ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX. . .

AS NIGHT APPROACHES

My loving Father, it is only in the deepening silence of this night when I an here alone with you that I am able to admit without embarrassment to the dream of being a saint that you have planted in my heart. 

I am, it seems to me, the most unlikely of souls to cherish such a dream, and the least able to make it come true. 

Only you can complete the good work that only you could have begun in me. Nourish my dream, however impossible it seems to me now.

Come, then, my loving Father, you have blessed all my days; bless me still as this day ends and the night begins.

St. Therese of Lisieux

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THOUGHTS ON HER FOUR DEPARTED BROTHERS AND SISTERS

Those four innocent souls that had made their way to heaven before me, surely they would be sorry for their sister, sorely tried on earth. They could prove that love doesn't end in death. Before long, a delicious sense of peace flooded into my soul and I realized that there were people who loved me in heaven, too. Ever since, this devotion of mine to my little brothers and sisters has grown stronger. I have often sought out their company to tell them what a sad thing exile is, and how I long to join them soon in my true country. 

St. Therese of Lisieux

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(11-10-02)