Would you mind telling me in what book St. Therese supposedly said the things you say she said about death? I am quite familiar with the teaching of St. Therese and do not recall her ever saying such a thing about death. What you say she said about death is not even theologically sound, for once we die our fate has been sealed: we don’t die in one state of soul and then *after *death have the chance to change our state of soul – we are immediately judged at the moment of our death and we are judged based on sour soul at the point of death – not afterwards. Of course, just before one’s point of death God could send a grace of conversion that a sinner could cooperate with,and the sinner’s fate could be changed, but this is not what you are saying St. Therese teaches., and the Church does not teach that EVERY person receives this great grace of conversion from God at their point of death. What you say is not true – St. Therese never said such a thing. What you say sounds more like St. Faustina (whose private revelations I do not accept). Please give me your source of info, so I can look up the footnotes. What you say St. Therese said, she did not even say. Thanks and God bless.
Having never read anything by or about St. Faustina (negligence on my part, and something I should remedy) I cannot affirm that I got any of this from her.
I’m not too much into your challenge tonight, particularly since I am not sure I didn’t give away Ste Therese’s writings and those things written about her. But you have one point; I ought to buy them again if, indeed, I did that. A good Lenten thing to do.
But while we’re waiting, maybe just a few tidbits that were easy to find online, pending my being able to give the proper citations in a more scholarly manner. I am sure you will recognize the sources.
“To me, He has given his Infinite Mercy, and it is in this ineffable mirror that I contemplate his other divine attributes. Therein all appear to me radiant with Love. His Justice, even more perhaps than the rest, seems to me to be clothed with Love.” In these words she expresses herself in the last lines of The Story of a Soul: “I have only to open the Holy Gospels and at once I breathe the perfume of Jesus’ life, and then I know which way to run; and it is not to the first place, but to the last, that I hasten…. I feel that even had I on my conscience every crime one could commit… my heart broken with sorrow, I would throw myself into the arms of my Saviour Jesus, because I know that he loves the Prodigal Son” who returns to him."
I like this:
“When our great hour comes”, as St. Therese writes to Abbe Roulland, missionary in China, “if only we trust, the Blessed Virgin will obtain “the grace of making an act of perfect love” should we have “some trace of human weakness” and so will we reach heaven immediately after death.”
And this:
“I assure you that the good Lord is much kinder than you can imagine. He is satisfied with a glance, with a sigh of love… In regard to myself, I find it easy to practice perfection, because I have learned that the way to Jesus is through His Heart. Consider a small child who has vexed his mother by a display of bad temper or disobedience. If the child hides in a corner through fear of punishment, he feels that his mother will not forgive him. But if instead, he extends his little arms towards her and with a smile cries out: ‘Love, kiss me, mamma, I will not do it again,’ will not his mother press the little one to her heart with tenderness, and forget what the child has done? And yet, though she knows very well that her dear little one will misbehave again at the first opportunity, that means nothing if the child appeals to her heart. He will never be punished…”
I realize the following is about Purgatory, not hell, but it tells a lot more than about purgatory per se:
Once St. Therese had a confrontation regarding this topic with Sr. Marie Febronia, who not only was sixty-seven years old but also was sub-prioress. She had heard that St. Therese encouraged the novices to believe that they could go straight to heaven. She did not like this as she considered this kind of confidence presumptuous, and thus she reproached St Therese. St Therese tried lovingly and calmly to explain to Sr. Febronia her point of view but with no success as Sr. Febronia clung to belief. For St. Therese God was more Father than Judge, and she took the liberty of finally responding, “My sister, if you look for the justice of God you will get it. The soul will receive from God exactly what she desires.”
The year had not passed when, in January 1892, Sr. M. Febronia together with other sisters fell prey to the flu and died. Three months later Sr. Therese had a dream which she related to her Mother Prioress and which was then documented: “O my Mother, my Sr. M Febronia came to me last night and asked that we should pray for her:. She is in Purgatory, surely because she had trusted too little in the mercy of the good Lord. Through her imploring behavior and her profound looks, it seemed she wanted to say, You were right. I am now delivered up to the full justice of God but it is my fault. If I had listened to you I would not be here now.”
But you’re right. I will need to re-purchase the books I once had so I can quote chapter, verse and line.
In the meanwhile, i will contemplate what you have said. I will, in particular, contemplate what the “moment of death” is to God, who is outside time. There’s a lot to be curious about in that. Some, of course, give credence to the “near death experiences” in which time seems to fail in the measures we tend to give it. When is the moment of death? A very good question. We have a pretty good idea (though certainly not a perfect one) of when it is physically. But in terms of our encounter with God? When does it start? When does it end? I’m not yet persuaded that we know.
