[Biggirl]

A wonderful Advent/Christmas story that touches upon Carmel and its influences on the rest of the Church. Thank-you for this excellent article, as a lay Carmelite in training.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Another amazing thing about Therese is that this sheltered child of a pious, provincial family suffered a "Dark Night of the Soul" as severe and --I'll use the word appalling --- as what the "big Teresas" of Avila and of Calcutta went through.

She was an emotional and sentimental girl, "in love with Jesus" in the girly-besotted-romantic way, and God saw fit to withdraw all emotional sweetness and consolations from her and to permit Satan to tempt her with the most horrible emptiness, blackness and doubt.

In the end, she clung to Jesus even when it was just her heart clinging in the dark.

It's quite a story. And a real gift to all those struggling agnostics who wonder in their hearts, "Can I really believe in God without the feeling of belief? Will He accept a perplexed and painful "Yes"?

Yes.