(c) She was above all enamored of the perpetual memorial of the Passion with its abiding presence of Jesus Crucified—the Holy Eucharist, in which Jesus continues His life as a Victim. It was thence that she drew her seemingly incredible strength of soul. It was her heaven on earth:
"My heaven lieth hid in the little white host,
Unto this Source divine I go to draw my life.
Thou comest, my Beloved, to transform me in Thee,
This union of love, this ineffable delight,
Is truly heaven to me!"
The sacrifices she made to receive even a single Holy Communion seem almost superhuman and clearly showed how great was her esteem for the Fountain of divine strength. In her exhausting illness she would literally drag herself to the chapel each morning, and this in spite of the most painful remedies which sometimes had to be applied to her, and when she was urged to spare herself, she replied: "Oh, I do not count this too much to win one Holy Communion!" In her Act of Oblation she ventured to call upon the Omnipotence of God to make her a living and perpetual tabernacle of her Eucharistic God, "Abide in me, as Thou dost in the tabernacle, never forsake Thy little victim," and she felt that her request was heard: "Thou dwellest in me a Prisoner night and day." What strength of soul to endure suffering would be mine if I read daily in the Book of Jesus Crucified and the sublime memorial thereof, the Holy Eucharist. Do I…?
Novena Prayer
Dear St. Therese, prayer was for you an impregnable fortress, which shielded you from the assaults of the enemy. How clearly you understood its tremendous, almost all-powerful, efficacy, and how well you used it! Obtain for me a similar grace and assist me to follow you in ever taking refuge in prayer, with promptness and perseverance, and to turn spontaneously and with filial confidence to our heavenly Mother, striving day by day to become more and more a "little child" of Mary. Above all, assist me to study daily the lessons contained in the Book of Jesus
