Saint Therese of Lisieux and the Sacred Heart of Jesus

In his recent encyclical He Loved Us, Pope Francis devotes particular attention to the reflections of Saint Therese of Lisieux on the sacred heart of Jesus. In her inimitable, childlike love of Christ, Saint Therese embodies the sanctity of this devotion in a special way. Pope Francis writes:

“As we contemplate the heart of Christ, the incarnate synthesis of the Gospel, we can, following the example of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, ‘place heartfelt trust not in ourselves but in the infinite mercy of a God who loves us unconditionally and has already given us everything in the cross of Jesus Christ’. Therese was able to do this because she had discovered in the heart of Christ that God is love: ‘To me he has granted his infinite mercy, and through it I contemplate and adore the other divine perfections’. That is why a popular prayer, directed like an arrow towards the heart of Christ, says simply: ‘Jesus, I trust in you’. No other words are needed.

“Perhaps the most important text for understanding the devotion of St. Therese of Lisieux to the heart of Christ is a letter that she wrote three months before her death to her friend Maurice Bellière. ‘Ah! dear little Brother, ever since I have been given the grace to understand also the love of the heart of Jesus, I admit that it has expelled all fear from my heart. The remembrance of my faults humbles me, draws me never to depend on my strength which is only weakness, but this remembrance speaks to me of mercy and love even more’.

“To her sister Léonie, St. Therese writes, ‘I assure you that God is much better than you believe. He is content with a glance, a sigh of love.’

“So too, in a letter to Father Adolphe Roulland. St. Therese writes, ‘[When] I take up Holy Scripture. Then all seems luminous to me; a single word uncovers for my soul infinite horizons, perfection seems simple to me. I see that it is sufficient to recognize one’s nothingness and to abandon oneself like a child into God’s arms’.

Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day for the salvation of souls.