself...only in heaven can we enjoy perfect expansion and this blessed time will come quickly, be sure.

The last and so malignant influenza that we have just gone through confirmed to me again that in a short time we can approach the port. Without the very special protection of our little Thérèse, we would have had to lose 4 or 5 of us, among whom our dear little Mother, Sr. Geneviève and even your little sister were among those who left. Sr. Geneviève, once out of danger, cried with annoyance at having missed the train, she is so eager to see her Thérèse again!

Our so devoted “little Mother” rejoiced at our happiness to keep her still, then the very interesting Cause of her darling little saint attracted her and consoled her for her prolonged exile. As for me, I would have been happy to die but now I'm very happy to live because I'm doing the will of God. Last November I had a very symbolic dream that I want to tell you about so that it will do you the same good as it did me (...)

Do you not find, dear little sister, that this dream is still an assurance of Thérèse's sure path which leads to the glorious abode of the little ones? In connection with this I must tell you of the marvelous event performed in favor of Mgr Giannattasio, Bishop of Nardo (Italy). This holy prelate was struck by the words of Sr Thérèse to Mother Carmela of Gallipoli: “My path is sure. »

To make sure if she had wanted to hear by these words the safety of his doctrine, he took advantage of a retreat he preached this year in the month of January at the Carmel of Gallipoli to experience it. He put in a sealed and sealed envelope an offering of 500 Fr. with a note bearing these words: “My way is sure. » He had this envelope placed in the mysterious box and asked Sr Thérèse to come and deposit 300 Fr. as proof of the truth of her word.

On January 16, the anniversary of the first 500 Fr. brought by Thérèse, he had this envelope opened in her presence, but what a marvel! In addition to his offering and the written note, there was the 300 Fr. requested! However, no one was aware of his prayer and of the experience he had wanted to have. It was he himself who told us about this prodigious fact.

He also told us of his desire to have Sr Thérèse touch her pectoral cross in one of her apparitions to Mother Carmela and that Thérèse not only took her cross in her hands but wrote behind it: “Apostolic zeal. Since that day, he assures us that he feels this zeal growing in him more and more. (...)

If I had to tell you about all the marvels that we receive daily from our little Thérèse, I would not stop writing to you. As soon as the new Pluie de Roses is published we will send it to you, but already you must have seen it in the new large edition of the Histoire d'une Ame, 90e mille, which is also enriched with 4 or 5 new engravings. Since this new Rain of Roses, we have still received many extraordinary facts. (‑‑‑)

We have finished our depositions before the Diocesan Tribunal. Mine lasted six sessions of 3 or 4 hours each. This time has remained with me as a memory of Heaven, I very much felt the assistance of my little sister Thérèse, I was not at all intimidated and you can guess with what heart I spoke of the heroic virtues that I saw him practice. Sr Geneviève speaking of our depositions said that Sr Thérèse had had like Our Lord her 4 evangelists. St John: Our Mother, St Luke: Sr Marie of the Sacred Heart, St Matthew: Sr Geneviève, St Marc: Sr Marie of the Trinity!

The good Father Flamérion, returning from his Deposition in Bayeux, told Our Mother some very interesting things about his exorcisms. The devil said to him one day: “Therese of the Child Jesus the Virgin of Carmel and Joan of Arc the Virgin of Domrémy fight boldly for France. Their fight on earth was different in form, up there where all form disappears it is made of the eternal reality of the blessed which is that of love, because it is by dint of love that France can be saved, but love is cast upon her, it will make her great. May she rise shining among all nations, for the Heart of Christ looks upon her. He calls the path of childhood a path of imbecility. The Father asked him: “What, then, caused me to be called to this imbecility? »

- “Because you were righteous and God only asks for that. »

On March 21, the demon told him that Thérèse would soon be on the altars.

"When Therese is on the altars," said the Father, "will she have greater power?"

—No, she will show it more.

“You're right, it won't have greater power since it is determined by its degree of glory.

“Your distinction is good, so why do you use an expression that is not right?

Another time the Father said to the demon: “Does obedience really hurt you? “Nothing crushes me more.

He also says that “a soul is in power with God as much as it is pure”.

This, dear little sister, is what I wanted to tell you to interest you, as well as your dear Mother and all your sisters. For my pain, please recommend to their prayers our little sister Marguerite-Marie of the Sacred Heart so that she may become a perfect Carmelite, another “little Thérèse”. So far Our Mother is very pleased with herself, she is energetic and willing. But she has everything to learn, it's a life so different from the one she led that the beginnings are a little hard for her, despite everything she feels she has never been so happy and I hope she will succeed. What a grace Sr Thérèse gave her! On the day of her 1st Communion which she made here at the Convent of Providence where one of my sisters is a nun, she had come to Carmel. Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus came to see her in the parlor and could not help crying as she looked at her, she was so moved. Perhaps at that moment she had asked the good Lord to take her for Him? A few days before her death, as I particularly recommended this dear sister to her, she answered me: “Don't worry, I will take care of it”. [This letter is the sole source of Thérèse's speech in 1897. On May 24, 1894, the day of Marguerite‑Marie Castel's first communion, Marie de la Trinité had not yet entered the Carmel of Lisieux. Marguerite-Marie (1883‑1964) had to leave the Carmel of Lisieux for health reasons after a few months, without having taken the habit. She will then be Visitandine in Caen].

In my turn, I recommend to your prayers my great Retreat which I will begin on the evening of the Good Shepherd, April 30, 20th anniversary of my 1st entry into Carmel and 15th anniversary of my Profession. What graces received since that time!... My debts of love increase every hour. Ah! May their weight crush me and make me finally die! I feel more and more powerless to face it... How sweet it is to have been chosen to be the little victims of merciful Love! Ah! let us let ourselves be surrounded on all sides by this purifying and transforming love, and let our whole life, down to its smallest details, be no more than an act of love.

17. 1911 (?)

top secret

I don't know if I told you that it was Our Lord himself who said to Mother Carmela, Prioress of Gallipoli: “My daughter, Thérèse is the joy of my heart. »

The day before the exhumation when Sr Thérèse appeared to her and told her that only her bones would be found, she made a sign to her to look up. Then the Mother Prioress saw a queen's cloak embroidered with angels all shining with jewels which represented, she told her, the virtues which she practiced on earth in shadow and silence. A golden crown was also suspended above her head and as Mother Carmela asked her why she did not put on this mantle and did not wear this crown, Thérèse answered her smiling: “I await the permission of the Pope . »

18. May 28, 1911.

(‑‑‑) Alas, I must admit that I am far from always being faithful, obtain for me from our Little Queen the necessary energy to always be so. It is so sad to miss opportunities to please Jesus! I remember that one day I said to Sr Thérèse of the Child Jesus: "If I were not careful to be very faithful, I would not go straight to Heaven" — "That's not it, I she answered, the good God is so good that He would manage so that you would go all the same, you would not lose anything, but it is He who would lose Love..." She said to me. these words with such a penetrating accent that they had more effect on me than if she had told me that I would damn myself!

At the moment, the community is in great pain, our dear Mother Sub-Prioress [Sister Isabelle of the Sacred Heart, who will die on July 31, 1914] vomited blood on Ascension Day, the doctor declared her lost. She is only 29 years old, but she is ripe for Heaven, she is a saint like one rarely sees and with that she has a remarkable intelligence. Our dear Mother especially is very saddened, she rendered her so many services, especially as Mistress of Novices, a charge she exercises with extraordinary capacity and humility. It's one more angel that our little Carmel is going to send to Heaven.

It is truly fertile in saints and its happy inhabitants would be doubly guilty of not becoming so by living in the midst of such beautiful examples. Pray well for our holy little patient, Our Mother would like the good Lord to extend her time to form our 4 postulants who seem to be taking root among us. May your beloved Mother, in retirement at the moment, obtain this little miracle for us.

What a mystery! Thérèse, who works wonders on all sides, takes no bitter chalice away from us. One would say that she treats her “little Mother” without pity!... The words she said to me were true: “The saints who suffer do not make me pity. For me, I believe that in Heaven I will have pity on the saints who suffer, they will be able to have recourse to me. In the meantime, if you know one of them, please let us know so that he may have mercy on us. A fervent novena would be made to him.

I really felt that you had prayed for me during my Retreat because despite all my inevitable disturbances (because of Thérèse) my soul was completely rested and steeped in love. My memories of Thérèse are enough for me for my prayers and I know that the good Lord asks nothing more of me than to walk in the “little way” where she guided my first steps. Oh! how I love this little route! So all my work is not to deviate from it because it is so easy to turn away from it that it takes sustained attention to stay there. But when you are there, what peace, what an anticipated sky!...

I won't tell you anything today about the new prodigies of our little Heavenly Mother, you will see the main ones in the new Articles by Bishop de Teil which will appear in a month. There will be related the marvels of Gallipoli much better than I told them to you then the miraculous conversion of a Protestant minister in Edinburgh, conversion so extraordinary that all the English newspapers spoke about it [it is aboutAlexander-James Grant, who testified at the Trial of the Ordinary]. This minister will even come to testify at the trial in Bayeux. Mgr de Gallipoli and Mgr de Nardo will also come to give their testimony. They will take advantage of the opportunity to enter the enclosure and venerate the places sanctified by our Angel.

19. December 27, 1911.

(‑‑‑) I send you the report of the closure of the Informative Process of our little saint. That same day, December 12, we had a very solemn greeting in his honor in our Chapel. There were so many people to attend that many could not find a place in the Chapel. It's Mr.Father Domin, chaplain to the Benedictines, the one who had Thérèse make First Communion, who officiated, assisted by Mr.Abbot Faucon, the one who gave him his last absolution. After the benediction, the celebrant recited aloud the prayer to ask for the beatification, it was followed by the singing of the canticle attached.

I won't hide from you that we were very moved during this ceremony, for me I cried throughout and I saw that I would never have the strength to support the joys of the beatification; “Little Mother” says the same for her. If the good Lord wants these joys for us, He will have to leather our hearts or else we will die of it!

The day after this feast we received a letter from a seminarian telling us that on the night of the 11th to the 12th he had seen Sr Thérèse resplendent saying to him: "Today in Bayeux there is a big party in my honor, I am going to rain down a torrent of roses... Rome will soon speak. This seminarian from a distant country asked us earnestly to tell him if there really had been a party, because he knew nothing. This fact made us very happy.

I leave you very quickly, my little sister, counting on prompt news. I wish you a holy feast of the Innocents (it's the feast of the little ones). (‑‑‑)

20. May 1, 1912.

Dear little sister of my soul,

We also have the flu and a flu headed, I assure you! Our Reverend and beloved Little Mother went to bed with a 39° fever. In short, it's who will have the most violent headache! You see, we are not worth more than you.

Well, in spite of everything, we are, like you, happy with the part that the good Lord has given us (...) For my part, I will tell you in a low voice (because you might be scandalized that I am writing to you) that I am doing at this moment my great particular retreat, a retreat of suffering as you can well imagine, but gentle and peaceful suffering, because neither seeking nor expecting joy, I find myself in my natural element, letting the good God do the work in me without even trying to figure out what he's doing there. Ah! what sweet peace one finds in this abandonment! Thérèse makes me enter more and more into the anticipated heaven and I am delighted to note in your letters that she does the same with you. Oh ! yes, we walk along the same little path, having no other concern than to love Jesus and to transform into love even our smallest acts. We don't feel this love, it's true, but what does it matter! The will alone to act thus is enough, although we only notice our miseries and our perpetual failures. A small child cannot smell anything else! 

You have much goodness left to torment yourselves for your directions of retreat! Do like me! To avoid struggling and feeling misunderstood, I invariably reply to visiting Fathers for retreats "that all is well in my soul, that I practice loving Jesus in all my actions, that I spend my life falling and keep picking myself up." And I leave them without going into more details. In this, I follow the advice of my "Little Mother" and my soul is in the best of it! (‑‑‑)

21. August 29, 1912. 

I'm ashamed to make you wait so long for my promised letter and yet it's our little Thérèse who is the cause, she occupies all my time. She shares her celestial works with her beloved sisters of the Carmel of Lisieux and we are as if forced to enter into her overflowing activity. From all the ends of the earth we come to her, but passing through the Carmel of Lisieux. Now is the time for pilgrimages. Our Tourières Sisters were so overwhelmed by the influx of pilgrims that we had to set up a “Procure” or store of pilgrimage objects opposite the Carmel, because no one wants to leave Lisieux without taking a souvenir of Thérèse. We have a manager, but we are the ones who have to feed this Procure, so judge the hassle that falls on me to place orders with the various publishers, check the packages on their arrival and send the Procure everything that is necessary, then the large register of accounts that I have to keep, etc. etc

Last month the bishops of Congo, Zanzibar, Ivory Coast, Tahiti and that of Dahomey came to make their pilgrimage to the tomb, on different days except two who met there on the same day. The bishop of Dahomey came with a little black slave who answered the mass for him. These holy missionary bishops have won from their pilgrimage, they said, a memory which will embalm them all their life and a comfort to continue their laborious devotion in the Missions. If all these receptions of Bishops are consoling, you understand that they take time for us.

[Sensational visits at the time! The chronicle of the monastery announces: on July 5, pilgrimage and entry of Mgr Augouard, Congo; on July 15, Msgr. Steinmetz, Vicar Apostolic of Dahomey, accompanied by Msgr. Maury, Vicar Apostolic of the Ivory Coast, on July 21, Msgr. Allgeyen, Bishop of Zanzibar (entry into the closing ceremony), on 23rd, Msgr. Tahiti. Read the letter from Sister Geneviève in Léonie, July 23‑24].

On July 16 a director of a major seminary in Italy came to make a pilgrimage to the tomb, he had made all his arrangements to stay several days in Lisieux to satisfy his devotion. But, as soon as he arrived, Sr Thérèse showered him with such intimate graces by making him feel her sensitive presence at her side that he could not control his emotion, his tears flowed abundantly during his Mass; on his knees at the grave for 3 hours, he did not stop crying. Finally, he made up his mind to take the train again the same evening, confessing to Our Mother that it was impossible for him to bear such strong emotion any longer without falling ill. It is to him that we entrusted the 4 parcels of postulatory letters of Sr Thérèse to take them to Rome. He wrote to us that when it came to getting them through customs, the employees bowed to the name of Sr. Thérèse and did not want to tax them with taxes. It seems like something unheard of! Recalling his strong emotions in Lisieux, he adds: "My pilgrimage was a baptism of tears... I always heard very clearly the voice of Thérèse who spoke to me in the depths of my soul of faith, of hope, of love , of spiritual childhood, of thanksgiving, of oblations, of immolations! »

But I stretch out too long without calculating my time; when I start writing to you, darling little sister, I can't stop... then I feel that all these details please you as well as your very good Mother and your dear Sisters and that encourages me.

Bishop Cardinal Amette came to visit us the day before yesterday, we received him as a Father always loved. After saying his Mass to us, we received him in the Recreation Hall which we had well decorated and there the Novices played him "The Little Way", [mystical poem, composed by Sister Isabelle of the Sacred Heart] which greatly interested and charmed him. He left us to go to the Cemetery with our Bishop to visit our illustrious “Little Queen”.

From now on I pray with all my soul for your next elections. It is a very great ordeal when it is necessary to change a beloved Mother like yours. But Jesus and Thérèse will ease the test for you, I am quite sure of it; they are already working on it in the soul of my little Germaine by making her penetrate so deeply into the little path of abandonment and trust. I enter it with you more and more each day, little sister of my soul. Ah! How happy we are on this path! we no longer know how to apprehend or fear anything, we fall asleep confident in the arms of Jesus and we love only what He does or allows... (‑‑‑)

Our dear Mother Sub-Prioress is always a little better, without being very valiant. She has just composed a new edition of the Life of Mother Geneviève our Foundress, it is in print at the moment, I will send it to you as soon as it is ready. [this is the brochure The Foundation of the Carmel of Lisieux and its Foundress: Reverend Mother Geneviève de Sainte Thérèse - imprimatur of June 26, 1912 - which constitutes a summary of the circular from Mother Geneviève and its foundation story of the monastery.]

22. January 6, 1913.

(...) You will no doubt leave before me, because Thérèse associates me more directly with her beloved Sisters in her world mission. of us to spread his mission. Last week we received almost 800 letters! For me, it is a wonder that we can manage to cope while maintaining our religious life. (‑‑‑)

The day before the day when the newspapers published that her writings had been approved in Rome (December 12) we were finishing Lauds in the Choir when suddenly a terrible noise was heard from Sr Thérèse's stall. We wondered anxiously what this could mean. We had the key to the mystery the next day by learning the good news, and a few days later we were informed of the diabolical plots of the influential enemies of our little saint to prevent or at least delay this 1st triumph. The devil had made us hear by his din the roar of his defeat. (‑‑‑)

23. June 14, 1914.

(‑‑‑) Like you, we found the time long for the reception of this blessed telegram which reached us on 10 at 5 hl/2 in the evening [telegram officially announcing the Introduction of the Cause of the Servant of God Thérèse of the Child Jesus, June 10, 1914, by Pius X]. Immediately we rang our 2 bells and the whole Community went to the Choir to sing the Te Deum with coats and candles. No one occupied Thérèse's stall, there had been laid an immense crown of white violets and lilies - gift of a protegee of Sr Thérèse - with a large white satin bow with this inscription in gold: "To our Holy Protectress Thérèse of Lisieux, June 9, 1895‑June 9, 1914”. I assure you that we were all very moved...

We will have our Triduum of rejoicings, Friday, Saturday and next Sunday (read the letter from Sister Geneviève to Sister Françoise-Thérèse, June 28, 1914.)

(‑‑‑)

24. Late June 1914.  

(...) How well you celebrated, you too, our dear little Thérèse! We also made a procession around the cloisters, in the infirmary and Thérèse's cell to the singing of litanies and hymns in 3 parts, our 2 postulants were in white crowned with roses and threw flowers. At the head of the procession was a pretty banner of Thérèse, an ex-voto from Ireland. The photo of our cloisters was not taken until the 3rd day, then there were very few petals left on the ground, having removed all that was faded, but the ground was littered.

In the refectory there was the large engraving of Sr Thérèse with roses draped and garlanded very artistically, all the tables were covered with large white tablecloths which fell to the bottom and garnished with flowers, the pulpit and the staircase were draped with white serge garnished with flowers.

During Matins our White Veil Sisters and Novices lit all of our Venetian votives and lanterns. Also when we came out of Matins the look was really magical. Our postulant who saw the illuminations in Venice said that they weren't nearly as beautiful as ours. At the window of Thérèse's cell, there was a large star of light. How I would have liked you to be able to enjoy the show! I forgot to say when speaking of Therese's appearance that she wore a fiery brown satin dress and a white satin mantle studded with gold stars. After her song, we instinctively got into a procession, Thérèse in the lead, singing the Te Deum in parts, it was like being in Heaven! then we extinguished everything except the radiant star of Thérèse which shone in the night like the visible presence of the one we were celebrating.

25. (August?) 1914. Fragment

The instruments of penance of Sr Thérèse of the EJ consisted of 1 bracelet, 1 horsehair belt, 1 iron cross, 1 cilice. But don't be alarmed, she hardly made use of it, her mortifications, as she says, consisted above all in mortifying her mind and her heart.

26. November 2, 1914.

Your letter gave me great pleasure, I see that you are the privileged little child of Papa‑Bon Dieu and Maman‑Marie, I am too, but not quite in the same way, I do not feel and see nothing, or rather I only feel my misery and my powerlessness I see only darkness and despite everything I remain in an ineffable peace. Jesus sleeps, Mary too; I don't try to wake them up and like Thérèse “I wait in peace for the shore of heaven”. I don't know if I told you about a dream I had not long ago and which still does me a lot of good. I had fallen asleep while lovingly and trustingly asking the good Lord for forgiveness for several infidelities of the day. And behold, in the morning, I dream that I arrived in Heaven surrounded by glory and splendor. Seeing me, the angels and the saints exclaim with admiration: “Who is this that rises from the desert, filled with delight and leaning on her Beloved! And while they were exclaiming like this, I understood that the desert signified my poverty, my helplessness, my nothingness and that all my wealth, my brilliance came from my trust in Jesus, from the fact that I was leaning on my Well‑being. Beloved who communicated his virtues and his merits to me... Under the influence of this unforgettable grace, I awoke. Since then, my confidence is even greater, I have more strength to bear the darkness of faith and not be discouraged by my falls.

The war gives me little respite in my job, on the contrary! Bar‑le‑Duc, on the line of fire, cannot make any shipments, so that I have to fill all the orders, we receive about a hundred letters a day which still gives a lot of work. Dear little sister, I have asked our dear Mother to let you enjoy her last chapter because I hasten to carefully collect all her words which do so much good to the soul. She smiles when I say to her sometimes: “Oh! my Mother, the Holy Spirit is entirely within you! And it's true, there is something divine in her words, she is a living image of the good Lord.

(...) What you tell me about the feelings of the Sisters of X for Thérèse does not surprise me, yet their Mother Prioress loves her very much. She is not much appreciated by all Carmels; you need, you know, to be a small soul to understand it completely and there are rather great souls in the Carmels. (‑‑‑)

27. April 22, 1915.

Yes, the new Trial of our Thérèse has begun [Apostolic Process - PA - opened in Bayeux on March 17, 1915] and we will still have to appear before a very imposing Tribunal. It is an honour, but a very costly honour, I assure you. Finally, it is not paying too much for the privilege of being able, through our testimony, to enhance the brilliance of the virtues of our beloved saint.

What marvels it performs, and more and more! But the greatest are, in my opinion, those which it operates in little souls like yours, for example. (...) I hope that she acts in the same way, without my knowledge, in my poor little soul because I do not experience any of the feelings of ineffable union with which you are favored, but far from being jealous of them I simply think that they are not necessary to me, and I accept in peace to stumble at each step in the deep night. (‑‑‑)

28. July 8, 1915.

My darling little sister, I have a great service to ask of you, it would be to find me, as quickly as possible, the passages in the life of Sr. Gertrude Marie, which speak of the prodigy of Jesus remaining in her from one Communion to the other and, if you have any, other authoritative theologians' feelings about it.

I would need it for my deposition as proof in support of the certainty of the answered prayer of Sr Thérèse: “Remain in me as in the Tabernacle, never move away from your little host. "At the last trial this question was touched upon, unfortunately the Judges had not thought it useful to take all the reasons given in support [it must be believed that the Court expressed the same reservation in theinterrogation of September 25, 1916, who does not dwell too much on the Servant of God's request]. These reasons, I have since destroyed them, and I have every reason to think that at this new trial they will be demanded of me again. I seem to remember that your good Mother Marie-Claire questioned Father Flamérion on this subject and that his answer was favorable to our belief.

In short, give me a short summary of quotes that will save me from spending a long time looking in a book and in the multitude of letters preserved. Address the reply letter in my name, otherwise it might be opened by other secretaries. Our Mother, especially at this time, cannot open the 4 or 500 letters received per day, but the letters addressed to the sisters are opened by her.

Although I have not yet taken an oath for the secrecy of everything relating to the Apostolic Process, keep my request to yourself, do you? for nothing should be leaked concerning the interrogations; so since our Little Mother took the oath I no longer have the right to consult her for my deposition.

Pray well for our dear Mother, it is so tiring to have such long sessions, in the morning from 9 am to noon and in the evening from 2 am to 6 am. non-stop, 7 hours a day. Our Mother is on her 4th day, I think I foresee that she will have about ten days in all. What beautiful things she has to deposit! There are revealed “the pages which should not be read on earth”. (Ms A 75 r°)

29. July 14, 1915.

(‑ ‑ ‑) Our dear Mother has not yet finished her sessions, she thinks she will still have two more days [Mother Agnès has left 5 at 19 July 1915] . Sr. Geneviève will be about as long as Our Mother. For Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart, it is to be expected that she will only have 3 or 4 days because it is not in her character to go into details, to deal with all questions like Sr. Geneviève! (‑‑‑)

30. November 26, 1916.

(‑‑‑) You will not have to regret your shipment, already tomorrow or the day after tomorrow I will return a large part of it to you, plus several photographs which will please you. The rest will be sent to you later in a few months in full, except for the photo where our good R[évéren]de Mère is on his knees near Mother Marie‑Ange. This photo displeases the C[ommunau]ty so much that we have broken the photo and destroyed all the proofs. Likewise, little Thérèse sacristan who is so little her! [pictures TH 39 and TH 40].

Little Thérèse herself didn't like her, besides she doesn't look like her at all. The one where she is good and even very good is the photo, same subject, where she is cut near the veil. Little Thérèse said it was the best of her photos. You couldn't really judge because the proof you have was too pale. Sr Geneviève redid the background of this photograph which was missing on the side of Sr Thérèse of the Child Jesus and then re-photographed it. This operation succeeded perfectly, you will judge by the proof that we send you.

At this moment Sr Geneviève is revising all the negatives and removing all the faulty ones; it's a very useful piece of work because, after our death, we could have used it and made our Little Thérèse seem like she wasn't. We who knew her, especially her sisters, can be the only good judges in the choice, which is why it is prudent that we review the reproductions that we had entrusted to our close friends. All of them understood and handed over their treasures to us in full, like you (‑‑‑)

PS There were 5 or 6 Thérèse Sacristine in your shipment. If it pleased you, I'll draw you the same number when I have time, on the new picture, so that those who had it are not deprived of it. (‑‑‑)

31. April 18, 1917. 

(‑‑‑) About what you tell me, dear little sister, about your imaginary sorrows, it is true that in themselves they are hardly meritorious, but little Thérèse taught me to make them very meritorious by bearing them patiently as trials for God's sake; these penalties are often independent of our will, they are often the effect of illness or of a more or less susceptible character, what do I know! Oh ! that the good God is good to take advantage of the good, of the evil that he finds in us. For that, we just need to love him. “Everything turns out well for the one who loves him”. (‑‑‑)

32. May 29, 1917.

(‑‑‑) You see, dear little sister of my soul, the way to be happy in Thérèse's little way is to abandon oneself to God and to think of oneself as little as possible, not even to seek to realize whether we are making progress or not: that is none of our business. All we have to do is practice doing all our little acts of everyday life with as much love as possible, humbly, but without sadness, recognizing our thousand constantly recurring imperfections and trustingly asking God to turn them into love. You remember these pretty verses:

Love, I have experience of it,
Of the good, of the bad he finds in me
Knows how to profit, what power!
It transforms my soul into itself...

PN 30

There, my dear little sister, I have given you my direction, you see that it is not complicated... (‑‑‑)

33. September 26, 1917.

(‑‑‑) We are preparing to celebrate the 30th well and I will be very united with you on that day. Oh ! what sweetness this holiday has for me! I couldn't express it to you... Thérèse is my little Mother, my Mistress, my friend, my dear sister, she is everything to me; also it is to her that I have devoted myself entirely and very often I renew my donation to her in these terms:

“My little Thérèse, I give myself body and soul to you for time and for eternity. Lead me to Mary and to Joseph so that they give me to Jesus, that everything that belongs to me passes through you to go to them. »

Where did I get off? I'll stop short, because starting to talk to you about my love for Thérèse, I couldn't finish. (‑‑‑)

Therese too had desired suffering and she savored it in all its bitterness. For me, I'm too cowardly, suffering scares me, that's what makes me think that the good Lord will spare me. But, on the other hand, I feel so abandoned to Him that He could well play the trick on me to give me a lot... it doesn't matter! I don't want to apprehend anything, I let myself be led by Therese with my eyes closed, too honored if she leads me along the paths she has traversed. (‑‑‑)

Sr Germaine died in 1943.