Elisabeth Leseur Quotes

Why do we wait until tomorrow to do good? Why do we wait to be rich before giving? Is not the gift of ourselves better than money, and is there a day or even an hour in which we could not give a tear or a smile to someone who is suffering?

All that is good in me I owe to God alone, whose fatherly action is continuous and is so plainly visible in my life that, in spite of great trials and this recent sorrow — the greatest of all — I can still offer Him fervent thanks and must try in future to transform my soul and life to His service.

Let us beware: nothing is so delicate and so sacred as the human soul; nothing is so quickly bruised. Let each one of our words and deeds contain a principle of life that, penetrating other spirits, will communicate light and strength and will reveal God to them.

Not one of our tears, not one of our prayers is lost, and they have a power that many people never suspect.

To do each day, humbly, and so that God alone may see it, all the good that one can do; always to seek out all the misery and grief within reach in order to relieve them; to cultivate in oneself a lively sympathy for everyone; and to do all this for God alone — that is the goal of all human existence.

Every human being is an incalculable force, bearing within him something of the future. To the end of time, our daily words and actions will bear fruit, either good or bad; nothing that we have once given of ourselves will perish, but our words and works, handed on from one to another, will continue to do good or harm to remote generations. This is why life is a sacred thing, and we ought not to pass through it thoughtlessly, but to appreciate its value and use it so that, when we are gone, the sum total of good in the world may be greater.

Je crois que la souffrance a été accordée par Dieu à l'homme dans une grande pensée d'amour et de miséricorde. Je crois que Jésus-Christ a transformé, sanctifié, presque divinisé la souffrance. Je crois que la souffrance est pour l'âme la grande ouvrière de rédemption et de sanctification. Je crois que la souffrance est féconde, autant et parfois plus que nos paroles et nos oeuvres, et que les heures de la Passion du Christ ont été plus puissantes pour nous et plus grandes devant le Père que les années même de sa prédication et de son activité terrestre. Je crois qu'il circule parmi les âmes, celles d'ici-bas, celles qui expient, celles qui ont atteint la vraie vie, un vaste et incessant courant fait des souffrances, des mérites et de l'amour de toutes ces âmes, et que nos plus infîmes douleurs, nos plus légers efforts peuvent atteindre par l'action divine des âmes chères ou lointaines et leur apporter la lumière, la paix et la sainteté. Je crois que dans l'Eternité nous retrouverons les bien-aimés qui ont connu et aimé la Croix, et que leurs souffrances et les nôtres se perdront dans l'infini de l'Amour divin et dans les joies de la définitive réunion. Je crois que Dieu est amour et que la souffrance est, dans sa main, le moyen que prend son amour pour nous transformer et nous sauver.