d given me, and showed it to her, my eyes
sparkling with pleasure. She opened it with care, and, looking
through it attentively, told me how privileged I was. In fact,
several times during the retreat, the truth came home to me that
very few motherless children of my age are as lovingly cared for
as I was then.

I listened most attentively to the instructions given us by Father
Domin, and wrote careful notes on them, but I did not put down any
of my own thoughts, as I knew I should remember them quite well.
And so it proved.

How happy I was to attend Divine Office as the nuns did! I was
easily distinguished from my companions by a large crucifix, which
Leonie had given me, and which, like the missionaries, I carried
in my belt. They thought I was trying to imitate my Carmelite
sister, and indeed my thoughts did often turn lovingly to her. I
knew she was in retreat too, not that Jesus might give Himself to
her, but that she might give herself entirely to Jesus, and this
on the same day as I made my First Communion. The time of quiet
waiting was therefore doubly dear to me.

At last there dawned the most beautiful day of all the days of my
life. How perfectly I remember even the smallest details of those
sacred hours! the joyful awakening, the reverent and tender
embraces of my mistresses and older companions, the room filled
with snow-white frocks, where each child was dressed in turn, and,
above all, our entrance into the chapel and the melody of the
morning hymn: "O Altar of God, where the Angels are hovering."

But I would not and I could not tell you all. Some things lose
their fragrance when exposed to the air, and so, too, one's inmost
thoughts cannot be translated into earthly words without instantly
losing their deep and heavenly meaning. How sweet was the first
embrace of Jesus! It was indeed an embrace of love. I felt that I
was loved, and I said: "I love Thee, and I give myself to Thee for
ever." Jesus asked nothing of me, and claimed no sacrifice; for a
long time He and little Therese had known and understood one
another. That day our meeting was more than simple recognition, it
was perfect union. We were no longer two. Therese had disappeared
like a drop of water lost in the immensity of the ocean; Jesus
alone remained--He was the Master, the King! Had not Therese asked
Him to take away her liberty which frightened her? She felt
herself so weak and frail, that she wished to be for ever united
to the