I am He who made all the saints; I gave them grace; I have brought them to glory. I know the merits of each; I prevented them by the blessings of My sweetness, I foreknew My beloved ones before the creation: I chose them out of the world; they were not beforehand with Me to choose Me: I called them by My grace, and drew them by My mercy.
-Bk. III, ch. lviii.
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It was on the feast of Pentecost that I told my father my great secret. Throughout the day I prayed for the light of the Holy Spirit, begging the Apostles to pray for me and to put the right words into my mouth. They were the very ones to help a timid child, destined by God to become an apostle of the apostles by prayer and sacrifice.
I seized my opportunity after Vespers in the afternoon, as my father was sitting in the garden, looking at the beauties of Nature. The setting sun turned to gold the tree-tops, and the birds were singing their evening prayer. Through my tears I told him of my hopes of soon entering Carmel; and he wept too! He said nothing to dissuade me, but merely pointed out that I was very young to make so grave a decision. I defended my cause so well, that I soon convinced my generous and open-minded father.
We continued our walk for some time, for I was now reassured and my father's tears were dried. He spoke like a saint, and going up to the wall, showed me some little white flowers like miniature lilies. He gave me one, explaining how Our Lord had cherished it, and made it blossom, and kept it safe. The little flower and little Teresa were so alike, that I seemed to be listening to my own story. I took the flower as a memento, noticing that all its roots were intact, as though it were destined to live on in some more fertile soil. My father had done that very thing for me, by allowing me to be transplanted from the valley of my childhood to the hill of Carmel.
-The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme)
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For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.
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