19 Amazing Quotes from the Last Month of St. Therese of Lisieux’s Life

Since St. Therese of Lisieux is a favorite of mine (and is a Doctor of the Church for a reason!), I thought it would be fun to go through some of her quotes from the last month of her life (September 1897). So here are 19 truly baller quotes from the saint’s last month of life on this earth.

Small things with great love
Small things with great love

1. “When we accept our disappointment at our failures, God immediately returns to us.”

Humility level up!

2. “Ah! It’s offered up to God. It no longer matters. Let them think what they want!”

3. “O little Mother, I don’t love one thing more than another; I could not say like our holy Mother St. Teresa: ‘I die because I cannot die.’ What God prefers and chooses for me, that is what pleases me more.”

Detachment was a hallmark of St. Therese’s life and spirituality.

4. “But I don’t want to change, I want to keep abandoning myself entirely to God.”

She was ever-transforming in herself but never failing in her desire for God above all else.

5. “I’m afraid I’ve feared death, but I won’t fear it after it takes place; I’m sure of this! And I’m not sorry for having lived; oh! no. It’s only when I ask myself: What is this mysterious separation of the soul from the body? It’s my first experience of this, but I abandon myself to God.”

There is room for fear and curiosity, but God alone suffices 😉

6. “Should I fear the devil? It seems I should not, for I am doing everything out of obedience.”

No need to fear the Evil One when you are totally consumed by Love!

7. She was unpetalling a rose over her Crucifix, touching each petal to the wounds of Our Lord. “When unpetalling for You the springtime rose, I would love to dry Your tears! Gather up these petals, little sisters, they will help you to perform favors later on…Don’t lose one of them.”

Prophetic much?

8. “Yes, I’m like a tired and harassed traveler, who reaches the end of his journey and falls over. Yes, but I’ll be falling into God’s arms!”

Running so as to win, although I’m sure St. Therese would insist that she could not run if she tried, so she would let God run for her.

9. “Yes! What a grace it is to have faith! If I had not had any faith, I would have committed suicide without an instant’s hesitation…”

She intimately understood the hope that faith instills so personally and entirely.

10. “O Mother, it’s very easy to write beautiful things about suffering, but writing is nothing, nothing! One must suffer in order to know! I really feel now that what I’ve said and written is true about everything….It’s true that I wanted to suffer much for God’s sake, and it’s true that I still desire this.”

-and-

11. “All I wrote about my desires for suffering. Oh! it’s true just the same! And I am not sorry for delivering myself up to Love. Oh! no, I’m not sorry; on the contrary!”

Kinda like when St. Thomas Aquinas said all his writing was like straw.

12. “No, it isn’t frightful [what she was going through]. A little victim of love cannot find frightful what her Spouse sends her through love.”

-and-

13. “When shall I be totally suffocated!…I can’t stand any more! Ah! pray for me! Jesus! Mary!…Yes, I will it, I really will it…”

-and-

14. “Oh it’s pure suffering because there are no consolations! No, not one!”

And we whine when we’re suffering BUT ALSO being consoled!

15. [Last words] Looking at her Crucifix: “Oh! I love Him! My God…I love you!”

16. “You must become gentle; never any harsh words, never a harsh tone; never take on a harsh look, always be gentle.”

Good life advice, awesome parenting advice!

17. “Believe me, don’t wait until tomorrow to begin becoming a saint.”

The time is NOW!

18. “You will call me little Therese.”

-and-

19. “When I am in heaven, you will have to fill my little hands with prayers and sacrifices to give me the pleasure of casting these as a shower of graces upon souls.”

She never wanted to sit still, not even in death; she always wanted to work for the glory of God by pouring out love upon the earth!

All quotes taken from the book St. Therese of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations, translated by John Clark, O.C.D.

 

A version of this post originally appeared at EpicPew

Theresa Williams

Theresa Williams

"I have become all things to all, to save at least some" (1 Cor. 9:22) basically describes her life as writer, homemaker, friend and sister, wife, and mother of 2 spunky children, all for the sake of Gospel joy. She received her BA in Theology, Catechetics/Youth Ministry, and English Writing from Franciscan University of Steubenvile. Currently, she is a homemaker and freelance writer. Her life mottos are Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam and "Without complaint, everything shall I suffer for in the love of God, nothing have I to fear" (St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart). She is Pennsylvanian by birth, Californian by heart, and in Texas for the time being. Yinz can find her on Twitter @TheresaZoe.

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1 thought on “19 Amazing Quotes from the Last Month of St. Therese of Lisieux’s Life”

  1. St Therese is such a comfort. She once wrote that after a while reading theology books she would get a headache and have to read the gospels instead.
    🙂

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