in abasement and in nothingness.  Let us remain far from all that dazzles, loving our littleness, and content to have no joy.  Then we shall be truly poor in spirit, and Jesus will come to seek us however far off we may be, and transform us into flames of Love. . . .  I long to make you understand what I feel.  Confidence alone must lead us to Love. . . .  Does not fear lead to the thought of the strict justice that is threatened to sinners?  But that is not the justice Jesus will show to such as love Him.

God would not vouchsafe you the desire to be the Victim of His Merciful Love, were this not a favour in store—­or rather already granted, since you are wholly surrendered unto Him and long to be consumed by Him, and God never inspires a longing which He cannot fulfill.

The road lies clear, and along it we must run together.  I feel that Jesus wishes to bestow on us the same graces; He wishes to grant us both a free entrance into His Heavenly Kingdom.  Dearest Godmother, you would like to hear still more of the secrets which Jesus confides to your child, but human speech cannot tell what the human heart itself can scarcely conceive.  Besides, Jesus confides His secrets to you likewise.  This I know, for you it was who taught me to listen to His Divine teaching.  On the day of my Baptism you promised in my name that I would serve Him alone.  You were the Angel who led me and guided me in my days of exile and offered me to Our Lord.  As a child loves its mother, I love you; in Heaven only will you realise the gratitude with which my heart is full to overflowing.

Your little daughter,

Teresa of the Child Jesus.
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[1] Eccles. 24:29.

[2] Apoc. 21:4.

[3] Isa. 53:3.

[4] She alludes to the Statue of the Holy Child in the cloister, which was under her own special care. [Ed.]

[5] Luke 16:2.

[6] Luke 22:42.

[7] Cf. Imit., II, xi. 4.

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LETTERS TO SISTER FRANCES TERESA[1]

I

August 13, 1893.

DEAR LITTLE SISTER,—­At last your desires are satisfied.  Like the dove sent forth from the ark, you have been unable to find a spot on earth whereon to rest, and have long been on the wing seeking to re-enter the blessed abode where your heart had for ever fixed its home.  Jesus has kept you waiting, but at last, touched by the plaintive cry of His dove, He has put forth His Divine Hand, and, taking hold of it, has set it in His Heart—­that sanctuary of His Love.

It is quite a spiritual joy, this joy of mine.  For I shall never look upon you again, never hear your voice as I outpour my heart into yours.  Yet I know that earth is but a halting-place to us who journey towards a Heavenly Home.  What matter if the routes we follow lie apart?  Our goal is the same—­that Heaven where we shall meet, no more to be separated.  There we shall taste for ever the sweets of our earthly home.  We shall have much to tell one another when this exile is ended.  Speech here below is so inadequate, but a single glance will be enough for perfect understanding in our home beyond; and I believe that our happiness will be greater than if we had never been parted here.