For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus. — St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Thérèse of Lisieux was still three months shy of her 25th birthday when tuberculosis claimed her life; she might have passed into eternity known only by her Carmelite sisters, if it were not for her stunningly perceptive diaries, which were published the year after her death as The Story of a Soul. By 1925 she had been canonized (officially recognized as a Catholic saint) and in 1997, she was declared a doctor of the church: meaning her writings were considered exemplary expressions of faith (and, for our purposes, of mysticism). Quite an impressive resume for someone who had never been to college or had been “distinguished” in any other way!
But this quote from chapter 11 of her autobiography gives us a glimpse of her wisdom, a wisdom far beyond her years. Following in the footsteps of her namesake, Teresa of Ávila, Thérèse eloquently weaves together an understanding of prayer that is both gloriously transcendent and utterly down to earth. Beginning with the human heart and eyes, weaving together love and gratitude in such a way that it weathers both the pleasures and sorrows of life, and leading precisely toward that endless end to which all contemplative practice aims: nothing short of divine union.
In her youthful simplicity, Thérèse expresses her faith using strictly Catholic language and imagery; she equates union with God and union with Christ, for this was no doubt what she was taught as well as what she experienced. Those whose contemplative path is more interspiritual in nature might chafe at the seeming narrowness of her vision. But it’s helpful to remember her youth and innocence. Thérèse reminds us that a mysticism of breathtaking nondual love can flourish even in a heart that has only known one religion or one spirituality. She does not invalidate all others, but reminds us all to dig deep precisely where we stand, for as Merton would point out a half century later: “the gate of heaven is everywhere.”
Quotation source: St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, translated by John Clarke, OCD (p. 260). Kindle Edition.