For so many around the world deprived of physical Communion of the Blessed Sacrament, the words of Saint Therese are a solace:
The impossibility, however, of receiving Holy Communion did not sadden Thérêse. “No doubt, it is a great grace to receive the sacraments. When God does not permit it, it is good too! Everything is a grace!”
Tout est grâce...
And there are so many other lessons for us Catholics of 2020 in the last months of the saint's suffering, precisely from a disease that attacked her lungs and deprived her of breath, as the current Chinese virus does to those who suffer from its worst symptoms. Let us follow the example of the saints and always be prepared for our own deaths. True life begins only after it!
On July 6, a sudden worsening in her condition brought on series of hemoptyses which lasted until August 5. After Doctor de Cornière had observed her suffocating spells, her vomiting of blood, and her high fever, he became convinced that she was dying; he stated that in cases such as hers “only two percent got well.”When she heard this news, Thérèse was filled with joy. She made her confession to the chaplain and asked him to give her the last anointing which she desired very much.
