Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway

 We have looked at the first “blind” letter Maurice Belliere, a 21-year-old seminarian for the diocese of Bayeux, wrote on Monday, October 15, 1895 to the prioress of the Lisieux Carmel, asking that a nun dedicate her prayers and sacrifices for his vocation and mission. Maurice’s letter was mailed on the 16th and reached the monastery on the 17th.  Therese’s sister Pauline, Mother Agnes of Jesus, was then prioress, and she chose to ask Therese, then 22, to undertake this mission.  It's not until 20 months later, when Therese is writing her third autobiographical manuscript, addressed to Mother Gonzague in June 1897, that Therese recounts how, on Thursday, October 17th, when she was hard at work with the community in the laundry room, Mother Agnes took her aside and read Maurice's letter to her.  Since Maurice wrote on October 15, the feast of her patron, Teresa of Avila, Therese considered him "a feast-day gift."  She recalls the desire she had  cherished since childhood of having a brother who would become a priest.  Maurice had "promised to remember the one who would become his sister at the Holy Sacrifice each day after he was ordained."  Therese, of course, never approached the altar; it was outside the enclosure, and she was separated from it by the grille, so that Maurice's offer decreased the distance between her and the Eucharist she loved so much.  She was deeply touched by this delicacy of Jesus, and she wrote: "Mother, it would be impossible for me to express my happiness."  Read her full account on the Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux.

Characteristically, Therese took this mission very seriously:  "I understood fully the obligation I was imposing on myself, and I set to work by trying to redouble my fervor."  Mother Agnes, who laid great emphasis on silence and hiddenness for Carmelites, preferred Therese not to engage in correspondence with this young seminarian, so she answered his letter herself.  Therese did compose a prayer for him, and in our next entry we will examine this prayer, which Mother Agnes sent to Maurice.

Source:  Story of a Soul, The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, 3rd edition, tr. John Clarke, O.C.D.  Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1996.