JMJT
Caramel of Lisieux.
July 30 1896
Jesus
Besides,
You allow me, don't you, not to give you another name, since Jesus deigned to unite us by the bonds of the apostolate?
It is very sweet to me to think that from all eternity Our Lord formed this union which must save souls to Him and that He created me to be your sister...
Yesterday we received your letters; it is with joy that Our Good Mother has introduced you into the cloister. she allows me to keep my brother's photograph, it is a very special privilege, a Carmelite does not even have the portraits of her closest relatives, but Our Mother knows very well that yours, far from reminding me of the world and earthly affections will elevate my soul to higher regions, will make it forget itself for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. So, my brother, while I cross the sea in your company, you will remain close to me, well hidden in our poor cell...
Everything around me reminds me of your memory, I fixed the Su-tchuen card on the wall of the job where I work, and the picture you gave me still rests on my heart in the book Gospels that never leaves me. By placing it at random, here is the passage on which it fell: “He who will have left everything to follow me, will receive a hundredfold in this world and eternal life in the century to come”. These words of Jesus have already come true for you since you tell me: “I am leaving happy”. I understand that this joy must be entirely spiritual; it is impossible to leave one's father, one's mother and one's country, without feeling all the tears of separation... Oh my brother! I suffer with you, with you I offer your great sacrifice and I beg Jesus to pour out his abundant consolations on your dear Parents, while waiting for the Heavenly union where we will see them rejoicing in your glory which, drying their tears forever, will fill them with joy throughout the blessed eternity...
This evening during my prayer I meditated on passages from Isaiah which seemed to me so appropriate to you that I cannot help copying them to you.
“Take a more spacious place to pitch your tents... You will spread out to right and to left, your descendants will inherit the nations, they will dwell in the desert cities... Lift up your eyes, and look around you; all those you see gathered together come to you, your sons will come from afar and your daughters will come to you from all sides. Then you will see this extraordinary multiplication, your astonished heart will expand when the multitude of the shores of the sea and all that is great among the nations will come to you”.
Isn't that the promised hundredfold? and can you not cry out in your turn: “The spirit of the Lord has rested on me, he has filled me with his anointing. He has sent me to proclaim his word, to heal the brokenhearted, to set free those who are in chains, and to comfort those who mourn...I will rejoice in the Lord, because he 'has put on the garments of salvation and adorned with the ornaments of righteousness. As the earth makes its justice and glory sprout through me among the nations... My people will be a people of the just, they will be the offspring I have planted... I will go to the most remote islands, to those who have never heard of the Lord. I will announce his glory to the nations and I will offer them as a gift to my God”.
If I wanted to copy all the passages that touched me the most, it would take me too long. I am finishing, but first I have one more request to make of you. When you have a free moment, I would like you to write me the main dates of your life, so that I could join you in particular in thanking the Good Lord for the graces he has given you.
To God, my Brother... distance can never separate our souls, even death will make our union more intimate. If I am going to Heaven soon, I will ask Jesus for permission to visit you at Su-tchuen and we will continue our apostolate together. In the meantime, I will always be united to you in prayer and I ask Our Lord never to let me enjoy when you suffer. I would even like my Brother to always have the consolations and I the trials, maybe it's selfish?... But no, since my only weapon is love and suffering and your sword is that of speech and apostolic works.
Once again, to God, my Brother, deign to bless the one that Jesus gave you as your sister,
Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face rel.carm.ind.
Read here the fascinating story of the discovery of the image
