Unlock Saint Thérèse’s simple path to sanctity in Joy in Suffering. Read on for the Little Flower’s counsel on how to become a true child in Faith.
Total Abandonment
Having such an almost boundless confidence in the tender love of her heavenly Father, St. Therese surrendered herself entirely to Him.
By “abandonment” she understood the embracing beforehand, blindly and with joy and enthusiasm, of all that it pleased God to send her, no matter how great the suffering involved. Her life was like a blank sheet of paper at the bottom of which she affixed her signature and then placed it in the hands of God, to let Him write thereon all that might please Him, accepting in advance, with joy and gladness, whatever He would write, not knowing what it might be, but convinced it would be only for His glory and her own spiritual good.
“The good God,” she said, “wills that I surrender myself like a very wee child who does not trouble himself as to what will be done with him.”
Desiring Only His Will
Accordingly she gave herself to the Child Jesus to be His “little plaything,” adding: “I told Him not to treat me like a costly toy that children are content to look at without venturing to touch, but rather as He would a little ball of no value, that He might throw to the ground, toss about, pierce, leave in a corner or else press to His Heart if it so pleased Him.” . . . “If He wishes to break His ‘little plaything’ to pieces, He is quite free to do so; yes, I want only what He wills.”
Childlike Peace
In her illness St. Therese confessed: “I am now sick, and I shall never recover. But I am at peace. For a long time past I have not belonged to myself; I am wholly surrendered to Jesus. If it please Him, I am content to have my sufferings prolonged for years.” Come what may.
Safe in His arms Divine, near His Sacred Face,
Resting upon His Heart, of the storm I have no fear;
Abandonment complete, this is my only law.
Even when it is a question of life and death, her only guide is still abandonment: “I have no greater desire to live than to die: if Jesus offered me my choice, I would choose nothing. I want only what He wills; it is what He does that I love.”
For the same reason she could say: “Whatever has come from God’s hands has always pleased me, even those things which have seemed less good and beautiful than the gifts made to others.”
But abandonment meant no mere idle passivity, for St. Therese was ever alert, ever intensely yet calmly active: “I sleep, but my heart watcheth!”
. . . sleeping on Thy Heart, I smile forever more,
And tender words of love I whisper o’er and o’er.
If, in spite of all this, God seems to forget her entirely, she has no anxiety: “He is free to do so, since I am no longer my own but His. He will weary sooner of making me wait than I of waiting!” What a challenge! Meanwhile she continues peacefully to assure Him of her trustful love and surrender:
Fear not, sweet Lord, my faithful watch I keep,
I wake Thee not till lowering skies are riven.
In peace my heart shall wait Thy coming from above,
And I shall charm Thy Heart with sweet refrains of love.
St. Therese gives as reason for this peace: Ever since I have given up all self-seeking, I lead the happiest life possible.
Remember, Jesus, that Thy Holy Will
Is all repose and my joy most blest;
In holy abandonment—nothing I fear—
In Thy sacred arms, my God, I rest!
Hence she could say toward the end of her life: “Now the spirit of self-abandonment is my only guide. I have no other compass, and I know not how to ask anything with eagerness, save the perfect accomplishment of God’s designs upon my soul. . . .” How such a disposition must have delighted God! Do I not want to give Him a similar joy?
ooo
This article is taken from a chapter in Joy in Suffering by Bishop A A Noser, SVD, DD which is available from TAN Books.
