P. Gorazd Cetkovský, O.Carm.
12. Thérèse's Inspiration by the Sign of the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart
Once again, Thérèse wrote the word mercy. She added it to a picture she painted for Abbé Bellier in May or June of 1897. In this case, it is not a letter in the strict sense of the word. However, this text is often included among Thérèse's letters (as DT 266), dated August 25, 1897, which is written on the back of the picture. It is likely that on this day, Thérèse wrote a dedication in pencil on the reverse side of the picture: The last remembrance of a soul who is a sister to your soul – T. of D. J.
On the front side of the card, there is a picture depicting the priest's hands lifting the Host. In it, the infant Jesus is depicted as a naked child lying on straw, covered only with a cloth around his loins. He stretches out his arms toward the viewer of the picture.1 To this motif, referring to the mystery of the Incarnation and the mystery of the Eucharist, are related the words that Thérèse wrote under the picture:
I cannot be afraid of God who has become so small for me… I love Him!… for He is only love and mercy!
Bishop Gaucher once commented on these words: “«God is only love and mercy.» This is Thérèse's true legacy.”2
When I viewed a photograph of this picture in the book Thérèse and Lisieux,3 I was surprised to find that these words are not Thérèse's own, but she borrowed them from someone else and only quotes them. On the same page of the mentioned book, there is also a photograph of a card that was sent to Thérèse by Abbé Bellier about two years earlier, in October 1895. On the card, we see the sign of the honor guard of the Sacred Heart.
On the front side of the card, the words are printed:
Long live † Jesus
Halt! The Heart of Jesus is here
It is only love and mercy!
Honor Guard of the Most Sacred Heart
On the back of the card, Abbé Bellier wrote: The seal of the union of apostolic and fraternal love in the most sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Signed: M. Barthelémy – Belliere, child of Mary and Joseph, missionary candidate4, October 24, 1895
And below his name is added a second handwritten signature: Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, barefoot Carmelite.
Some Information about the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart
The words quoted by Thérèse: He is only love and mercy, can also be found on other representations of the sign of the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart (garde d’honöeur du Sacré Coeur). It was likely a – we could say – motto that was very popular among members of this association and which they often encouraged each other with.
The Honor Guard is an association of believers whose members divided the day into specific hours, and at a designated hour, each of them performs “honor guard” at the Heart of Jesus. Those who cannot fulfill this in church before the tabernacle, do so where they can, spiritually staying with Jesus at that hour. The basic idea is to replace the coldness and ingratitude that humanity presents to Christ.
The idea of the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart indirectly comes from St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.5 The actual establishment of the Honor Guard took place in 1863 at the convent of the Visitandines in Bourg. Initially, this association consisted only of religious sisters, but soon it expanded to include priests and laity. The respect and popularity this spirituality enjoyed at that time is evidenced by the fact that in 1872 even Pope Pius IX requested to be enrolled as a member of the association.
The Sign of the Honor Guard
Members of the Honor Guard of the Most Sacred Heart also emphasize the public display of representations of the Heart of Jesus. According to the words of the Lord Jesus to St. Margaret, it is a rich source of blessings. The symbol of the Honor Guard is a clock face (representing the individual hours of day and night), in the center of which is depicted the sign of the Honor Guard: the Heart of Jesus, pierced by a spear.
This image is also minted on the front side of the medal for members of the Honor Guard.6 On the reverse side is depicted Christ on the cross and at the foot of the cross the first “honor guard”: the Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the Apostle John.
On the sign of the Honor Guard is depicted the Heart of Jesus, pierced by a spear. The Heart is surrounded by a crown of thorns and an inscription: “Long live Jesus! Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart. Halt! The Heart of Jesus is with me.7 It is love and mercy.” The members of the Honor Guard strive to keep the medal or badge with them and fulfill the words of the Song of Songs: “Set me as a seal upon your heart” (Song 8:6). (This can also be beautifully related to our scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel!)
History of the Contact Between Bellier and Thérèse
Maurice Bellier was born on June 10, 1874. Because his mother died eight days after his birth, he was raised by his aunt, Mrs. Barthelémy (and he later placed her surname before his own). In October 1894, he entered the diocesan seminary in Bayeux as a second-year seminarian. When he wrote a letter to the Carmelite convent in Lisieux on October 15, 1895, he introduced himself as a second-year seminarian and a candidate for admission to a missionary religious community. Since he was about to enlist in the military for a year and was aware of his psychological fragility, he wrote to the Carmelites in Lisieux, asking the mother superior for a sister who would specially sacrifice herself for the salvation of his soul (RkC 31v), so that with her spiritual help he could safely persevere in his vocation as a priest and missionary.
Mother Agnes entrusted this task to Thérèse. She describes this event, which brought her great joy, in her Manuscript C. And she adds:
My mother, I cannot express my happiness: the unexpected fulfillment of my desire caused a joy in my heart that I would call childlike: I must return to my childhood to find the memory of joys so vivid that my soul is too small to contain them, and since then I have never experienced happiness of this kind. I felt that in this regard my soul was new: it was as if someone had touched the musical strings for the first time that had thus far remained forgotten.8
Thérèse herself did not write to Abbé Bellier at that time; that would have gone against the rules that the sisters followed. Mother Agnes responded to him (doing so no later than October 22). But the mother superior attached a prayer that Thérèse wrote for him, in which she expressed her thoughts and feelings regarding this new task. Abbé Bellier, after receiving the card with the prayer, signed it. He added to his signature: “(member) of the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart.” He also signed in the same way at the end of the letter he sent to Lisieux to the mother superior (and to Thérèse) on October 23, 1895. It is evident that at that time he was experiencing his membership in the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart fervently.
The Meaning of the Signed Seal
Thérèse's prayer, attached to the superior's letter, deeply moved Abbé Bellier. For in her prayer, Thérèse promises God that she will gladly offer all her prayers and sufferings for the sanctification of this future priest.9 And she indeed fervently fulfilled this promise.10
When Abbé Bellier received the letter and prayer, he replied promptly on October 23, 1895. And he attached a card with the sign of the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart to his letter. On the back of the card, he wrote the words: “The seal of the union of apostolic and fraternal love in the most sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary,” and wished that the card be signed by both: him and Thérèse. In the letter, he expressed his conviction that “the seal of the Sacred Heart” would further “strengthen our divine association” (I believe that although Belliere used the unusual word association, he is referring to the relationship between him and Thérèse). Let's quote from his letter:11
“I would also like to say to my sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus how much her love,12 her devotion, drawn from the purest source of divine love, has touched me deeply. The rules of your congregation probably do not allow it. And so I ask you, dear mother, to be my intermediary with my sister, as you have already been so successfully and happily. Tell her, dear mother, that I have gratefully thanked God's goodness for choosing this sister to help me work on the work of Jesus Christ. And that I read this inspired prayer, which she composed and prays for me every day, with deep emotion. And that I ask you to pass to her this seal of the Sacred Heart, which will strengthen our divine union; nothing is missing but her signature, for you, Mother, and God have signed it first. Also tell my sister that my promise endures – it will last forever, for in heaven it will be for us priests one constant Mass; and thus (Thérèse) will always have (a preferential) place in the memento,13 also you, Mother, and your community. (…)
In the Eucharist, I will thank her for the prayers and sacrifices she made as self-denials for my sake. But also her great desire will come true: I will be a priest, an apostle according to God's Heart, I feel it – and together we will save the dear souls of Jesus Christ. I will be nothing more than an instrument, and it will be you, my sister, who will (convert) them. (…)
Goodbye, dear mother, goodbye, dear sister, and see you again forever in the holy Hearts.”
Thus, in response to Thérèse's great selflessness, he conveyed in the letter that he would remember her in the Masses he would one day – when he became a priest – celebrate, and that his apostolate would be her work. It is beautiful to see how Thérèse valued him and his priesthood, and how he valued her prayers and sacrifices, attributing all the success of his future apostolic work to them. Thérèse “signed” the seal and kept it. And the words printed on it were quoted two years later on her card – the last gift – to Bellier.
Thérèse's Words in More Detail
I have not yet managed to find out who the author of the words is: “It is only love and mercy.” Let us take a closer look at them. If the words “love and mercy” are not Thérèse's own words, but rather a citation, then we should also focus our attention on the other words that Thérèse wrote on the picture.
I cannot be afraid of God who has become so small for me… I love Him!… for He14 is only love and mercy! Thérèse's own words are in the first part of this sentence. We encounter opposing concepts: to fear and to love. And it's not hard to remember that we have found these concepts several times in Thérèse's notes and letters. Let's recall those places.
Let us return to letter LT 226 to Father Rouland. Earlier, we quoted Thérèse's words about the fact that for her the thought that God is just is inextricably linked to trust in God's mercy. A little further on in the same letter, she writes: This is what I think about God's justice, dear brother. My path consists of trust and love; I do not understand souls that fear such a gentle Friend.
In letter LT 258, we read Thérèse's confession to Abbé Bellier that in her opinion, his soul is called to rise to God by the LIFT of love and not to climb the steep stairs of fear… And when in the same letter she describes her parable of two disobedient children, she described the incorrect reaction of the first child towards the father with the words: trembles and runs away from him in fear. Whereas his brother throws himself into the father's arms and says he regrets having saddened him, but that he loves him, and as proof of that, he will be good from now on. Thérèse then mentions the loving attitude of the second son again when she writes that the behavior of the second son touched the father’s heart because the father knows the sincerity and love of his child. This is where the contrast repeats: love instead of fear.
And I will allow myself a small digression. I was struck by the traditional image of the Sacred Heart used by the Honor Guard, which strives to impact us with anatomical fidelity. I asked myself: How does a cardiologist who knows what the human heart actually looks like view this image? And I answered myself: he looks upon it with a kindly condescension, which on one hand appreciates the painter's effort and skill, but on the other hand knows how little faithfully this image represents the human heart. Similarly, I ask spiritually: How does the Lord Jesus view us when we try to imagine His Heart? Does He not remain and will remain forever, our contemplation of His Heart similarly naive and imperfect as this “faithful” artistic depiction of the human heart? Yes, it is so. But I do not mention this to belittle our efforts to understand the Heart of Jesus, not at all. I only want us to be aware that our knowledge will never grasp the depths of love and mercy of the Heart of Jesus (LT 247).
Further Life Events of Abbé Bellier
Did what he asked for and for which Thérèse sacrificed herself come true? After exchanging letters with the Carmelites in Lisieux in October 1895, this seminarian entered the barracks in Caen on November 12, 1895, and fell silent. It was only on July 21, 1896, that he sent a desperate letter from there asking the superior to have Thérèse pray fervently for him. In October, he wrote another letter stating that he was okay. Therefore, he persevered on the way to priesthood.
In the autumn of 1896, however, Mother Marie Gonzaga was already the superior, and because she was ill, she tasked Thérèse to reply to Bellier herself. Thérèse then made a reference to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the conclusion of her letter dated October 21, 1896 (DT 198) – in the spirit of the spirituality of the “seal” we have discussed in detail.15 This was Thérèse's first letter to him. A total of eleven letters to him have been preserved. And as we have already noted, their correspondence lasted until Thérèse's death.16
Coincidentally, Bellier traveled to Algeria the day before Thérèse's death on September 29, 1897. He completed his novitiate and became a religious of the Missionary Society of the White Fathers. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 1901. His place of work became Nyassa (present-day Malawi). After five years, in 1906, he had to return to France for health reasons. He died at the age of thirty-three on July 14, 1907, in Caen.17 Thus, he fulfilled his vocation to become a priest and missionary. But like Thérèse, he was also not fulfilled on this earth for long.
(To be continued in the next issue.)
