The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of the Little Flower (with Supplemental Reading: Classics Made Simple) [Illustrated]

by Thérèse of Lisieux

Should the devil draw my attention to the faults of any one of them when I am seeking to increase this love in my heart, I call to mind at once her virtues and her good intentions. I tell myself that though I may have seen her fall once, there are probably a great many other occasions on which she has won victories which, in her humility, she has kept to herself. What may appear to me to be a fault may even be an act of virtue because of her intention, and as I have experienced this for myself, I have little difficulty in persuading myself that this is indeed the case. It was one day during recreation. The Portress came to ask one of us to help her in some particular duty. I was as eager as a child to do this work, and as it happened, I was chosen. Though I began to put away my needlework at once, I did so sufficiently slowly to give my neighbor a chance of folding hers first, because I knew she would be glad to take my place. The Portress noticed that I was taking my time, and said laughingly: “I did not think you would add this pearl to your crown: you were much too slow.” The whole community was left with the impression that I had acted according to nature. I cannot tell you what I gained from this incident and how tolerant it made me. Praise is no longer an occasion of vanity. I have only to say to myself: “If my little acts of virtue can be mistaken for imperfections, imperfections can just as easily be mistaken for virtue”; and I say with St. Paul: ‘To me it is a ver...