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Day 27 of 80

Hidden Acts of Virtue

Chapter VII·Manuscript A·The Little Way
Context
In Carmel, Thérèse was not allowed dramatic penances. So she invented her own form of holiness: folding forgotten mantles, helping sisters who didn't ask, mortifying self-love instead of the body. The Little Way was born from constraint.

Above all I endeavoured to practise little hidden acts of virtue; thus I took pleasure in folding the mantles forgotten by the Sisters, and I sought for every possible occasion of helping them. One of God's gifts was a great attraction towards penance, but I was not permitted to satisfy it; the only mortification allowed me consisted in mortifying my self-love, and this did me far more good than bodily penance would have done.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux — Story of a Soul, Chapter VII (Manuscript A). Taylor translation, 1912 (public domain).
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