Published May 17 2024

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“When will he come, my tender Mother,
When will that beautiful day come, When, from the exile of the earth,
I will fly in the eternal Stay? »
This is how Thérèse sang in the infirmary on August 6, 1897 (CJ 8.06, 1)

When this beautiful day comes on September 30, Thérèse will whisper: “I never thought it was possible to suffer so much! Never ! Never ! » (CJ 9.30). Marie, whose statue famous for her smile on May 13, 1883 was installed in the infirmary, will accompany Thérèse until her last breath. She is not for nothing in what Thérèse paradoxically experiences: “But my soul despite its darkness is in an astonishing peace. » (CJ 9.24,10).

Suffering from tuberculosis at a time when we did not know how to treat it, Thérèse suffered a lot physically. “To the point of losing one's mind,” she blurted out: “She asks that poisonous medicines for external use not be left within reach and advises that they should never be left near patients who suffer from same tortures, always for the reason that “it's maddening” and that no longer knowing what we're doing, we could very well kill ourselves. » notes Mother Agnès in her commentary (CJ 8.22,4).

It is her faith in God and her love for God and for Jesus that enables Thérèse to resist this temptation and to accept, minute by minute, what she has to experience: “I don’t love one thing better than 'other […]. What the good Lord likes best and chooses for me is what pleases me more. » (CJ 9.04,7)

His trust is entirely in God. “The devil is around me […] he torments me […] he increases my troubles so that I despair. » she said to her sister Céline on August 16 (DE/G 8.16). But as she has done all her life, she seeks to unite her suffering with that of Jesus for the salvation of souls. Until the last day of her life when she murmured: “I never thought it was possible to suffer so much!” Never ! Never ! I can only explain this to myself by the ardent desires I had to save souls. » (CJ 9.30)

In her suffering, Thérèse also expresses the benefit of the gentle and considerate presence of those around her. “I love you very much,” she said to Céline, “and it is very sweet to me to be looked after by you. » (DE/G 8.22) And to those around her, she recommends: “… Oh! how we must pray for the dying! If we only knew! » (CJ 8.25,6).

Thérèse surely has something to teach us about true fraternal accompaniment of the sick at the end of life and the meaning that we can discover in the offering of one's life with Jesus.

Father Emmanuel Schwab

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