St Therese: Chapter IV

• First Communion
• Confirmation
• Light and darkness
• A new separation
• Gracious deliverance from interior sufferings

O God, thou art another me, my confidant, my friend, we live together in a sweet intimacy. 

Excerpt

At last there dawned the most beautiful day of all the days of my life. How perfectly  I  remember  even  the  smallest  details  of  those  sacred  hours!  the joyful  awakening,  the  reverent  and  tender  embraces  of  my  mistresses  and older companions, the room filled with snow-white frocks, where each child was  dressed  in  turn,  and,  above  all,  our  entrance  into  the  chapel  and  the melody  of  the  morning  hymn:  "O  Altar  of  God,  where  the  Angels  are hovering." But I would not and I could not tell you all. Some things lose their fragrance when  exposed  to  the  air,  and  so,  too,  one's  inmost  thoughts  cannot  be translated   into   earthly   words   without   instantly   losing  their  deep   and heavenly meaning.

Peace be with thee

How sweet was the first embrace of Jesus! It was indeed an  embrace  of  love.  I  felt  that  I  was  loved,  and  I  said:  "I  love  Thee, and  I give myself  to  Thee  for  ever."  Jesus  asked  nothing  of  me,  and  claimed  no sacrifice;  for a long  time  He  and  little  Thérèse  had  known  and  understood one another. That day our meeting was more than simple recognition, it was perfect union. We were no longer two. Thérèse had disappeared like a drop of water lost in the immensity of the ocean; Jesus alone remained—He was the  Master,  the  King!  Had  not  Thérèse asked  Him to take  away  her  liberty which  frightened her? She felt herself so weak  and frail, that she wished to be for ever united to the Divine Strength. And then my joy became so intense, so deep, that it could not be restrained; tears   of   happiness   welled   up   and   overflowed.  My  companions  were astonished,  and  asked  each  other  afterwards:  "Why  did  she  cry?  Had  she anything  on  her  conscience?  No,  it  is  because  neither  her  Mother  nor  her dearly loved Carmelite sister is here." And no one understood that all the joy of  Heaven had  come  down into one heart, and that this heart, exiled, weak, and mortal as it was, could not contain it without tears.