Our Lord is more tender than a mother, and well do I know more than one maternal heart! I know a mother is ever ready to forgive the little involuntary failings of her child.
HIST. D’UNE AME, CH. VIII
I know of one means only by which to attain to perfection: Love. Let us love, since our heart is made for nothing else. Sometimes I seek another word to express Love, but in this land of exile the word which begins and ends[2] is quite incapable of rendering the vibrations of the soul; we must then adhere to this simple and only word: To Love.
But on whom shall our poor heart lavish its love? Who shall be found that is great enough to be the recipient of its treasures? Will a human being know how to comprehend them, and above all will he be able to repay? There exists but one Being capable of comprehending love; it is Jesus; He alone can give us back infinitely more than we shall ever give to Him.
LETTER TO HER COUSIN MARIE GUÉRIN
There is one ONLY THING to do here below: to love Jesus, to win souls for Him so that He may be loved. Let us seize with jealous care every least opportunity of self-sacrifice. Let us refuse Him nothing—He does so want our love!
VI LETTER TO HER SISTER CÉLINE
When we really love, we rejoice in the happiness of the loved one and make every sacrifice to procure it for him.
COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES
True love is nourished by sacrifice, and the more the soul denies itself natural satisfactions, the stronger and the more disinterested becomes its tenderness.