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Quote of the day, 28 June: St. Thérèse

“On the mountain of Carmel a soul is praying unceasingly to the divine Prisoner of Love for the success of your glorious conquest.”
St. Thérèse of Lisieux to Abbé Adolphe Roulland
LT 189, 23 June 1896

Five days after Thérèse expressed her unworthiness to support this missionary brother, the story continued.

On 28 June 1896, Abbé Roulland was ordained to the priesthood and learned of his assignment to China’s Sichuan province.

The new priest came to celebrate one of his first Masses at the Lisieux Carmel on 3 July. His sister gave him an altar pall which she had painted for him. They spoke together in the parlour. The missionary was soon to set sail for China and join the eastern Su-Chuen [Sichuan] province. In the place where she worked Thérèse pinned up a map of the region to follow her new brother’s journey. — Bishop Guy Gaucher, OCD, The Story of a Life, chap. 10

Remarkably, Bishop Gaucher himself died on 3 July 2014, exactly 118 years to the day after this pivotal meeting between Thérèse and Fr. Roulland.

Three weeks later, writing from Paris before his departure, Fr. Roulland captured the essence of their spiritual partnership:

I am leaving with the intention of not having more self-will in the hands of my bishop than a corpse would have; I leave happy because I know our apostolate, that is, yours and mine, will be blessed by God. On the mountain of Carmel, a soul will be praying for the success of the weapons of him who will be fighting in the field. Each day, at the Holy Sacrifice, I will pronounce the name of Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus. If as you hope you go to heaven before me, I will continue to pray for you. I will say: “I offer this Sacrifice for the repose of the soul of my sister in Jesus,” begging the Blessed Virgin to do what she wills with the merits you will no longer need. — Fr. Adolphe Roulland to St. Thérèse LC 165, 23 July 1896

A photograph taken after their 3 July encounter preserves this moment:

Thérèse in the cloister, at the age of twenty-three and a half. She holds in her hand, like a program, a scroll with the words of her patron and spiritual mother Saint Teresa of Jesus: ‘I would give a thousand lives to save one soul.’ Her right hand rests on the book that was given to her by her spiritual brother Father Adolphe Roulland, La mission de Su-Tchuen au XVIIIe siècle. Vie et apostolat de Mgr Pottier, Téqui 1892, written by L. Guiot. — Conrad de Meester, OCD Teresa di Lisieux: Vita, Dottrina, Ambiente, Plate 170

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, sometime after 3 July 1896
Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (Used by permission)

De Meester, C & Salvatico, G 1996, Teresa di Lisieux: Vita, Dottrina, Ambiente, San Paolo & Il Messaggero del S. Bambino Gesù di Praga, Cinisello Balsamo & Arenzano.

Gaucher, G 1993, The story of a life: St. Thérèse of Lisieux, HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco, CA.

Thérèse of Lisieux, S & Clarke, J 1988, General Correspondence: Letters of Saint Therese of Lisieux: Volume 2 1890-1897. Centenary ed., Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington DC.

Translation from the Italian text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
Have you ever made a commitment to pray for a specific missionary or intention, keeping a photograph or image nearby as a reminder of your promise?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

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