SAINT THERESE OF LISIEUX CENTENARY REFLECTIONS
AUSTRALIAN DISCALCED CARMELITES NO. 11

A cry to God from the Darkness

THE LITTLE WAY AND THE TRIAL OF FAITH OF ST. THERESE

In the third section of St. Therese's Story of a Soul, often referred to as Manuscript C, we are presented with the very heart of her teaching on the Little Way. Therese is writing to the recently elected Prioress in her community, Mother Marie de Gonzague:
You know, Mother, I have always wanted to be a saint. Alas! I have always noticed that when I compared myself to the saints, there is between them and me the same difference that exists between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and the obscure grain of sand trampled underfoot by the passers-by. Instead of becoming discouraged, I said to myself: God cannot inspire unrealisable desires. I can, then, in spite of my littleness, aspire to holiness. It is impossible for me to grow up, and so I must bear with myself such as I am with all my imperfections. But I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new. - Story of a Soul, chapter 10
Therese is a saint of realistic wisdom. She looks at her life with all its limitations, she looks at her prayer filled with times of dryness and moments of failing asleep, and she knows that it is all small and quite ordinary. Therese does not find the smallness and the ordinariness disheartening. Her realistic wisdom is in touch with the deep power of desire that God has placed in her heart. She does not hesitate in writing that she desired to be a saint - a holy one of God. She knows that if God gives such a holy desire then God will also provide what is needed to make that desire possible.
A person with many gifts and abilities might, at times, be tempted to think and act in a way that suggests that they have enough to earn or pay for God's blessing. Or they might be tempted to think that they can do very well on their own without God's help. Therese values her smallness because it keeps her aware of her total need for God. She knows that she can never be anything other than a small child who needs to be lifted up and cared for by God:
The elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more. - Story of a Soul, chapter 10
As we meet Therese in her Story of a Soul we come to know that she is an extremely gifted young woman and she did not hesitate in using her gifts in her writings and her efforts to live a good and fruitful life as a Carmelite nun. We might be inclined to think that Therese is mistaken in her judgment of herself as small, however her understanding of her own smallness is not an exaggerated, unreal modesty. Being small is not an act of "hiding your light under a bushel." Therese sees herself as small because she realizes that all she has is given to her from God. Being small means going through each day knowing, in mind and in heart, that there is a total need for God every step of the way. Being small means constantly reaching out to God, placing our hand into God's hand as a child would hold a parent's hand when going through unfamiliar territory or facing the danger of crossing a road. In Therese's life being small meant looking back on times of sleeping through prayer, for example, and focusing her attention on a God who would hold and embrace that sleeping child. She believed that her small offerings, little acts of patience or generosity, brought pleasure to God in much the same way that a child's gifts bring pleasure to a parent.
You didn't fear, dear Mother, that I would lead your little lambs astray. My lack of experience and my youthfulness did not frighten you in the least. Perhaps you remembered that often the Lord is pleased to grant wisdom to the little ones, and that one day, in a transport of joy, He blessed His Father for having hidden His secrets from the wise and prudent and for revealing them to the little ones. - Story of a Soul, chapter 10

WHAT DOES THE LITTLE WAY OF ST. THERESE TEACH US?

1. Jesus says, "Whoever is a little one, let them come to me." This is a calling to each of us when we feel that we have very little to offer. Jesus freely loves us, chooses us and calls us to be with Him.
2. Our closeness to God cannot be measured by simply looking at our natural gift and abilities. We should certainly use our gifts for the glory of God and In the service of loving our neighbour. Nevertheless our closeness to God Is made possible because of God's love for us, drawing us to intimacy through the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. We are close to God because God loves us. Therese encourages us to have confidence In this caring, generous love of God.
In a previous reflection (No. 8) we listened to Therese as she reflected on the terrible suffering of her father, Louis Martin. We saw that Therese had a strong, Christ-centred understanding of the good that can be achieved through suffering. Her Christian faith told her that the loss that comes through suffering is not a wasting away of a person - all that seems to be lost is being drawn into the hidden depths of God's heart. Suffering opens up the opportunity of stepping into the river of Jesus' letting go of His Life so that it might be offered and taken into the heart of His Heavenly Father. Jesus has transformed the darkness and loss that suffering causes. It has now become an opportunity to be more fully given to God. In the final stages of life Therese went through that darkness and loss. Not long after the first signs of her final illness Therese began to be deeply tempted to doubt the existence of Heaven:
When I want to rest my heart fatigued by the darkness which surrounds it by the memory of the luminous country after which I aspire, my torment redoubles; it seems to me that the darkness, borrowing the voice of sinners, says mockingly to me: "You are dreaming about the light, about a fatherland embalmed in the sweetest perfumes; you are dreaming about the eternal possession of the Creator of all these marvels; you believe that one day you will walk out of this fog which surrounds you! Advance, advance; rejoice in death which will give you not what you hope for but a night still more profound, the night of nothingness." - Story of a Soul, chapter 10
The true holiness of St. Therese of Lisieux shone most brightly during that time of temptation. As we read about the way she lived through her sufferings and temptations we come face to face with a person who is becoming like Jesus. Before her temptations she could never understand how people could not believe in God and in Heaven. As she was tempted not to believe she felt a new closeness to non-believers. They were her brothers and sisters in the darkness and love moved her to pray for them as she shared in their suffering.
At each new occasion of combat, when my enemy provokes me, I conduct myself bravely. Knowing it is cowardly to enter into a duel, I turn my back on my adversary without deigning to look him in the face; but I run towards my Jesus. I tell Him I am ready to shed my blood to the last drop to profess my faith in the existence of heaven. I tell Him, too, I am happy not to enjoy this beautiful heaven on this earth so that He will open it for all eternity to poor unbelievers. - Story of a Soul, chapter 10
Therese is a powerful intercessor because of her deep sharing in the way of Jesus' love. She is with us in times of temptation and doubt because she has journeyed through that darkness herself. She makes a fire in our darkness and that fire is loving and believing in Jesus even when there is nothing but dryness and dissatisfaction all around and the voices of doubt are loud. In the darkness of suffering Therese became more fully self-less in her faith and in her prayer for others. When the immediate reward of positive, consoling feelings was taken away she was faced with the same choice which we all must face: Will I continue to love and follow Jesus when I feel unrewarded and tempted by doubts? Will I pray for the strength to persevere in trying to do what God wants, and trying to be the kind of person that God wants me to be, when I feel most helpless and most far from God? Will I give God as much lime as He chooses to achieve His work in my life? Will I entrust myself to God in the times of darkness, believing that Jesus is totally with me, holding me and strengthening me? Will I turn back to God, after I stumble and fall, with the confidence of a Little One who knows that Love is waiting to comfort and embrace me? Will I allow the Prayer of Jesus to dominate my heart more and more, in my suffering, so that I might share in His Saving Work?

A PRAYER IN THE DARKNESS

Lord Jesus, you once drew St. Therese into the darkness of suffering and temptation. You made her a beacon, of faith and a loving sister to unbelievers as she suffered by their side. Renew her prayerful influence for those in our world who do not believe in you. May they know you and love you Lord through her powerful intercession. May your kingdom come and reign in our hearts now and forever. Amen.

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