Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.
I am convinced that one should tell one's spiritual director if one has a great desire for Communion, for Our Lord does not come from Heaven every day to stay in a golden ciborium; He comes to find another heaven, the heaven of our soul in which He loves to dwell.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The desire for spiritual connection is essential for one's soul, and it should be communicated to a spiritual guide.
In this quote, Therese of Lisieux emphasizes the importance of expressing one’s deep longing for a spiritual communion with God. She suggests that such a desire is not merely a personal feeling but one that should be shared with a spiritual director, as this signifies the soul's readiness for divine connection. The act of communion is portrayed as a heavenly encounter that transcends mere ritual, highlighting the intimate relationship between the divine and the human soul.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a spiritual retreat, one might share this quote to encourage participants to express their desires for deeper faith.
More from Therese Of Lisieux
All quotes →I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused.
You heard me, only Friend whom I love. To ravish my heart, you became man. You shed your blood, what a supreme mystery!... And you still live for me on the Altar. If I cannot see the brilliance of your Face Or hear your sweet voice, O my God, I can live by your grace, I can rest on your Sacred Heart!
Holiness is a disposition of the heart that makes us humble and little in the arms of God, aware of our weakness, and confident - in the most audacious way - in His Fatherly goodness.
The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us - that is all He asks.
Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love - difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs - everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness. Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events - to the heart that loves, all is well.
Similar quotes
The scientists who attack mainstream religion, rather than striving for peaceful coexistence with it, damage science, and also weaken the fight against fundamentalism.
I am never less alone than when alone.
Life, and you, and I, and all of us together became for a while interesing to ourselves once more.
Your house is your larger body.
We are domesticated animals, revolving in a cage which we have built for ourselves - with its contentions, wranglings, its impossible political leaders, its gurus who exploit our self-conceit and their own with great refinement or rather crudely.
One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organizations do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always.