all joys," she said, and "suffering has been my heaven upon earth…. The only real happiness on earth is to strive always to think 'how goodly is the chalice' that Jesus gives us…." When she was pitied, she said: "Don't be so sad about me; I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me." When her face wore an expression of unearthly happiness, she was asked the reason and gave the astonishing reply: "It is because the pain is so acute now…. Nothing gives me such 'little joys' as 'little crosses.' I know of no ecstasy to which I do not prefer sacrifice. There I find my happiness, and there alone…. When we expect nothing but suffering, then the least joy is a surprise, and later the suffering itself becomes the greatest of all joys, when we seek it as a precious treasure."
"My joy I find in pain and loss,
I love the thorns that guard the rose;
With joy I kiss each heavy cross,
And smile with every tear that flows."
When Heaven refused her relief, she "thanked God and the saints just the same," and she "paid our Lord all sorts of compliments when He disappointed her."
She also knew how to use her faults and failings as a means of joy—a most important thing for every one striving for holiness, "I hasten to say to the good God: 'My God, I know that I have deserved this feeling of sadness (for my fault), yet, allow me to look upon it as a trial which Thy love sends me. I regret my sin; but I am glad to have this little suffering to offer Thee." "If Thou dost remain veiled—well, then I consent to be benumbed with cold, and I rejoice in the suffering, howsoever merited." Truly a heavenly prudence! St. Augustine said: "When one loves, one does not suffer, or if one does, the very suffering is loved." And so St. Therese in the midst of her trials cried out: "Thou hast given me, O Lord, delight in all Thou dost. For what joy can be greater than to suffer for Thy love?" Her clear and living faith gave her a very deep insight into the immense value of suffering and made her esteem it as the most precious
20
