“I am a very little soul, who can offer only very little things to the Lord.”
St. Therese lived in France in the late 1800s. She is best known for her realisation that it was not necessary for her to accomplish great deeds to attain holiness and to express her love of God. As she said: “Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”
Here is a brief excerpt of the book:
Just as a torrent carries into the depths of the sea all that it meets on its way, so, my Jesus, does the soul who plunges into the shoreless ocean of Thy Love bring with it all its treasures. My treasures are the souls it has pleased thee to unite with mine; Thou hast confided them to me, and therefore I do not fear to use Thy own words, uttered by Thee on the last night that saw Thee still a traveller on this earth. Jesus, my Beloved! I know not when my exile will have an end. Many a night I may yet sing Thy Mercies here below, but for me also will come the last night, and then I shall be able to say: “I have glorified Thee upon earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. I have manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou hast given me out of the world. …”
St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897), from “Chapter 6: A Canticle of Love,” in Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux
