Icon of St. Agnes by Joan Cole. Trinity Stores.

January 21, 1896, the feast of St. Agnes, was the feast day of Mother Agnes of Jesus (Therese's sister Pauline), who was then prioress of the Lisieux Carmel.  As one of her  gifts for her sister's feast, Therese wrote her twenty-sixth poem, "The Responses of Saint Agnes," based on the "Responses" from the Divine Office for the feast of St. Agnes. 

Therese had felt a special kinship for this young martyr at least since visiting her tomb in Rome in 1887.  This is a betrothal poem in which she celebrates virginity and spiritual poverty.

Christ is my Love, He is my whole life.

He is the Fiancé who alone delights my eyes.

Thus I already hear the melodious sounds

The text is available online at the link to the Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux above.  For a fuller understanding of it, I strongly recommend reading the introduction available only in the book The Poetry of Saint Therese of Lisieux, tr. Donald Kinney, O.C.D. (Washington, D.C.: Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, Inc., 1995), pp. 136-137.  It situates this "engagement poem" in the context of Therese's spiritual life and notes the many images she draws from the Spiritual Canticle of St. John of the Cross.  Indeed, the book of Therese's poetry is vital to any reader who seeks a deeper knowledge of the movements of Therese's soul.

As we will see, this "engagement poem" is one of the last expressions of Therese's spiritual betrothal.  The months of 1896 will draw her into a much deeper union with her Beloved.