Grace for This Moment
Saint Thérèse receives the peace God gives today, without trying to master tomorrow’s fear.
People tell me that I will be afraid of death. That may well be. There is no one here more distrustful than I am of her own feelings. I never rely on my own thoughts; I know how weak I am. But I want to enjoy the feeling that the good God is giving me now. There will always be time enough to suffer from the opposite.
— Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Yellow Notebook, May 20, 1897
Note: Mother Agnes of Jesus, OCD, was Saint Thérèse of Lisieux’s sister, Pauline, a prioress in the Carmel of Lisieux. Her Yellow Notebook records Thérèse’s final months, preserving conversations and spiritual sayings from the infirmary.
⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How can Saint Thérèse help me face my fear of death?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.
Source reference
Martin, Pauline (Mother Agnes of Jesus, OCD). Yellow Notebook, May 20, 1897. Archives du Carmel de Lisieux. https://archives.carmeldelisieux.fr/archive/cj-mai-1897/#20-mai. Translation by Carmelite Quotes.
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A white lily and burning candle against a dark background.
Image credit: New Africa / Adobe Stock, Asset ID 218136951.
I'm like St. Therese, I personally am looking forward to death, and it may scare me when it comes, but, you see, I have that, think it's called orthostatic dropping blood pressure, thing where sometimes when I stand up everything goes blank/black and I have to drape myself over something and try to keep from falling or blacking out completely. It's oxygen deprivation I guess. And now that I'm older and it's getting more frequent and longer to recover, I just say;
It's God's Way of making sure I forgive everyone and don't carry any grudges into Eternity!
(or at least work on that)
Sure, it's odd because there's "nothing" in those episodes and the skeptics in my life would find that proof that there's no afterlife, but I look at it this way: If we Christians are wrong, deluded like some say, which I hasten to add I I don't believe we are, but If we are, then I can still be at peace and welcome death because I'm working to leave behind some Beauty and a witness to try to forgive and love others Anyway, and......I won't be suffering any longer, will I?
So either way, Sister Death as St. Francis wrote, is my friend.
Reflection Question ⬦
How can Saint Thérèse help me face my fear of death?
She sure seems to keep herself in the present moment and in God's love. Lord, may I hold to what St. Therese teaches, that with God our present moment is significant and enough to love God in return.