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

by Thérèse of Lisieux

I am sure that is why the Holy Spirit, long before Jesus was born, inspired this prophetic prayer, “Draw me, we will run.” In asking to be drawn, we are seeking to be closely united to the captivating object of our love. If fire and iron were endowed with reason, and the iron were to say “Draw me,” surely this would prove that it wanted to be so identified with the fire as to share its very substance. This is just what I ask. I want Jesus so to draw me into the flames of His love, so to make me one with Himself that He may live and act in me. I feel that the more the fire of love inflames my heart, the more I shall say, “Draw me,” and the more swiftly those who are around about me will run “in the sweet odor of the Beloved.” We will run, indeed, all of us, for souls on fire with love cannot remain inactive.