"I could not lie, and my denial made her sad.
"She answered, 'I am going to die, and I will not rest easy because of you, if you do not promise to obey faithfully my recommendation, since I attach primary importance to it for the benefit of your soul.' I promised her, asking only as a favor, the permission to cry freely when she died. She replied, "I pity your weakness and I permit you to cry for the first few days, but after that you have to go back to the shell."
Sr. Marie continues to relate to us what happened after her Novice Mistress' death.
"When Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus was laid in state at the choir grille, as is the custom, many persons came to see her, and to touch her out of devotion with objects of piety, and even with toys.
"At this moment a rather curious thing happened.
"Contrary to the directions of the Servant of God, I did not stop crying and could not console myself about her death. Then approaching her in order to touch her with a rosary that a person had handed to me, she held it in her fingers. Very delicately I lifted her fingers to move the rosary, but just as soon as I detached it from
one finger, it was caught again by another. I repeated this five or six times without any result, and my Little Thérèse said to me interiorly:
"'If you don't smile for me, I will not give it back.'
"And I answered her, 'No, I am too unhappy and want to cry.'
"In the meantime the people behind the grille were wondering what I could be doing for so long a time. I was very embarrassed and begged my Little Thérèse to let me return the rosary.
"I pulled on the rosary; it was useless! Then, completely defeated, I began to smile. That was just what she wanted, for immediately, she let go of the rosary of her own accord, and I was able to return the rosary!"
St. Thérèse's warnings and counsel to her 'Novice of the Shell' were proven to be both important and necessary for Sr. Marie's spiritual welfare. Towards the end of her life, Sr. Marie of the Trinity endured a intense and painful illness that corrupted her skin. This legitimate cause for tears, was instead met with heroic patience by the formerly weepy novice.
