says in his "Canticle of the Soul":

On that happy night
In secret I went forth, beheld by none,
And seeing naught;
Having no light nor guide
Excepting that which burned within my heart,

Which lit my way
More safely than the glare of noon-day sun
To where, expectant,
He waited for me Who doth know me well,
Where none appeared but He.

This place was Carmel, but before I could "sit down under His
Shadow Whom I desired,"[10] I had to pass through many trials. And
yet the Divine Call was becoming so insistent that, had it been
necessary for me to go through fire, I would have thrown myself
into it to follow my Divine Master.

Pauline[11] was the only one who encouraged me in my vocation;
Marie thought I was too young, and you, dear Mother, no doubt to
prove me, tried to restrain my ardour. From the start I
encountered nothing but difficulties. Then, too, I dared not speak
of it to Celine, and this silence pained me deeply; it was so hard
to have a secret she did not share.

However, this dear sister soon found out my intention, and, far
from wishing to keep me back, she accepted the sacrifice with
wonderful courage. As she also wished to be a nun, she ought to
have been given the first opportunity; but, imitating the martyrs
of old, who used joyfully to embrace those chosen to go before
them into the arena, she allowed me to leave her, and took my
troubles as much to heart as if it were a question of her own
vocation. From Celine, then, I had nothing to fear, but I did not
know how to set about telling Papa. How could his little Queen
talk of leaving him when he had already parted with his two eldest
daughters? Moreover, this year he had been stricken with a serious
attack of paralysis, and though he recovered quickly we were full
of anxiety for the future.

What struggles I went through before I could make up my mind to
speak! But I had to act decisively; I was now fourteen and a half,
and in six months' time the blessed feast of Christmas would be
here. I had resolved to enter the Carmel at the same hour at which
a year before I had received the grace of conversion.

I chose the feast of Pentecost on which to make my great
disclosure. All day I was praying for light from the Holy Ghost,
and begging the Apostles to pray for me, to inspire me with the
words I ought to use. Were they not the very ones to help a timid
child whom Go