Because it is the Feast of St. Therese today, I wanted to share some quotes of hers with you. Interestingly enough, I met Eric on the feast of St. Therese, which consoles me on those days he says things like: “Can you fill me in on who this Yahweh dude is?”

Thoughts of St. Therese:

Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.
In order that Love may be fully satisfied it must stoop to very nothingness and transform that nothing into fire.
The good God does not need years to accomplish His work of love in a soul; one ray from His Heart can, in an instant, make His flower bloom for eternity.
Love attracts love, mine rushes forth unto Thee, it would fain fill up the abyss which attracts it; but alas! It is not even as one drop of dew lost in the Ocean. To love Tee as Thou lovest me I must borrow They very Love—then only, can I find rest.
Time is but a shadow, a dream; already God sees us in glory and takes joy in our eternal beatitude. How this thought helps my soul! I understand then why He lets us suffer …
Jesus made me understand that the true, the only glory is that which will last forever; that to attain to it we need not perform wonderful deeds, but rather, those hidden from the eyes of others and from self.
Because I was little and weak, Jesus stooped down to me and tenderly instructed me in the secrets of His Love.

True courage does not consist in those momentary ardours which impel us to go out and win the world to Christ–at the cost of every imaginable danger, which only adds another touch of romance to our beautiful dreams. No, the courage that counts with God is that type of courage which our Lord showed in the Garden of Olives: on the one hand, a natural desire to turn away from suffering; on the other, in anguish of soul the willing acceptance of the chalice which his Father had sent him.
I have noticed that the experience of suffering makes us kind and indulgent toward others because it is suffering that draws us near to God.
Trials help us detach ourselves from the earth; they make us look higher than this world. Here below nothing can satisfy us. One cannot enjoy a moment’s rest save in constant readiness to do the will of God.

More from Beliefnet and our partners