the Carmel
Therese's correspondence LT 166 – To Mrs. Pottier (Céline Maudelonde) – July 16, 1894

DE  
MARTIN Thérèse, Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus
À 
MAUDELONDE Celine, Mrs Pottier

16/07/1894

JMJT

Jesus

In Carmel on July 16, 1894

My dear little Celine,

Your letter has given me real joy, I admire how the Blessed Virgin was pleased to grant all your desires. Even before your marriage, she wanted the soul to which you were to be united to be one with yours through equality of feelings. What a grace for you to feel so well understood and above all to know that your union will be immortal, that after life you will still be able to love the spouse who is so dear to you!...
So they passed for both of us, the blessed days of our childhood! We are now in the seriousness of life, the path we follow is very different, however the term is the same. Both of us must have only one goal: to sanctify ourselves in the way that the good God has traced out for us.
I feel, dear little Friend, that I can speak to you freely, you understand the language of Faith better than that of the world, and the Jesus of your first Communion has remained the Master of your heart, it is in Him that you love the beautiful Soul that becomes one with yours, it is because of Him that your love is so tender and so strong.
Oh ! that our religion is beautiful, instead of narrowing hearts (as the world believes), it elevates them and makes them capable of loving, of loving with an almost infinite love since it must continue after this mortal life , which is only given to us to acquire the Homeland of Heaven where we will find the cherished beings that we have loved on earth!
I had asked for you, my dear Céline, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the grace that you obtained at Lourdes. How happy I am that you are adorned with the Holy Scapular! it is an assured sign of predestination, and then are you not thereby united even more intimately to your little Sisters of Carmel?...
You recommend me, my dear little Cousin, to pray for your dear husband, do you think that I could miss it?... No, I cannot separate you in my feeble prayers. I ask Our Lord to be as generous towards you as He was formerly towards the spouses at the wedding at Cana. May he always change water into wine!... That is to say, continue to make you happy and then to soften as much as possible the trials that meet in life.
The hardships, how could I put this word in my letter, when I know it, for you all is happiness?...
Forgive me, dear little friend, enjoy in peace the joy that the good Lord gives you without worrying about the future. He reserves for you, I am sure, new graces and many consolations.
Our good Mother Marie de Gonzague is very sensitive to the good memories you have for her, for her part she does not forget her dear little Céline. Our Mother and Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart are also very happy with your happiness, they ask me to assure you of their affection.
I dare, my dear little Cousin, to ask you to offer my respectful homage to Monsieur Pottier, whom I cannot prevent myself from also regarding as my Cousin.
I leave you, my darling Céline, always remaining united in heart and I will be, all my life, happy to say

Your little Sister in Jesus Thérèse of the Child Jesus rel.carm.ind. [unworthy Carmelite nun]

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