Humility Is Truth

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux echoes Saint Teresa of Avila on weakness, littleness, and walking in truth

“It seems to me,” she admitted simply, “that humility is truth. I do not know whether I am humble, but I feel that I see the truth in all things.”

It was her habit to count herself among the weak; from this came the expression “little souls.”

In the individual lessons she gave to each of her novices, it was always necessary to return to humility. The foundation of her teaching was to teach us not to be distressed when we saw ourselves as weakness itself, but rather to glory in our infirmities. “It is so sweet to feel oneself weak and little!” she would say.

— Sister Geneviève of the Holy Face, o.c.d. (Céline Martin)

Conseils et Souvenirs, II

Note: In the Interior Castle, Saint Teresa of Avila writes: “Once I was pondering why our Lord was so fond of this virtue of humility, and this thought came to me—in my opinion not as a result of reflection but suddenly: It is because God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth, for it is a very deep truth that of ourselves we have nothing good but only misery and nothingness. Whoever does not understand this walks in falsehood” (Interior Castle VI.10.7).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
When you see your own weakness, what helps you rejoice in your littleness rather than become discouraged?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

Source reference

Thérèse of Lisieux. Conseils et souvenirs. Lisieux: Carmel de Lisieux, 1952. English translation by Carmelite Quotes.

Featured image

Detail of a stained glass window created by artist Sr. Margaret Agnes Rope, O.C.D. for Holy Name parish in Oxton, Birkenhead (Cheshire) England. Image credit: Arthur Rope / Wikimedia Commons (For the common good).