About the "small way" Also in yearnings and sacrifices of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus we feel the same apostolic character of the carmelite spirituality. Although behind bars of seklusion in Lisieux she became through her zeal by rights the patroness of missions and is the saint who might have influenced mostly the piety of the twentiest century. We do not wonder threfore, thet many active congregation of the carmelite order came at that time into existence, who acheaved strength apostolate in prayer and contemplative life. Also our organisation was founded in Poland (Sosnowiec) in 1921 by Father Anselm Gondeck OCD and the reverend Mother Thereze Kierocinski, who became an attentive mother for the sisters and for the orphans and unhappy and lonely people. Right now her beatification is in process. As was indicated before, we have to be devoted primarely to pray, through which we try to enrich all our activites and receive strength and help in our apostolate. The center of our life is the spiritua Childhood of Jesus by the example of St. Thereza of Child Jesus. She is our patroness. The greatness consists not only in showing clearly through out her life this ideal, but also that she recognized the way to achieve it. It is her famous "small way": a way of searching, sometimes even very painfully how to fill her infinite longing after love and holiness, when one is so weak and unable to ful fil it. There are temptations, revolt, resignation, pride . . . but the light enters into Thereza's darkness. Holiness does not consist of faultlessness but in the complete trust in God. It is enought to accept one's wrechedness and present it to God's mercy and all our ascetism lies really in selfdenial of our will. |