For
a long time my place at meditation was near a Sister who fidgeted
continually, either with her Rosary, or something else; possibly, as
I am very quick of hearing, I alone heard her, but I cannot tell you
how much it tried me. I should have liked to turn round, and by
looking at the offender, make her stop the noise; but in my heart I
knew that I ought to bear it tranquilly, both for the love of God and
to avoid giving pain. So I kept quiet, but the effort cost me so much
that sometimes I was bathed in perspiration, and my meditation
consisted merely in suffering with patience. After a time I tried to
endure it in peace and joy, at least deep down in my soul, and I
strove to take actual pleasure in the disagreeable little noise.
Instead of trying not to hear it, which was impossible, I set myself
to listen, as though it had been some delightful music, and my
meditation—which was not the "prayer of quiet"—was
passed in offering this music to Our Lord.
– Saint
Thérèse of Lisieux
Saint
Thérèse
of Lisieux's
patronage:
Missionaries;
France; Russia; HIV/AIDS sufferers; radio care-a-thons; florists and
gardeners; loss of parents; tuberculosis; the Russicum; Alaska
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