Thérèse of Lisieux

Quotes from

Thérèse of Lisieux


“We love Him when we want to love Him, and when we keep trying in spite of our failures.”

“Love can supply for length of years. Jesus, because He is eternal, regards not the time but only love.”

“Oh Jesus, how little known is the merciful love or your heart!”

“Prayer is an aspiration of the heart. It is a simple glance directed to heaven. It is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy.”

“O Jesus, it is true that I am not always faithful, but I never become discouraged, I cast myself into Your arms, and like a little dewdrop, I sink deeper and deeper into Your chalice, O divine Flower of the field, and there I find all I have lost and much more besides.”

“O my God, you have surpassed all my expectations.”

“There is one ONLY THING to do here below: to love Jesus, to win souls for Him so that He may be loved. Let us seize with jealous care every least opportunity of self-sacrifice. Let us refuse Him nothing — He does so want our love!”

“Sometimes, when I’m in such a state of spiritual dryness that I can’t find a single thought in my mind which will bring me close to God, I say an Our Father and a Hail Mary very slowly indeed. How they take me out of myself then; what solid satisfaction they give me then! Much more than if I’d hurried through them a hundred times over.”

“God gives me courage in proportion to my sufferings. I feel at this moment I couldn’t suffer any more, but I’m not afraid, since if they increase, He will increase my courage at the same time.”

“The good God does not need years to accomplish His work of love in a soul; one ray from His heart can, in an instant, make His flower bloom for eternity.”