Sr Thérèse of the EJ was a subject of great edification when she entered the monastery. The serious and collected demeanor with which she performed this act hinted at a soul above the ordinary. The angelic air usually spread over her features had already been noticed in the world. A person said to me recently "Although Sr Thérèse of the EJ had nothing extraordinary, she nevertheless had a look to impress even a child, one felt a privileged soul" Others, having seen her return to the Buissonnets on the evening of her first communion, experienced a supernatural impression which struck them deeply, they thought they saw an angel.
WAS
The servant of God took her delight in Holy Scripture, she was never embarrassed in choosing the passages which best suited souls, one saw that she made it daily the nourishment of her interior life. She willingly left most of the other books, which meant nothing to her heart, could not increase her love or give her the enlightenment she desired. The Imitation of JC was an exception, it liked to review the deep thoughts contained in these pages. She was also fond of the works of Ste Thérèse and St Jean de la Croix. She listened with great respect to the teachings of the Holy Church, the instructions given by the priests without stopping to see what could be defective in their preaching. Nothing could distract her from her recollection during Holy Mass, the Divine Office, oration; if she heard a noise, she did not pay attention to it, or if she could not avoid being troubled by it, she knew how to derive great benefit from it for her soul. Her union with NS was habitual even in the midst of the most distracting occupations, but this union, however intimate, was not enough for her, she aspired to make it closer through Holy Communion. Illness did not slow down this momentum, and we saw her, after nights of insomnia and suffering, come to a mass quite often early in the morning, in the harshest season, so as not to be deprived of this bread from heaven which she was greedy. She made her preparations in union with the Blessed Virgin asking her to clothe her with her dispositions and to present her herself to her divine son. She ardently desired to receive Our Lord every day, but at that time the Superiors did not allow it; she suffered greatly from being deprived of it, so what was her joy when the decree of His Holiness Leo XIII took away this right from them. However, the ordeal was not over. Mother Prioress, while respecting this decision, did not want to conform to it entirely and leave the confessor completely free. She left it to a certain extent, but by causing such great difficulties that he, out of prudence, did not think he should use his authority, and the servant of God had to resign herself to continue her life of deprivation. The last months of her illness Our Lord made it impossible for her to receive Him, which further increased her suffering.
but still subject to the divine will, she bowed gently and remained in peace. She had at heart to spare us what had been a martyrdom for her, and on the point of leaving us, she promised us that when she would be in heaven, she would rain roses on the community. This beneficent rain was undoubtedly the daily communion which we were favored with immediately after his death and which we have enjoyed until now without interruption.
When the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, his deep and inflamed gaze revealed his intimate feelings; an angel could not have contemplated with more love Him whom she adored under these veils rendered transparent by her faith. So what an ardent prayer in its simplicity, it was only an impulse, but it set everything ablaze: the interests of God and those of souls.
She loved to pluck roses at Calvary or on the feet of her crucifix, because she saw there the image of what she wanted to be herself: a soul given over to divine good pleasure in order to satisfy her slightest desires.
The office of sacristan which gave the Servant of God the privilege of touching the sacred vessels, the linen which had been used for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, was for her the opportunity to live closer to Our Lord. She acquitted herself with great respect of this function which she felt should be accomplished by the Angels. It was a stimulus to work with more ardor to become each day less unworthy of the precious share which had fallen to her, she wanted to climb the degrees of holiness which were to bring her closer to the divine Lamb.
EPERANCE
Sr Thérèse of the EJ, usually living in intimacy with Our Lord, had an unshakable and childlike confidence in Him; she never doubted the success of her prayer: to ask for a grace and to have the assurance of obtaining it seemed quite natural to her since she was addressing an infinitely good and powerful Father. She wanted to become a saint and counted on Our Lord to help her achieve this goal; the slightest doubt of not succeeding never presented itself to his mind. Appreciating to a high degree the virtues special to childhood, and striving to reproduce them, she hoped that the divine Master would take her in his arms and raise her to the highest heights of love.
Difficulties, the most painful circumstances could not alter his confidence, his face was always calm and showed no concern even in the midst of the greatest trials of his life. No doubt, her attachment to the cloister made her fear the consequences of religious persecution, but she told me, "I'm a baby, I don't worry, I'll go where the good Lord wills." She lived carefree, unoccupied with herself, placing herself completely in the hands of divine Providence. I was able to admire this disposition during her illness: "How unhappy I would be, she admitted if I were not abandoned! Today the doctor says that I am lost, tomorrow that I am better, that this alternative would be tiring , but all this does not touch my soul or disturb its peace.
She suffered with joy what the good Lord gave her to endure at the present moment, without worrying about the one who was to follow, convinced that the tenderness of her Heavenly Father would not give her more than she could bear. She offered herself to all the divine wills, even to experience the fears that sometimes accompany death, "but, she said ingenuously, they will not be enough to purify me, it would only be bleach! c is the fire of love that I need."
A soul so confident and relying at every moment on divine strength was inaccessible to discouragement. Throughout her religious life she edified me a great deal by her diligence in adorning the statue of the Child Jesus with which she was responsible, without her ever doing it with less care or showing any fatigue. She simply recognized the provisions that the good Lord had placed in her soul to allow her to avoid this pitfall.
“If you knew, she told me how persevering I am, when I started something I followed it to the end without anything being able to stop me. “It was what she was doing; during her illness when the sufferings were more intense, she addressed herself to the Saints, hoping to receive some help. Often silence answered her prayer, but she kept calling on them saying they wanted to see how far she would push her trust.
Her gaze was always turned towards the sky, she ardently wished to see the bonds that held her down here broken. But it was only to love God more and not for his sake. Despite her aspirations, she would gladly have remained in exile if the good Lord had been more glorified, but she thought that up there she would be more powerful in helping souls and making love loved.
She rose above the things here below and saw everything in the light of God. So she found it hard to understand why one felt too much pain seeing a sister die, since it is only a momentary separation, she said, and we must all go to heaven and find ourselves there.
CHARITY for GOD
The love of God was the keynote of this seraphic soul. She avoided with great care anything that could hinder her development, not only voluntary faults for which she had a profound horror, but the slightest imperfections. Far from her the search for consolations and sweetness in the spiritual life: she wanted to give to God at the cost of the greatest sacrifices a pure and disinterested love. In her relations with Our Lord, seeing nothing, feeling nothing, except her weakness, her impotence for all good, was the only happiness she aspired to; rejoicing the divine Master at the expense of her rest, in pure suffering, seemed to her a delicious feast in which she took part all the more willingly as she trusted in love to make up for any failings that could slip into her actions. This strongly tempered soul knew no failure in its devotion to the interests of Jesus and of souls.
She went to God like a child, understood nothing of the complicated paths followed by certain souls who, according to her expression, "turn in a labyrinth
from which they cannot escape and which leads to nothing. "She followed the straight path of simplicity, considering it as shorter and more capable of making her avoid the pitfalls so frequent on the way to heaven:" it is in vain, she said, that one throws the net in front of the eyes of those who have wings, "
The love of the Servant of God for Our Lord was manifested by a great devotion to the mysteries of Holy Childhood and the Passion. The outrages of which the Holy Face was particularly the object, touched her deeply and excited her compassion in preference. She also had a very fervent recourse to the Sacred Heart. What sustained her in her interior life was the presence of God who never left her; she simply admitted it. The habitual contemplation could be read on her countenance, and really impressed the sisters even during recreation. You could see that the sky was her home and that she only lent itself to conversation; she did it with such kindness that it was easy to understand that divine love was the motive that made her act, she wanted to make the sisters happy and thereby please Our Lord
When she found herself near a soul who understood her, she joyfully followed the natural inclination which led her to speak of the One who charmed her only, so simply, so discreetly that one could not however penetrate all the beauties of her life of union, they were suspected by the ascendancy which she exercised around her. Finding myself with her in the visiting room, I experienced a very deep supernatural impression, I felt her in the beyond.
The desire for martyrdom was often the favorite theme she chose; what a pity
Didn't she feel that she couldn't pick that palm she so desired! She consoled herself by thinking that the martyrdom of love would make up for that of blood, so she wanted her life to be sacrificed ceaselessly, not being able to hope for the crown if the daily renunciations did not constantly break her nature and detach her. of the earth. This regret, however, followed her until death, towards the end of her life she still exhaled this complaint: "You are happier than me, I am going to heaven, but you may well have the grace of martyrdom!
CHARITY for the NEXT
From this love of God pushed to the point of heroism, naturally flowed the love of one's neighbour. First the souls. She never lost sight of the main purpose of her entry into Carmel, the sanctification of priests. She didn't reckon with her pain when it came to helping them, either for their personal good or for that of the souls they had the mission to bring back to the fold or to guide on the path of perfection. In this she followed her special attraction which led her to pray for pure souls and sinners. She ardently wanted to see Father Hyacinthe Loyson abjure his errors and she asked me to join in the prayers she was making to obtain his conversion.
She would have liked to share the labors of the missionaries and fly to distant lands to convert the infidels; she made up for it by the many sacrifices she offered to come to their aid.
In community life, the Servant of God practiced the most exquisite charity, constantly forgetting herself for the happiness of the sisters, supporting without complaining and without being able to notice the sufferings that made her experience malevolence, jealousy , of some sisters who did not know how to recognize her virtue, always remaining with them patient, gentle, kind, welcoming them with a gracious smile, avoiding what could cause them pain, trying to please them and constantly excusing them. When she met a Sister for whom her nature felt a little estranged, she prayed for her and offered to God the virtues she noticed in her.
Sr Thérèse of the EJ was eager to render the services asked of her because she remembered these words of Our Lord: "What you will do to the least of mine, it is to me that you will." When she couldn't, she apologized so kindly that we couldn't help but show her our gratitude anyway. She thus lavished herself under the gaze of God without asking for anything in return. Certain characters profited excessively from her kindness, but she did not avoid them, because her maxim was that one should never stray from those who readily ask for favors. She showed the heroism of her charity towards a lay sister whom she assisted in her infirmity and who often enough showed her gratitude only by abruptness, without the Servant of God getting tired of continuing her good offices. She was resourceful in finding ways to show compassion for sisters she knew were suffering or afflicted. With ravishing delicacy she said a word, or contented herself with a smile if she could do no more. But this sympathy went straight to the heart, we knew it was true, around her there really reigned an atmosphere of peace, we felt close to an angel!
However, at that time, how many unfortunate things came to disturb our religious life! One wonders how one could endure them and maintain oneself in the practice of virtue. In critical moments, the servant of God lost none of her recollection, she tried to excuse if it was possible, often nothing could justify the slightest excuse, so she was content to endure and pray, witnessing to the Mother Prioress, who was the cause of this disorder, the respect she owed to her authority. She forbade her novices to criticize her conduct and recommended to them the most absolute submission and the greatest charity. Later, when the Mother Prioress became only Mother Marie de Gonzague again, she showed her attentions full of delicacy.
CAUTION
In the painful circumstances of the sad government of Mother Marie de Gonzague, the Servant of God showed great prudence to avoid what could have aggravated the already difficult situation; she tried to reconcile things, to appease troubled spirits so that peace would return and souls could resume their inner life, so often troubled and interrupted. For her, she never abandoned the concern for her perfection, on the contrary she knew how to take advantage of these opportunities to move more quickly towards the goal she wanted to achieve. She did it so simply that her life seemed quite ordinary, however the continuity of her efforts in the practice of virtue, made her noticeable to those who approached her more closely.
The priests who were called to lead the community held the Servant of God in great esteem and often showed her a great deal of trust. She was no less prudent in the direction of the novices, she knew how to wait for souls, to excite them to virtue without pressing them more than they were capable of supporting. When she found herself face to face with difficult characters, she was not discouraged, she showed them their faults with firmness and often she triumphed over them. How many struggles sometimes where her courage was put to the test, but she did not know weakness, and while sparing souls so as not to break them, she reached the goal she set for herself; the culprits came back eager to do better and asked forgiveness for their conduct.
JUSTICE
It was kind to Sr. Thérèse of the EJ to render to God the tribute of homage and adoration which is due to Him, but she applied herself very especially to testifying to Him her gratitude for the innumerable benefits for which she saw herself indebted. to his divine goodness. She knew from experience that God magnificently rewards this spontaneous impulse of a heart filled with gratitude. However, this was not always the motive which made her turn thus towards the author of all good, she felt a feeling of grateful tenderness which she expressed to me thus: "Oh, how the good God makes me pity! He lavishes its greatest treasures and gives them to us for nothing".
She frequently testified her gratitude to the Blessed Virgin, whom she felt dear and whom she surrounded with a tender and filial love; to St Joseph, for whom she felt the same feelings and who responded to her confidence with signal favours. The Angels and the Saints whom she called her brothers, also took part in her thanksgiving, had she not asked them to take her very specially under their protection, and often she had experienced that she had no vain awaited their help.
In religious life she observed exactly the rules of justice in the way she behaved towards her Superiors, giving them the testimony of respect and submission that their authority demands. She did not change her behavior when she found herself face to face with a Superior whose faults were apparent and whose exterior was sometimes repulsive.
The servant of God never gave anyone any sign of partiality, especially to her sisters according to nature. Although his feelings had not changed towards them, and that the bonds which united them had rather tightened, no one could notice it. No one suspected the violence she was obliged to commit to maintain herself always within the limits of the most exact reserve.
FORCE
Sr Thérèse of the EJ, as she says herself, had to suffer a lot here below, on all sides, the cross weighed heavily on her and she always received it with love. She found in Carmel what she had come to seek there, daily renunciation, humiliation. In each of these meetings, one could admire the strength of this child of fifteen, who from the beginning of her religious life knew how to make her happy with what frightens so many other souls. During her postulancy, she was treated very harshly by the Mother Prioress; I never saw her surrounded by care or consideration. This way of acting towards the servant of God did not change with the years. The gentleness and humility with which she accepted observations and reprimands never failed, even when these were not deserved, and certainly these were not spared her: one day she was taken to the refectory of ith a fairly strong fit of coughing, the Mother Prioress, tired of hearing her cough like this, said to her rather quickly: "but in the end, get Sr Thérèse out of the EJ!" She withdrew without losing any of her calm and serenity.
During her Father's illness her fortitude shone brighter to the point of provoking the admiration of our venerable alumni who were surprised at such courage, especially on seeing her maintain her habitual recollection.
I was extremely surprised when she confided in me about her temptations against the faith. How to imagine this soul always serene, struggling with such great difficulties, one believed it filled with consolations. She acted with so much ease that she seemed to accomplish multiplied acts of virtue without effort. This habitual peace earned her unfavorable judgments, they were not afraid to manifest them and to say very loudly that the servant of God, having never had any fights, had no merit in practicing virtue. These remarks having come to my attention some time before her death, I addressed myself directly to the one who was the object of them, and I asked her if it were true that during her religious life she had never had to fight against his nature ?-
"I had a difficult nature, she answered me, it didn't seem, but I felt it well! I can assure you that I had a lot of fights and that I was not a single day without suffer, not a single one. Ah! creatures, when they do not see, they do not believe." I can affirm, having witnessed it, that the servant of God constantly exercised herself to practice virtue. She was not content to expect everything from God, she acted.
In spite of her sickly state, she never dispensed with common exercises and heavy work. Nothing could stop her, she went without complaining to the end of her strength. "I can still walk, she said, I must do my duty.
She was admired by the doctor for the courage with which she bore her illness: "If you knew what she endured, he said, I have never seen her suffer so much with that expression of supernatural joy, it is a angel."
TEMPERATURE
Sr Thérèse of the EJ was an angel as she distanced herself from what could flatter her nature, she seemed to live beyond time, and took no interest in news, in conversations, when the Rule or charity did not allow her. did not make it a duty. The gatherings that one saw, alas, so often in our cloisters, left her indifferent; she passed by without stopping, always walking with lowered eyes with that religious demeanor that made her noticeable. She recommended to her novices not to waste their time listening to these sorts of speeches which did not concern them, but to go quickly to their business. When it was a question of her family, whom she nevertheless loved very much, she did not give herself the slightest satisfaction, she cut off all the enjoyments for which the heart is so greedy, taming for this her nature which represented to her a host of reasons for triumph over his resolve, but nothing could shake his constancy. How many victories she won over her natural feelings, when the elections gave her as Prioress Mother Agnès of Jesus. She was admirable, you could never surprise her less heroic. She was also so in the practice of silence which she kept faithfully, even with her Mother Prioress, for whom, however, the Rule gives a certain latitude. Blood ties could not weaken his will to practice absolute detachment.
The servant of God mortified herself without respite, never complaining of the bad weather of the seasons, although she had much to suffer from it, listening quietly to disparaging words, valiantly practicing the mortifications imposed by the Rule and compensating herself for not being able to to gain permission to do more, eagerly seizing every opportunity to suffer she encountered.
In the refectory, she invariably took everything presented to her, even if the food made her sick. At recess, she preferred to sit near those she liked the least.
Her loving nature would willingly have lent itself to the outpourings of friendship, but she constantly denied herself this satisfaction. The preferences given to others at her expense caused her joy, a young lay sister did not hesitate to take advantage of this to exercise her patience. Sr Thérèse then showed her a keener affection and untiring devotion.
This love of penance had its full bloom during his illness. In the last months the pains became very violent and the Mother Prioress thought she had to refuse to use the means to relieve her. She accepted everything with her usual serenity. I wanted to ask the good Lord to ease her suffering, "No, no, she told me quickly, you have to let Him do it!" It was not with a view to obtaining greater glory that she spoke thus, for she added: "Not for the reward, to please Him".
OBEDIENCE
A soul thus mortified submitted its judgment fully to the decisions of the Superiors whoever they were without any distinction, convinced that one cannot go astray in obeying. The will of God manifested, she accomplished it promptly without allowing herself the slightest reflection; a simple advice sufficed for her to submit to it punctually. If it happened that the recommendations which were sometimes made to her with the aim of relieving her had another result, she nevertheless complied with them to the letter, thus practicing virtue to the point of heroism.
She observed the Rule with fidelity in the smallest details and subjections with exemplary regularity. This already so admirable obedience did not seem perfect enough to the Servant of God, she wanted to add to it by recognizing that all her sisters had the right to give her orders. A word, a sign was enough to make her act, whether the desire was expressed gently or an imperious tone came to shock her nature, she was no less exact in complying with the demands of everyone, even her inferiors.
She did not show herself less benevolent in the continual disturbances which they were not afraid to impose on her; she did it with charming grace
which prevented us from suspecting the renewed sacrifices which were the consequence of his abnegation.
POVERTY
As soon as she entered Carmel, the Servant of God had to endure the privations
poverty; Placed in the refectory with a sister who by distraction no doubt paid no attention to her neighbour, she was deprived of necessities for a long time, she let nothing be seen but waited patiently for divine Providence to come to her aid. She preferably sought out what was least convenient and least to her taste, thus mortifying her inclination which would have preferred the opposite, she made the sacrifice of less (?)rustic objects in favor of others.
She avoided complaining if anything was taken away from her, finding that everything she owned belonged to her sisters.
The schedule particularly caught her attention, she was very exact in not wasting a minute, as the rule dictates. These external practices were not enough for her, she allowed herself to be stripped of the gifts of intelligence with which she was greatly endowed, allowing her sisters to appropriate them as they pleased and remaining modestly in the shadows when they had been seized. of his thoughts and his lights.
HUMILITY
Humility completes this attractive countenance; by seeking to hide herself, the servant of God only succeeds in casting a brighter luster on her life. Every moment the humble feelings she had for herself revealed the elevation of her soul. The firm conviction of her ignorance and her weakness urged her to have recourse to God to obtain the light and the strength of which she believed herself deprived. She usually kept silent about the favors she received,
besides, she was far from comparing herself to the Saints, she simply called herself a very small soul that the good Lord had filled with graces. The sight of her nothingness made her feel joy at feeling imperfect and at being recognized the same by her sisters. She loved the last place, oblivion, which she preferred to contempt
because he dealt more deadly blows to her nature. She liked to think that her glory in heaven would not be dazzling. "The good Lord has always granted my desires
she told me about it, and I asked her to be a little nothing. When a gardener makes a bouquet, there is always a small empty space between the magnificent flowers that make it up, to fill it, he puts moss in it, this is what I will be in heaven: a little bit of moss that will bring out the beauties of the beautiful flowers of the good Lord.
The servant of God graciously rendered the services that were asked of her, she kindly lent herself to the desire that was shown to her that she composed poetry, she did all this simply, without affectation or self-seeking, with a cachet of deep humility, only to please.
She showed this humility by gently accepting reproaches, not only from her superiors, but also from her sisters. The unfavorable judgments of which she was the object excited in her soul a lively joy. We would be surprised that such a perfect soul was not appreciated by the whole community, if we did not know that God allowed it to test the virtue of his servants, human passions distort the judgment of many and often cause take the greatest virtues for faults. Sr Thérèse of the EJ passed through this ordeal, but it must be added that for her it was the few who did not understand it. A sister allowed herself to use this language: "I don't know why we talk so much about Sister Thérèse of the EJ, she doesn't do anything remarkable, we don't see her practicing virtue, we can't even say that it's a good nun". These words having been reported to the Servant of God, at the end of her life, she expressed her happiness to me thus: "To hear me say on my deathbed that I am not a good nun, what joy! could make me more happy."
HIS HOLY DEATH
The death of the servant of God was grandiose and impressive in its simplicity. Her shining gaze fixed a little above the statue of the Blessed Virgin was particularly moving, one felt her being called by a celestial voice. Without fear of exaggerating, one can say that during the space of a creed, ecstasy transfigured his features. In the month of April 1895, she confided in me: "I will die soon, I am not telling you that it will be in a few months, but in two or three years. I feel everything that is happening in my soul that my exile is about to end." These words received their fulfillment. This is not the only time that Sr Thérèse of the EJ spoke inspired words; on certain occasions she responded to intimate thoughts that had not been expressed to her. She had one of us informed of her impending death, which in fact happened the following year. She seemed to foresee what would happen to her after her death, saying that Mother Agnès would have until the end of her life to take care of her little Thérèse. Other times, she affirmed that there would never be anything extraordinary for her, because all the little souls had to be able to imitate her.
She invited to collect with great care the rose petals with which she perfumed her crucifix, adding that they could be used and make people happy.
REPUTATION OF HOLINESS
The desire of St Thérèse of the EJ was to spend her heaven doing good on earth. After her death, she caused one of the Sisters to experience the effects of her protection who had injurious behavior towards her. When she was exposed, she came to ask her forgiveness for having ignored her, and leaned her forehead on the feet of the Servant of God, having recourse to her intercession, she was instantly cured of cerebral anemia. from which she had suffered for several years.
In the last weeks of her life, she proposed to begin her conquests immediately after her death, and to visit the seminaries and the Missions. As early as the following year, the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith recorded results which the missionaries said they had never achieved. They attributed them to a particular breath of the Holy Spirit which passed over some of their missions and determined a irresistible impulse of the pagans towards our holy religion. In many places the infidels presented themselves for instruction and baptism.
Since that time, she has not ceased to rain down her shower of roses on all those who have recourse to her intercession: confessions, healings, spiritual and temporal graces of all kinds. The stories sent to Carmel number in the thousands. Having had the opportunity to frequently receive missionary religious in the parlor of the priests, I was able to note not only their admiration for the Servant of God, but also their boundless confidence in her protection, they consider her a great saint: he to ask for a grace, they say, is to be sure of obtaining it, so some entrust their ministry to him, others give him the direction of their parish and consider themselves simply as his vicars. There are those who take it as a guide to their interior life, recognizing in it the science of a doctor.
Some have come in reparation, not having wanted to recognize the gifts that heaven has given him, and have undertaken to propagate his devotion, either by using the press, when they had the possibility, or by urging the souls entrusted to them to have recourse to his intercession. One of them confessed to me: "I didn't want to surrender, but the little sister knocked me down, now I can't express my admiration; I'm thrilled!" What charms them is this intense inner life with such great simplicity. Also, what ardent wishes for his speedy beatification! The dean of a parish in the north told me: "I strongly recommend trust in the little sister, but also prudence, so as not to do anything that resembles a cult. It would be very unfortunate to compromise such a beautiful cause".
Many are favored with perfume on his tomb or elsewhere, and do not stop talking about the supernatural graces that they must acknowledge owing to his intercession. Many came to ask for the favor of celebrating Mass in the chapel of little Thérèse, where she sanctified herself and was consumed with love for God and souls. Since the beginning of the year 1912, the Masses celebrated have risen to the number of 1395.
Proof of progress for the year 1912, during 8 months, 191 masses were celebrated; this year, also for 8 months, there were 286.
Religious, people of the world, have no less confidence in the servant of God, and are no less favored. Their devotion is touching: "This little sister, they say, takes care of absolutely everything, so they have a considerable number of masses said, either to obtain her beatification, or in thanksgiving for favors obtained, or for to obtain new ones. Conversions, cures, protections for soldiers, deliverance of souls from Purgatory. The number of masses requested from the beginning of the year 1912 to the present day, amounts to 166....
Proof of progress: the 1st year 1912 for 8 months, 9.594 masses were requested. Also this year for 8 months, the requests amounted to 56.800.
The simplicity of her life encourages them, and provokes their admiration, it is not uncommon to hear them say: "She has done nothing extraordinary, it's true, but what an interior life! That we would like to love the good Lord like her!"
His relics are a treasure, when we know that a person has them, we envy his happiness! so I was told we are constantly distributing it. The officers fix them in the folds of their flag, the soldiers constantly ask for them as a safeguard...It is by the hundreds of thousands that the Carmel gives these souvenirs without being able to completely satisfy the requesters, we are sometimes obliged to refuse. The missionaries note in the pagans a great confidence in the Servant of God, "it is marvellous, they say the good that she does among our savages."
Pilgrimages to his tomb are increasing daily. I quite often hear of a considerable influx which prevents us from approaching it. There, we pray, we cry, we hope, and we go back strengthened or consoled. Real transformations take place there: such has come to despair, which goes away full of confidence, its face irradiated as if it came from the sky. One person has witnessed this: among the many pilgrims, one particularly notices the missionaries and currently, the officers and the simple soldiers whose confidence in the Servant of God is manifested more each day, and is often rewarded with marvelous graces. The stories of conversions, healings, temporal graces that I heard in the parlor are innumerable. A priest said to me: "I come here in thanksgiving for the healing of my nephew, suffering from typhoid fever with haemorrhage, and despairing of doctors. We were expecting his death day by day, but he had an image near him. of the little Sister who never left him and he had great confidence in her intercession. Now he is perfectly cured.
Another time, it is the conversion of a hardened sinner, refusing the priest, having lost consciousness. A novena is made to Sr Thérèse for her intentions,
on the seventh day, the patient regains consciousness, asks for the priest to receive Holy Communion, Extreme Unction and dies with perfect dispositions. This is again the abjuration of an 80-year-old Jewish man: he allowed his children to be Catholics, but stubbornly refused him to leave the religion of his ancestors despite repeated entreaties. To obtain this conversion so desired, the family turned to the servant of God. A priest introduces it to the patient, lends him the Rain of Roses which greatly interests him, and without there being any pressure on him, he changes his determination and dies in the Catholic religion.
They asked for the healing of a child: this child dies, but with such admirable feelings that the parents were consoled. Since then, the Father and the Mother are often favored with perfumes of violets
Sr Thérèse seems to have a marked predilection for soldiers, so much are they surrounded by her protection. Some see her in the trenches, others on the battlefield, all are encouraged by this sweet vision, many escape certain death.
Here is a fact which was told to me by a priest, a few weeks ago: "A cyclist at the general staff and thereby very exposed, saw 3 of his comrades fall by his side, killed by a shell, his His bicycle was demolished under him by the same shell and thrown 10 meters away, and he did not have the slightest scratch!His mother attributed this protection to a relic of Sr Thérèse of the EJ that the young man was carrying with him. of this kind are not uncommon.
The servant of God quite often reveals her presence by perfumes, violet roses, incense, etc. This has happened several times in the community; the people of the world are more favored by it. At the request of some, she stands close to them as their Guardian Angel, without however directly manifesting her presence to them, but spreading close to them without their knowledge, a delicious perfume of which they are informed by the people who approaches and asks where such a penetrating smell can come from.
Sr Thérèse sometimes foreshadows trials, I know this because I have experienced them myself: on January 2, 1911, taking my place in the refectory for the evening snack, I saw in front of me on the table, something which seemed to me to be an insignificant piece of wood. During the meal, I noticed several times without adding any importance to it, and I was even about to leave the refectory without realizing what it could be, when a sister placed near me made a sign to me to take it. I did it, and what was my astonishment when I saw in my hand a very pointed and quite long thorn, it is 5 centimeters. I wanted to break it, but a very bright light stopped me; I thought it shouldn't be broken because it might not be an ordinary thorn. I asked the provisional why she had put this thorn in my place, she replied that she did not understand what I wanted to tell her. Information was taken from the sisters in the kitchen, all claimed to be strangers to it, absolutely nothing was discovered that could explain this fact. It was therefore obvious that there was no human intervention there; I immediately understood what it meant: Sr Thérèse warned me of the death of my Mother, which nothing, however, could have predicted. I was preparing for it without, however, suspecting that barely two months separated me from it. My Mother in fact died on the following February 27.
The servant of God had promised that she would come down to those who invoked her. A Belgian soldier, suffering since October 1914 from asthma, neuralgic pains in the heart, and great general weakness was treated in several hospitals without obtaining a cure. At the Bon Sauveur in Caen, Sr. Paule, his nurse, gave him an image and a relic of Sr. Thérèse, advising him to pray to her, which he did with great confidence. Having heard that the servant of God was raining down roses, he felt a great desire to have only one. On May 30, 1915, the Blessed Virgin appeared to her, she was on a ball-shaped trunk, dressed in a blue mantle dotted with gold stars, wearing a crown on her head, and letting out many rays. A few seconds later Sr Thérèse appeared to him on the right side of the Blessed Virgin, smiling and very beautiful, dressed as a Carmelite nun wearing the white mantle. She held a basket of roses in her hand, she threw one on the bed which the invalid did not find after the apparition. It lasted about a minute
At this moment, he was seized by a very sharp cold and began to tremble. A few moments later, he fell asleep, and woke up the next morning perfectly cured. Since that time the evil has completely disappeared. Having come to Lisieux to make a pilgrimage of thanksgiving and to pray in our chapel, he was very impressed when he saw the statue of the Blessed Virgin which occupies the back of the sanctuary, finding it exactly similar to the one which appeared to him.
