Quote of the day, 21 October: St. Thérèse of Lisieux

I have gotten into a deplorable predicament. My sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus must at all costs get me out of it. She has to storm heaven, which will let itself be moved by her prayers and her penance.

Maurice Bellière
Soldier, 5th Line, 4th Company
Caen, 21 July 1896

I thank you, Mother, for the help you gave me in a moment of distress. The storm has passed, calm has returned, and the poor soldier has become again the seminarian that he used to be.

Maurice Bellière
Seminarian, Major Seminary of Sommervieu
14 October 1896

Your letter of July disturbed me very much; attributing to my lack of fervor the combats you had to suffer, I did not cease imploring for you the maternal help of the sweet Queen of Apostles. So my consolation was very great when I received as a feast day bouquet the assurance that my poor prayers had been answered….

You know that a Carmelite who would not be an apostle would separate herself from the goal of her vocation and would cease to be a daughter of the Seraphic Saint Teresa, who desired to give a thousand lives to save a single soul.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Letter 198 to Maurice Bellière (excerpts)
21 October 1896

Ahern, PV, Bellière, M & Thérèse, S 1998, Maurice and Thérèse: The Story of a Love, 1st ed, Doubleday, New York.