Saint Therese from Lisieux
The Saint Teresa in the book, Story of a soul, tells his life
The "Manuscript" was written at the request of Mother Agnes in 1894, then Prior of Carmel, who ordered her to keep all the memories of her childhood. After getting a notebook, Teresa wrote it in the evening and after the office of compline.
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Splendor of Grace
On the other hand also the poor small Teresa, as she could not find any aid on the earth, had applied to the celestial Mother, and prayed Her heartily to have mercy of her at last... Suddenly Our Lady seemed to me beautiful, so beautiful that I had never seen nothing so beautiful before, Her face showed uneffable goodness and tenderness, but it was "the charming smile of Our Lady" that pierced me until the bottom of my soul.
Then all my pains vanished, two big tears came to my eyes and streamed down my cheeks, but they were tears of a joy without clouds... "Ah, I thought, how happy I am, Our Lady has smiled to me... but I will not say it to anybody, because then my happiness would disappear".
Without any effort I lowered my eyes, and I saw Mary looking at me lovingly: she was moved and seemed to realise the favour granted to me by the Holy Virgin... Just thank to her, to her irresistible prayers I had the grace of the smile of the Queen of Heaven; noticing my eyes fixed on Our Lady, she had said on her own: Therese is recovered!
Yes, the little flower was coming to life again and the luminous beam heating her would no more stop its benefits: it did not act just in a while, but sweetly, gently, it raised the flower and fortified it in such way that five years later it bloomed on the fruitful mountain of the Carmelo.
So Mary had understood that Our Lady had granted me some hidden graces. When I was alone with her she asked me what I had seen. I could not resist to her so tender and pressing questions whereas I was astonished, that she had known my secret although I had not revealed it, therefore I told my beloved Mary my secret...
Unfortunately, as I had supposed, my happiness disappeared, and turned into bitterness; for four years the memory of the ineffable grace that I had received, was for me a true inner pain and I could not find my happiness again other than at the feet of Our Lady of the Victories, where it was fully given to me again. I will talk later about this second grace of Our Lady. Now I must tell you, dear Mother, how my joy turned into sadness..
Mary, after hearing the ingenuous and sincere story of "my grace", asked me to be allowed to talk about it at the Carmelo. I could not deny...
