Many Mansions

Thérèse of Lisieux Autobiography of a Saint
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux The Little Flower of Jesus Translation: Thomas N. Taylor 1927 Chapter 1, pp.30-31.	Thérèse of Lisieux Autobiography of a Saint Translation:. Ronald Knox 1958 posthumous. Chapter 1, pp.25-26.
I often asked myself why God has preferences, why all souls do not receive an equal measure of grace… Our Lord has deigned to explain to me this mystery. He showed me the book of Nature, and I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet sim­plicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, Nature would lose her spring­tide beauty, and the fields would no longer be enamelled with lovely hues. t is the same in the world of souls, Our Lord's living garden. He has been pleased to create great Saints who may be compared to the lily and the rose; but He has also created lesser ones, who must be content to be daisies or simple violets flowering at His feet, and whose mission is to gladden His divine eyes when He deigns to lookdown on them: the more joyfully they do His will, the greater is their perfection. I understood this also, that God's love is made manifest as well in a simple soul which does not resist His grace as in one more highly endowed. In fact, the characteristic of love being self-abasement, were all souls to resemble the holy Doctors who have illumined the Church, it would seem as if God in coming to them did not stoop low enough. He has created, however, the little child who knows nothing and can but utter feeble cries and the poor savage who has only the natural law to guide him, and it is to their hearts that He deigns to stoop. These are the field flowers whose simplicity charms Him; and by His condescension to them Our Saviour shows His infinite greatness. As the sun shines both on the cedar and on the smallest flower, so the Divine Sun illumines each soul, great or lowly, and all thing's work together for its good, just as in Nature the seasons are so disposed that on the appointed day the humblest blest daisy shall unfold its petals.	I had always wondered why it was that God has his preferences, instead of giving each soul an equal degree of grace… Jesus has been gracious enough to teach me a lesson about this mystery, simply by holding up to my eyes the book of nature. I realised, then, that all the flowers he has made are beautiful; the rose in its glory, the lily in its whiteness, don't rob the tiny violet of its sweet smell, or the daisy of its charming simplicity. I saw that if all these lesser. blooms wanted to be roses instead, nature would lose the gaiety of her springtide dress-there would be no little flowers to make a pattern over the countryside. And so it is with the world of souls, which is his garden. He wanted to have great Saints, to be his lilies and roses, but he has made lesser Saints as well; and these lesser ones must be content to rank as daisies and violets, lying at his feet and giving pleasure to his eye like that. Perfection consists simply in doing his will, and being just what he wants us to be. This, too, was made dear to me-that our Lord's love makes itself seen quite as much in the simplest of souls as in the most highly gifted, as long as there is no resistance offered to his grace. After all, the whole point of love is making yourself small; and if we were all like the great Doctors who have shed lustre on the Church by their brilliant teaching, there wouldn't be much condescension on God's part, would there, about coming into hearts like these? But no, he has created little children, who have no idea what's going on and can only express themselves by helpless crying: he has made the poor savages, with nothing better than the natural law to live by; and he is content to forget his dignity and come into their hearts too-these are the wild flowers that delight him by their simplicity. It is by such condescension that God shows his infinite greatness. The sun's light, that plays on the cedar trees, plays on each tiny flower as if it were the only one in existence; and in the same way our Lord takes a special interest in each soul, as if there were no other like it. Everything conspires for the good of each individual soul, just as the march of the seasons is designed to make the most insignificant daisy unfold its petals on the day appointed for it.
Workshop … The translators are very different characters. Comparing both to the French Original will be even more interesting. STORY OF A SOUL The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux A New Translation from the Original Manuscripts by JOHN CLARKE, O.C.D. ICS Publications INSTITUTE OF CARMELITE STUDIES Washington 1975, ALENCON J.M.J.T. ` Jesus January 1895 SPRINGTIME STORY OF A LITILE WHITE FLOWER WRITTEN BY HERSELF AND DEDICATED TO THE REVEREND MOTHER AGNES OF JESUS I wondered for a long time why God has preferences, … Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers. And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus' garden. He willed to create great souls comparable to Lilies and roses, but He has created smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God's glances when He looks down at His feet. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be. I understood, too, that Our Lord's love is revealed as perfectly in the most simple soul that resists His grace in nothing as in the most excellent soul; in fact, since the nature of love is to humble oneself, if all souls resembled those of the holy Doctors who illumined the Church with the clarity of their teachings, it seems God would not descend so low when coming to their heart. But He created the child who knows only how to make his feeble cries heard; He has created the poor savage who has nothing but the natural law to guide him. It is to their hearts that God deigns to lower Himself. These are the wild flowers whose simplicity attracts Him. When coming down in this way, God manifests His infinite grandeur. Just as the sun shines simultaneously on the tall cedars and on each little flower as though it were alone on the earth, so Our Lord is occupied particularly with each soul as though there were no others like it. And just as in nature all the seasons are arranged in such a way as to make the humblest daisy bloom on a set day, in the same way, everything works out for the good of each soul.

Friday, 30 April 2010 Fourth Week of easter Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14:1-6. Jesus said to his disciples: «Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where (I) am going you know the way." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church Autobiography of a soul, Manuscript A, 2r°- 3r° (trans. Ronald Knox) "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places" I had always wondered why it was that God has his preferences, instead of giving each soul an equal degree of grace... Jesus has been gracious enough to teach me a lesson about this mystery, simply by holding up to my eyes the book of nature. I realised, then, that all the flowers he has made are beautiful; the rose in its glory, the lily in its whiteness, don't rob the tiny violet of its sweet smell, or the daisy of' its charming simplicity. I saw that if all these lesser blooms wanted to be roses instead, nature would lose the gaiety of her spring tide dress-there would be no little flowers to, make a pattern over the countryside. And so it is with the world of souls, which is his garden. He wanted to have great Saints, to be his lilies and roses, but he has made lesser Saints as well; and these lesser ones must be content to rank as daisies and violets, lying at his feet and giving pleasure to his eye like that. Perfection consists simply in doing his will, and being just what he wants us to be. This, too, was made clear to me: that our Lord's love makes itself seen quite as much in the simplest of souls as in the most highly gifted, as long as there is no resistance offered to his grace. After all, the whole point of love is making yourself small; and if we were all like the great Doctors who have shed lustre on the Church by their brilliant teaching, there wouldn't be much condescension on God's part, would there, about coming into hearts like these? But no, he has created little children, who have no idea what's going on and can only express themselves by helpless crying: he has made the poor savages, with nothing better than the natural law to live by; and he is content to forget his dignity and come into their hearts too - these are the wild flowers that delight him by their simplicity. It is by such condescension that God shows his infinite greatness. The sun's light that plays on the cedar-trees plays on each tiny flower as if it were the only one in existence; and in the same way our Lord takes a special interest in each soul, as if there were no other like it. Daily Gospel org

THE STORY OF A SOUL THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SAINT THERESE OF LISIEUX Edited by MOTHER AGNES OF JESUS Translated, with a critical Preface, by MICHAEL DAY, Cong. Orat. LONDON BURNS & OATES FOR MOTHER AGNES OF JESUS CHAPTER I, pp.1-2 For a long time I had wondered why God had preferences, why He did not give the same degree of grace to everyone. … Also I wondered why so many poor savages die without even hearing Our Lord's name. Jesus chose to enlighten me on this mystery. He opened the book of nature before me, and I saw that every flower He has created has a beauty of its own; that the splendour of the rose and the lily's whiteness do not deprive the violet of its scent, nor make less ravishing the daisy's charm. I saw that if every little flower wished to be a rose, nature would lose her Spring adornments, and the fields would be no longer enamelled with their varied flowers. So it is in the world of souls, the living garden of the Lord. It pleases Him to create great saints, who may be compared with the lilies or the rose; but He has also created little ones, who .must be content to be daisies or violets nestling at His feet to delight His eyes when He should choose to look at them. The happier they are to be as He wills, the more perfect they are. I saw something further; that Our Lord's love-shines out just as much through a little soul who yields completely to His Grace as it does through the greatest. True love is shown in self-abasement, and if everyone were like the saintly doctors who adorn the Church, it would seem that God had not far enough to stoop when He came to them. But He has, in fact, created the child who knows nothing and can only make feeble cries; and the poor savage with only the natural law to guide him; and it is to hearts such as these that He stoops. What delights Him is the simplicity of these flowers of the field, and by stooping so low to them, He shows how infinitely great He is. Just as the sun shines equally on the cedar and the little flower, so the. Divine Sun shines equally on everyone, great and small. Everything is ordered for their good, just as in nature the seasons are ordered that the smallest daisy comes to bloom at its appointed time.