Oct. 1 -- Saint Therese of the Infant Jesus: “Never Allow Kindness to Degenerate Into Weakness”

We celebrate the feast day of Saint Therese of the Infant Jesus on October 1. Here is one of her more unknown pieces of advice:

 

 

 

“We should never allow kindness to degenerate into weakness.

 

“When we have scolded someone with just reason, we must leave the matter there, without allowing ourselves to be touched to the point of tormenting ourselves for having caused pain or at seeing one suffer and cry. To run after the afflicted one to console her does more harm than good.

 

“Leaving her to herself forces her to have recourse to God in order to see her faults and humble herself. Otherwise, accustomed to receiving consolation after a merited reprimand, she will always act, in the same circumstances, like a spoiled child, stamping her feet and crying until her mother comes to dry her tears."

St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Her Last Conversations

(Washington, D.C. Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1977)