From I Believe in Love,
Let me return once again to little Thérèse and speak briefly of her. Alluding to Archimedes, who said, “Give me lever and a fulcrum, and I shall lift the world,” she thought that what Archimedes was not able to achieve, the saints had accomplished: “The Omnipotent gave them their leverage point—Himself alone—and prayer for a lever, the prayer which inflames with the fire of love; and with these, they lifted the world.”
“How great is the power of prayer,” she cried, “like a queen who has free access at all times to the king and can obtain all she asks.”
Leaving aside the prefabricated prayers which made her head ache, she said, “I do it like the children who do not know how to read. I simply say to God what I want to say to Him, without making beautiful sentences, and He always understands me. Prayer is a movement of the heart, a simple look cast toward Heaven, a cry of recognition and love in the midst of trial as in the midst of joy; finally, it is something great and supernatural which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus.”
“All that does not prevent distractions and sleep from coming to visit me, but I always know how to find the means to be happy and profit from my miseries.”
Holy Scripture and the Imitation of Christ helped little Thérèse in her weakness. She found in them solid and completely pure nourishment, but it was the Gospels above all which bore her up during these prayers. There she always discovered new insights, hidden and mysterious meanings.
Yet sensing Jesus in her, guiding her every moment, inspiring in her what she must say or do, she discovered—as the fruit of her union with Jesus in complete abandonment—the lights which she had not yet received, just at the moment she needed them, and she adds, “It is not usually during my prayers that they are most abundant, but rather in the midst of the occupations of the day.”
How balanced and profound this is! With what authority, assurance, and wisdom little Thérèse sweeps away the illusions in the spiritual life! She knew very well that, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the action of the Holy Spirit.” “Likewise, the Spirit also helps our infirmity. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself asks for us with unspeakable groanings.”
It is the Holy Spirit who contemplates and prays in us. To make a prayer, to pray, is to think lovingly of God. The Holy Spirit is love.
Prodigal Catholic 