Hope versus Justice IX: Hans Urs von Balthasar on Thérèse of Liseiux

 

Hope versus Justice IX: Hans Urs von Balthasar on Thérèse of Liseiux

“The theme of hope is greatly expanded by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux [Note 14: For the following texts, cf. my book Two Sisters in the Spirit: Thérèse of Liseux and Elizabeth of the Trinity, trans. Donald Nichols and Anne Elizabeth Englund (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992), pp. 237-30] Reference to passages are given there]. She is herself conscious of making a bold innovation when she offers herself to God, not as a “victim of justice”, “in order to turn away the punishment due to sinners; drawing them” upon herself – she feels no inclination toward that – but rather as a “victim of mercy”: For “does not your merciful love need them as well?... On every side this love is misunderstood, rejected.” And then she opposes love’s sphere of influence to that of divine justice: “If your justice loves to release itself, this justice that extends only over this earth [Note 15: The emphases are those of Thérèse; ibid., 263]”, how much more your merciful love desires to inflame souls, since our mercy reaches to the heavens” (cf. Ps 36:6). On the strength of this, and with the permission of her prioress, she will go on to describe her solemn act of sacrifice to divine mercy. It is basically aimed at giving the influence of God’s love Pauline predominance over justice (not in the Old Testament sense, but understood as punitive justice). And this is to be done through an act of unbounded trust in God, which she characterizes as “blind hope in his mercy”. “I believe”, she says of God and the saints, “that they want to know how far I will push my trust. … But these words of Job have not entered my heart in vain: ‘Even if God should kill me, I would still trust him’.” “Believe in the truth of what I am saying: we can never place too much trust in the good God, who is so powerful and merciful! We receive from him as much as we hope from him.” Here, she quotes mentioned above of the Lord to Mechtilde. And she adds: “We can never place too much trust in the good God; … We receive from him just as much as we hope from him.” Anticipating her heavenly mission, she is able to say: “All my expectations will be fulfilled beyond measure, and the Lord will do wonderful things for me, infinitely more than my boundless desires.” Therese has so lively a consciousness of the “always more” aspect of divine mercy that, in a Christmas play for the edification of the members of her religious order, she has various angels assemble around the crib: the “Angel of the Child Jesus” and “the Angel of the Holy Face” (the Passion) sing of the infinite love of the Son of Man in anticipation of his coming suffering but also of his Resurrection and triumph. Then there appears the “Angel of the Last Judgment, carrying a sword and a set of scales.” The following excerpt from his lines may be cited here:

Soon will come the day of vengeance,

This impure earth will pass through fire. …

We will see Him in the power of His glory,

No longer hidden in the guise of a child.

We will be there to chant of His victory

And to proclaim that He is the Almighty One. …
You will tremble, the inhabitants of earth, …

You will not be able to bear the wrath

Of this child, who is today the God of Love.

For you, mortals, He chose suffering,

Asking only your weak hearts.

At the judgment you will see His power.

You will tremble before the Avenging God!!!

The “the Angel of the Holy face” speaks, requesting of the Child the promised mercy for those sinners whose conversion gives God greater joy than do the ninety-nine righteous who have no need of repentance. After this comes the voice of the Child: “I will listen to your request: every soul will find forgiveness.” The Angel of the Last Judgment once again objects:

Jesus, … have you then forgotten

That sinners must be punished at the end?...

Have you forgotten, in your extreme love,

That the number of the impious is countless?

At the judgment, I shall punish crime.

I want to wipe out all the ungrateful. …

My sword is ready! …

I’ll know how to avenge You!

Then the Child Jesus:

O Beautiful angel! lay down your sword.

It is not for you to judge

The nature that I raise up

And have desired to redeem.

It is I, named Jesus,

Who will judge the world!

The Angel of Judgment kneels down and, “dazed [èperdu], admires Your ineffable love”. At the end, all the angels together say:

How great is the good fortune of the humble creature.

The seraphim in their ecstasy would wish

To leave, O Jesus, their angelic nature

And become children!

[Note 16: St. Thèrése, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: Pious Recreations, trans. Susan Conroy and David J. Dwyer (Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, Institute of Carmelite Studies, 2008), pp. 129-30]” (Hans urs Von Balthasar, Dare We Hope That All men be Saved?: With a Short Discourse on Hell, translated by Rev. Lothar Krauth, Second Edition, Igantius Press, pp. 64-7)

P.S.

As for Mechtilde of Hackeborn’s quote mentioned by Balthasar, see: https://ancientafterlifebelifs.blogspot.com/2026/06/quotes-of-mechtilde-of-hackeborn-and.html

 

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