JMJT
Jesus
In Carmel on November 5, 93
My dear Leonie,
I am very happy with your happiness, your good little letters are a real joy for me. I can see beyond any doubt that you are where God wants you.
How good our Lord has been to our family! He did not allow any mortal to become the husband of any of us.
We have just heard a beautiful retreat which prepared us for the feast of our Blessed Mother. The good Father spoke to us above all of union with Jesus and of the beauty of our vocation. He showed us all the advantages of the religious life, especially of the contemplative life. He gave us a comparison that charmed me. "Look," he told us, "the oaks of our countryside are crooked, they push branches to the right, to the left, nothing stops them, so they never reach a great height. On the contrary, look at the oaks of the forests, which are pressed on all sides, they only see the day from above, so their trunk is devoid of all those misshapen branches, which withdraw the sap necessary for it to rise. . He sees only Heaven, so all his strength turns to that side, and soon he reaches a prodigious height. In religious life, the soul like the young oak finds itself pressed on all sides by its ruler, all its movements are hampered, thwarted by the trees of the forest... But it has daylight when it looks at the HEAVEN, there only she can rest her sight, never on this side she should fear to climb too much. »
Dear little Sister, I think I am giving you pleasure by talking to you about these things, our happiness is to talk about the affairs of the soul, to plunge our hearts into infinity!...
I beg your pardon for sending you such badly written letters, but you see, dear little Sister, I would rather let my pen run under the impression of my heart than turn my sentences well and send you a page. of writing.
Please offer my respectful remembrance to Madam Superior.
Do not forget me, in your prayers, think of me with Jesus as much as I think of you.
I leave you, my dear Léonie, remaining united to you in the Heart of our divine Spouse.
Your unworthy little Sister,
Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face rel.carm.ind.
