the Carmel
Therese's correspondence LT 135 – To Celine – August 15, 1892

DE  
MARTIN Thérèse, Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus
À 
MARTIN Céline, Sister Geneviève of the Holy Face

15/08/1892

JMJT

Jesus

August 15, 1892

My dear Celine,

I cannot let the letter go without attaching a little note to it. For that I am obliged to steal a few moments from Jesus but he does not blame me because it is of him that we speak together, without him no speech has charm for our hearts... Céline, the vast solitudes , the enchanting horizons that open before you must tell you a lot to the soul? I don't see all that, but I say with St John of the Cross: "In my beloved I have loved the mountains, the solitary and wooded valleys, etc."... And this beloved instructs my soul, He speaks to him in silence, in the darkness... Lately a thought came to me that I need to tell my Céline. It was a day when I was thinking about what I could do to save souls, a word of the gospel showed me a bright light. Formerly Jesus said to his disciples, showing them the fields of ripe wheat: "Lift up your eyes and see how the fields are already white enough to be reaped", and a little later: "Truly the harvest is plentiful but the number of workers is small; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers.” What a mystery!... Isn't Jesus all-powerful? are not the creatures his who made them? So why does Jesus say, "Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers"? Why?... Ah! it is that Jesus has such an incomprehensible love for us that he wants us to share with him in the salvation of souls. He doesn't want to do anything without us. The creator of the universe awaits the prayer of a poor little soul to save other souls redeemed like her at the cost of all her blood. Our vocation is not to go and harvest in the fields of ripe wheat. Jesus does not tell us: "Lower your eyes, look at the fields and go and reap them." Our mission is even more sublime. These are the words of our Jesus: "Lift up your eyes and see." See how in my Heaven there are empty places, it is up to you to fill them, you are my Moses praying on the mountain, ask me for workers and I will send some, I am only waiting for a prayer, a sigh from your heart!...
Is not the apostolate of prayer, so to speak, higher than that of the word? Our mission as Carmelites is to form evangelical workers who will save thousands of souls whose mothers we will be... Céline, if these were not the very words of Jesus, who would dare to believe them?... I find that our share is very fine, what do we have to envy to the priests?... How I would like to be able to tell you everything I think but I don't have time, understand everything that I cannot write to you!...
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On Jeanne's birthday wish her for us with a small bouquet, the rule does not allow us to do this but tell her that we will think of her even more. Kiss everyone for me and tell them all the nicest things you can think of. If you find any heather, that would make me happy.

Your little Thérèse of the Child Jesus rel.carm.ind.

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