23rd
When I was still very young, a teacher asked me what I did on holidays when I was home. I answered timidly, “I often hide in a corner of my room, where I can shut myself in with bed curtains, and then I think.”
“But what do you think about?” she asked laughingly.
“I think about God, the shortness of life, about eternity — in a word, I think.” I know now that I was even then really engaged in mental prayer under the guidance of a gentle Master. I know that “The kingdom of God is within us,” that Our Master has no need of book or teacher to instruct our soul. The Teacher of teachers instructs without sound of words, and though I have never heard him speak, I know that he is within me, always guiding and inspiring me; and just when I need them, lights, hitherto unseen, break in upon me.
Now it is, as a rule, not during prayer that this happens, but in the midst of my daily duties.
- St. Thérèse of Lisieux
