How shall I now speak of the closeness between Therese and Celine?… How?…
“A garden enclosed”; and I would add: “a sealed fountain” (cf. Sg 4:12), but the fountain was not sealed, it flowed freely: From our hearts rushed “rivers of living water” (Jn 7:38) which spread forth, leading our souls towards Jesus, the divine Ocean… […]
Our union of soul became so intimate that I will not even attempt to describe it in the language of this earth, because to do so would be to disfigure it. This flower is the secret of the “garden enclosed” of which only Jesus, the sole Beloved of our hearts, knew the fragrant exhalations…
Nevertheless, inactivity is not proper to human nature; therefore, the fountain of this “enclosed” garden, as I said just earlier, was “open” to the ardour of love, an impetuous ardour that devoured our hearts… […]
[Therese’s heart] opened itself to me entirely, and that marked the start of our immense intimacy which, as she used to say, was no longer a mere union but indeed a unity… She liked to repeat to me that we had but one soul between us. […]
I enjoyed a happiness of which I still feel the sweetness, I experienced the delights of the most perfect union. What could be more desirable on this earth? Yes, all joys are eclipsed in the face of union of hearts; as compared with it, fortune, honours, and health vanish, and only have value inasmuch as they hold it as queen.
MARTIN, OCD, Celine.
Autobiographie de la sœur et novice
de la Petite Thérèse. Toulouse:
Éditions du Carmel: 2022, p.90-95
