Page:Thoughts of the servant of God, Thérèse of the Child Jesus; the Little flower of Jesus, Carmelite of the monastery of Lisieux, 1873-1897 (IA thoughtsofservan00thrs).pdf/26

 martyrdom of soul or body. Ah! rather give me both the one and the other!

I have no longer any desire unless it be to love Jesus even to folly! Yes, it is that draws me. I can say these words of the canticle of our Father, St. John of the Cross:

In the inmost cellar Of my Beloved have I drunk; and when I went forth Over all the plain I knew nothing, And lost the flock I followed before. My soul is occupied And all my substance in His service; Now I guard no flock, Nor have I any other employment: My sole occupation is love.

(Spiritual Canticle, Trans. D. Lewis.)

Oh! if souls weak and imperfect as mine, felt what I feel, not one would despair of reaching the summit of the mountain of Love, since Jesus does not