n pencil with a trembling hand:

"O my God! how good Thou art to the little Victim of Thy Merciful
Love! Now, even when Thou joinest these bodily pains to those of
my soul, I cannot bring myself to say: 'The anguish of death hath
encompassed me.'[13] I rather cry out in my gratitude: 'I have
gone down into the valley of the shadow of death, but I fear no
evil, because Thou, O Lord, art with me.'"[14]

Her little Mother said to her: "Some think that you are afraid of
death." "That may easily come to pass," she answered; "I do not
rely on my own feelings, for I know how frail I am. It will be
time enough to bear that cross if it comes, meantime I wish to
rejoice in my present happiness. When the Chaplain asked me if I
was resigned to die, I answered: 'Father, I need rather to be
resigned to live--I feel nothing but joy at the thought of death.'
Do not be troubled, dear Mother, if I suffer much and show no sign
of happiness at the end. Did not Our Lord Himself die 'a Victim of
Love,' and see how great was His Agony!"

. . . . . . .

At last dawned the eternal day. It was Thursday, September 30,
1897. In the morning, the sweet Victim, her eyes fixed on Our
Lady's statue, spoke thus of her last night on earth: "Oh! with
what fervour I have prayed to her! . . . And yet it has been pure
agony, without a ray of consolation. . . . Earth's air is failing
me: when shall I breathe the air of Heaven?"

For weeks she had been unable to raise herself in bed, but, at
half-past two in the afternoon, she sat up and exclaimed: "Dear
Mother, the chalice is full to overflowing! I could never have
believed that it was possible to suffer so intensely. . . . I can
only explain it by my extreme desire to save souls. . . ." And a
little while after: "Yes, all that I have written about my thirst
for suffering is really true! I do not regret having surrendered
myself to Love."

She repeated these last words several times. A little later she
added: "Mother, prepare me to die well." The good Mother Prioress
encouraged her with these words: "My child, you are quite ready to
appear before God, for you have always understood the virtue of
humility." Then, in striking words, Therese bore witness to
herself:

"Yes, I feel it; my soul has ever sought the truth. . . . I have
understood humility of heart!"

. . . . . . .

At half-past four, her agony began--the agony of this "Victim of
Divine Love." When the Community g