Will not the God of Infinite Justice, Who deigns so lovingly to pardon the sins of the Prodigal Son, be also just to me “who am always with Him"?[13]

In the year 1895 I received the grace to understand, more than ever, how much Jesus desires to be loved.  Thinking one day of those who offer themselves as victims to the Justice of God, in order to turn aside the punishment reserved for sinners by taking it upon themselves, I felt this offering to be noble and generous, but was very far from feeling myself drawn to make it.  “O my Divine Master,” I cried from the bottom of my heart, “shall Thy Justice alone receive victims of holocaust?  Has not Thy Merciful Love also need thereof?  On all sides it is ignored, rejected . . . the hearts on which Thou wouldst lavish it turn to creatures, there to seek their happiness in the miserable satisfaction of a moment, instead of casting themselves into Thine Arms, into the unfathomable furnace of Thine Infinite Love.

“O my God! must Thy Love which is disdained lie hidden in Thy Heart?  Methinks, if Thou shouldst find souls offering themselves as victims of holocaust to Thy Love, Thou wouldst consume them rapidly; Thou wouldst be well pleased to suffer the flames of infinite tenderness to escape that are imprisoned in Thy Heart.

“If Thy Justice—­which is of earth—­must needs be satisfied, how much more must Thy Merciful Love desire to inflame souls, since "Thy mercy reacheth even to the Heavens"?[14] O Jesus!  Let me be that happy victim—­consume Thy holocaust with the Fire of Divine Love!”

Dear Mother, you know the love, or rather the oceans of grace which flooded my soul immediately after I made that Act of Oblation on June 9, 1895.  From that day I have been penetrated and surrounded with love.  Every moment this Merciful Love renews me and purifies me, leaving in my soul no trace of sin.  I cannot fear Purgatory; I know I do not merit to enter, even, into that place of expiation with the Holy Souls, but I also know that the fire of Love is more sanctifying than the fire of Purgatory.  I know that Jesus could not wish useless suffering for us, and He would not inspire me with the desires I feel, were He not willing to fulfill them. ______________________________

[1] Psalm 102[103]:14.

[2] Phil. 4:7.

[3] This letter, the style of which may seem strange to English ears, is modelled closely on the formal and quaint letters whereby French parents of the better class announce to their friends the marriage of their children.  Such letters of "faire-part" are issued in the name of relatives to the third or fourth degree. [Ed.]

[4] Therese had kept this wish hidden in her heart from the days of her childhood, and later in life she made the following confidence:  “I was ten the day Papa told Celine that she was to begin painting lessons.  I felt quite envious.  Then he turned to me and said:  ’Well, little Queen, would you like to learn painting too?’ I was going to say:  ‘Yes, indeed I should,’ when Marie remarked that I had not the same taste for it as Celine.  She carried her point, and I said nothing, thinking it was a splendid opportunity to make a big sacrifice for Our Lord; I was so anxious to learn, that even now I wonder how I was able to keep silence.”