Sister Theresa of the Infant Jesus

New Zealand Tablet, 3 November 1921, Page 17

Sister Theresa of the Infant Jesus

The “Little Flower” Decreed Venerable We extract from the Advocate (Melbourne) the following special translation of the recent notable Allocution by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XV., in declaring Sister - Theresa of the Infant Jesus (“The Little Flower”) Vener- - able : - v On Sunday, August 14, in the presence of the Supreme Pontiff, there took place in the Vatican Palace the reading of the decree upon the “virtues exercised to an heroic degree” by the Venerable Servant of God, Sister Theresa - of the Infant Jesus, professed- Carmelite nun of the Monastery of Lisieux., At 11 the Holy Father entered the Consistorial Hall, where the Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux road in French a brief address. The Holy Father replied with a magnificent discourse in Italian. Space does, not allow of our publishing it in full, but hereunder are given the principal parts. It should be noted that the “Little Flower” is now styled the “Venerable Servant of God.” France, the Mother of Saints Not yet died away is the echo of the words by which, in proclaiming the heroism of the virtues of the Venerable Fournet, We declared in this very hall, little more than .a month ago, that France was apparently aspiring to a new name —to the enviable title of “Mother of Saints.” And, lo! to-day We can indicate the perfume of yet another flower unfolded on French Soil,- for it has just now been Our duty to declare also heroic the virtues of Sister Theresa of the Infant Jesus. . . We are pleased at thehonor that it reflects upon Catholic France, and at the satisfaction it gives the diocese which We admire as. the garden--that produced and brought to its full development |so lovely a flower. Theresa’s Characteristic Virtue: Spiritual Childhood^ ' t, / : ; '' : ’ \ But to these reasons for joyfulness suggested to Us' by the, benevolence We cherish towards the . nation of Cloves and of St. Louis, there must be added a further motive suggested - by the special character of the virtue that moulded the whole life of Sister Theresa of the Infant Jesus. Because one cannot have any knowledge of the life of Little Theresa without uniting in the wonderful chorus that proclaims her life to be moulded by, the gifts of a Spiritual Childhood. Now, this is the “secret of sanctity.” We have, therefore, reason to hope that the example of—this new French heroine will increase the number of per- < feet Christians, not only amongst her own nationality, but also amongst all the children of the Catholic Church: / In What Does “Spiritual Childhood” Consist? -> To this end one' must have a just idea of the spiritual •childhood. But is not to-day’s decree, which points to a pious pupil of Carmel arrived at the '.-heroism of perfection —thanks to practice of the virtues that form the Spiritual Childhood—is it not calculated to illuminate the world -• as to what the Spiritual. Childhood really means?TV ; : Drawing a comparison from the things of sense, the Holy Father went on to say that( in the spiritual life, we , should have, in regard to the will of God, that complete, , loving, and happy- abandon which the infant shows in the arms of its mother. ; vitt It is not out of place, he continued, to consider^the t qualities of this Spiritual Childhood, both as to .what it ■ >/: ; ( ' .... r-./r,.--

excludes and what it supposes. It excludes, intffact, a proud self-sufficiency; it excludes the presumption of arriving with human means at a supernatural end; it excludes the fallacy of trusting to one’s self in the hour of danger and temptation. On the other hand, it supposes a lively faith in the existence of God; it-supposes a practical homage to His power and mercy; it supposes a confident recourse to His providence, by which we can obtain the grace both to avoid every evil and do every good. So admirable are the qualities of this Spiritual Childhood that it is not surprising that the Divine Master has made it a necessary condition for obtaining life eternal. Spiritual Childhood: A Necessity for Life Eternal Jesus and the Children One - day Ho drew from the crowd a little child, and, showing him to His disciples, He said; “Amen I say unto you, unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt, xviii.., 3). Oh, what an eloquent lesson for the destruction of the false ideas and the ambitions of those who, imagining the Kingdom of Heaven to be just as an earthly empire, aimed at securing there the best places, and therefore were inquiring who would bo first in that kingdom ! And to emphasise even more strongly that Spiritual Childhood would bo the determining factor of pre-eminence in the Kingdom of Heaven, the Divine Master continued, saying: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven.” “Of Such Is the Kingdom of Heaven” Another Jay some mothers were presenting to Jesus their babies that He might touch them, and the disciples reproved them but Jesus rebuked those disciples, saying: “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and impede them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Then, too, He concluded: “Amen I say to you, whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, shall not enter into it.” (Matt, x., 15.) Holy Father’s Comment Noteworthy is the force of this divine language. Not content with affirming positively that the Kingdom of Heaven is of the children, or that he will be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven who lias made himself little as a child, He teaches again, in the form of an explicit exclusion, that they will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven who have not become as little children. Now, when a master proposes a lesson in various forms, does he not mean to convey, by those many and varied forms of instruction, that the lesson in question is one to which ho attaches a particular importance? He exerts himself so much to drive it home to his hearers .because . ho desires. that, by one , mode of presentation or by the other, they may take it to heart. We are forced, therefore, to the conclusion that the Divine - •; Master was anxious that His disciples should learn that Spiritual Childhood is a condition necessary for -the attainment of Eternal Life. . . ' ' Return to Childhood Necessary - —.•Perhaps someone will urge that the way of confidence and abandon in God, was suggested only to those fortunate few from whom malice has not deprived the graces of childhood, as if the Childhood of the Spirit could not be looked for when childish innocence is lost. - But the words of the Divine Master “ Unless you be converted and become as little children”—do. they not indicate the necessity of a change and of work o reaction P “Unless you be converted”—there you have indicated a change that the disciples of Jesus Christ must make to be again children, and it is readily understood that he only can again become a child,who child no longer is. “Unless you become as little children” —there you have indicated a work which the disciples of Jesus Christ must do to appear as children, and it is clear that a man can work to .be or appear either that which he has never been, or that which he no longer . is; but since man must have been a child, the words “unless you become as little children” carry with them the obligation to acquire again the qualities of childhood. It would be ridiculous to suggest the possbility of acquiring again the aspect and the weakness of childhood’s years;

but it is not out of reason to see in the divine words a warning given, even to men of mature years, to make them return to the practice of those virtues which constitute the Spiritual Childhood. Of this Spiritual Childhood the Church to-day points out a concrete example when it proclaims the heroic degree of the virtues of Sister Theresa of the Infant Jesus. The Holy Father then outlined the life of this Venerable Servant of God, showing how her sanctity depended neither on long years nor ..arduous undertakings, nor profound studies, but simply in the complete abandonment to the Divine Will. “The Story of a Soul” The sanctity of the Servant of God, continued the Supreme Pontiff, was not dimmed, neither by words utterred on her death-bed, nor by the counsels and exhortations to circulate widely her Story of a Soul, in which Little Theresa had described herself. She who, in all her life, had given constant proof of humility could not utter words apparently contrary to this virtue,' if not under the influence of a divine command. . . Her Promise Sister Theresa, a little before she died, promised that she would pass her Paradise in doing good to men. We know she has maintained her promise, because innumerable are the graces attributed to her intercession, especially during the recent world conflict. ,We Ourselves have received a great number of letters from soldiers and officials of the French’ army, which attributed to Sifter Theresa the grace of having escaped imminent danger of death. They were letters that bore the seal of sincerity, because often accompanied by the announcement of a change in the mode of life in gratitude for the favor received. But who does not perceive that the hew heroine, whose charity is now brought to perfection, will not be more liberal of her • favors to those who strive to copy her most closely? We hope that the secret of- the sanctity of Sister Theresa of the Infant Jesus may not remain hidden from any of Our children. And so that it may produce in all the wonderful effects it produced in Theresa, We invoke the benediction of God, not only on those who are present, but also upon all the members of the Christian family.