God made me feel that true glory is that which will last eternally, and to reach it, it isn't necessary to perform striking works but to hide oneself and practice virtue in such a way that the left hand knows not what the right is doing.

St. Therese
SS-72

Ah! if God had not showered His beneficent rays upon His little flower, she could never have accustomed herself to earth, for she was too weak to stand up against the rains and the storms. She needed warmth, a gentle dew, and the springtime breezes. Never were these lacking. Jesus had her find them beneath the snow of trial!

Story of a Soul p 35
St. Therese

If, when I am preparing for some work, I find that the brushes and the paints are in disorder, if a rule or a penknife has disappeared, patience is very close to abandoning me and I must take my courage in both hands in order to reclaim the missing object without bitterness.

St. Therese
Story of a Soul p 228

Time is nothing in your eyes, and a single day is like a thousand years. You can, then, in one instant prepare me to appear before you.

St. Therese
SS-277

My mortifications consisted in breaking my will, always so ready to impose itself on others, in holding back a reply, in rendering little services without any recognition, in not leaning my back against a support when seated.

St. Therese
SS-143

I just saw a little sparrow on the garden wall, waiting patiently for its parents; from time to time, it gave forth its little chirp, calling them to come and give it a mouthful of food. I thought it was like me.

St. Therese

Jesus knew very well that His little flower stood in need of the living waters of humiliation, for she was too weak to take root without this kind of help,...the dew of humiliation (was) so delightful that she would be very careful not to exchange it for the insipid water of praise.

St. Therese
Story of a Soul p 206

I was in the laundry doing the washing in front of a sister who was throwing dirty water into my face every time she lifted the handkerchiefs to her bench. My first reaction was to draw back and wipe my face to show the sister...she would do me a favor to be more careful. But I immediately thought...it would be very foolish to refuse these treasures...and I took care not to show my struggle. I...was so successful that in the end I had really taken a liking to this kind of aspersion, and I promised myself to return another time to this nice place where one received so many treasures.

St. Therese
Story of a Soul-250

But was it possible to come all the way to Rome and not go down into the Colosseum? For me it was impossible!... I saw what I was looking for and I cried to Celine: "Come quick! We can get through!" We crossed the barrier...we were climbing down over the ruins which rumbled under our feet...the guide...had pointed out a tiny bit of pavement marked with a cross as the place where the martyrs fought,...We soon found it and threw ourselves on our knees on this sacred soil...My heart was beating hard when my lips touched the dust stained with the blood of the first Christians.

St. Therese
Story of a Soul 130/131

...the Holy Spirit, before Jesus' birth, dictated this prophetic prayer: "Draw me, we shall run." What is it then to be "Drawn" if not to be united in an intimate way to the object which captivates our heart?.... I ask Jesus to draw me into the flames of His love, to unite me so closely to Him that He live and act in me.

St. Therese
Story of a Soul p 257

Ah! how good the Lord is in having matured my soul, and in having given it wings. All the nets of the hunters would not be able to frighten me, for "...the net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings." (Prov 1:17)

Story of a Soul p 224

St. Therese of Lisieux

To be little...is not to become discouraged over one's faults, for children fall often, but they are too little to hurt themselves very much.

St. Therese

I always feel the same bold confidence of becoming a great saint because I don't count on my merits since I have none... God alone, content with my weak efforts, will raise me to Himself and make me a saint, clothing me in His infinite merits

SS-72

St. Therese

Little

...you can see that I am a very little soul and that I can offer God only very little things.

SS-250

St. Therese

I look upon myself as a weak little bird, with only light down as covering... At times the little bird's heart is assailed by the storm, and it seems it should believe in the existence of no other thing except the clouds surrounding it. ....It cries like a swallow and in its sweet song it recounts in detail all its infidelities, thinking in the boldness of its full trust that it will acquire in even greater fullness the love of Him who came to call not the just but sinners.

SS 198/199

St. Therese

Spiritual Sisters

Celine became the confidante of my thoughts...Jesus...formed bonds in our hearts stronger than blood. He made us become spiritual sisters,....The sparks of love He sowed so generously in our souls, and the delicious and strong wine He gave us to drink made all passing things disappear before our eyes... With enraptured gaze we beheld...the bright stars twinkling in the deep skies, the light breath of the evening breeze making the snowy clouds float easily along; all this raised our souls to heaven, that beautiful heaven whose "obverse side" alone we were able to contemplate.

SS-103

St. Therese

Mama told Marie to dress me in my Sky-blue frock with the lace trimmings but not to leave my arms bare lest the Sun burn them. I allowed myself to be dressed with the indifference a child of my age should really have, but I thought to myself that I would look much more pretty with my arms bare.

St. Therese
Story of a Soul p 24

Misunderstanding

Ah! poor women, how they are misunderstood! And yet they love God in much larger numbers than men do and during the Passion of Our Lord, women had more courage than the apostles since they braved the insults of the soldiers and dared to dry the adorable face of Jesus. It is undoubtedly because of this that he allows misunderstanding to be their lot on earth, since He chose it for Himself. In heaven He will show that His thoughts are not men's thoughts, for then the last will be first.

St. Therese of Lisieux
(Story of a Soul p 140)

Feb 6

The Blessed Virgin...didn't have a Blessed Virgin to love. And so this is one more sweetness for us and one less sweetness for her!

St. Therese

Feb 4

It is not to remain in a golden ciborium that He comes to us each day from heaven, it's to find another heaven, infinitely more dear to Him than the first; the heaven of our soul, made to His image, the living temple of the adorable Trinity!
(Story of a soul p 104)

St. Therese