Guarding Your Poverty: Spiritual Childhood, the Little Way, and the Ordinary Life of Nazareth

In this episode of Midnight Carmelite, we examine the doctrine of spiritual childhood according to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, and why her "Little Way" is essential for understanding authentic spiritual poverty. Drawing from her autobiography (Story of a Soul), we explore how Thérèse sought a wholly new way to heaven: a spiritual "elevator" that lifts the soul when it is too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection on its own. Anchoring her insight in the book of Proverbs and Isaiah, alongside Christ's words in Matthew and John, Thérèse reveals the two foundational dynamics of spiritual childhood: God Himself performs the action of lifting the soul, and He does so with the tender, maternal care of a parent who knows what is best for His child.

Yet spiritual childhood is easily distorted when reduced to sentimentalism. We diagnose the subtle spiritual trap of equating "being a child before God" with making "goo-goo" sounds, baby talk, or using childlike charm to manipulate a parent into caving to our own capriciousness and self-will. True spiritual childhood is the exact opposite of self-indulgent charm: it is allowing oneself to be lifted, guided, and placed by God on God's terms. As St. Thérèse explains, spiritual childhood consists of recognizing our radical nothingness, expecting everything from God as a child expects everything from a father, refusing to be disturbed by anything, not being set on gaining things for ourselves, and never attributing the virtues we practice to our own strength. Even the virtues God places in our hands for our growth in holiness remain His treasures, entrusted to us solely for His glory.

This brings us to the heart of spiritual poverty: to receive God's treasures in this way requires that we not be filled with ourselves. We must let go of our own desires to ask what God desires from us, and we must actively guard our poverty as our spiritual protection, since forgetting our need for God is the very definition of pride. Finally, we turn to St. Thérèse's reflections on the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nazareth (Why I Love You, O Mary!). Far from a life embellished with raptures, miracles, or ecstasies, the Queen of the Elect lived in hidden poverty in Nazareth, "wanting nothing more," walking the ordinary way to guide little souls to heaven. Like Mary, our holiness is forged not in extraordinary phenomena, but in embracing our nothingness and living our ordinary life in radical poverty before God.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello there, and welcome to this week's episode of Midnight Carmelite.

This week, I'm going to focus on spiritual childhood according to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. And it's really important for the notion of poverty to understand this. What we're going to do is go through what Thérèse said and some points I want to touch on, and then we're going to discuss how this relates to poverty.

So let's start with Thérèse. In her autobiography, Thérèse talks about finding the "little way." She wants it to be wholly new, she wants it to lift her up, and she famously uses the example of elevators for wealthy people.

And she gets from the Old Testament two verses, from Proverbs and Isaiah: "Whoever is a little one, come to me," and then from Isaiah, "You shall be carried at the breasts and upon the knees; as the mother caresses, so I will comfort you."

So spiritual childhood first is: the action is God doing the lifting. And then the effect, or the care in that lifting, is used with the analogy to the mother carrying a child.

And obviously the Gospel verse, when Jesus says, "Unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven," or when He's talking to Nicodemus, "Unless you're born again"—there's the child analogy.

If you look at all these uses of biblical verses and what Thérèse is saying here, you might get to thinking that, "Oh, if I make goo-goo sounds to God, or talk like a baby to God, that's spiritual childhood."

Now, the problem there is that view could—notice the word "could" there—lead to a distortion where talking to God like a baby comes from a place of your own capriciousness and selfishness, rather than asking God to lift you up to Him on God's terms.

And now you're going to say, "Well, wait a minute. Being the child is not something that's little or weak and that uses some charm on God?" You see this with kids and parents: the kid will act like, "Oh, please do this, please do that," and the parents will cave when it may not be good for the child. It's the child's selfishness channeled through charm that's getting the result that the child wants, not the child allowing him or herself to be lifted and supported and cared for by the parents who know best—who know where to put the child, guide the child, etc.

And Thérèse lists out—because she was asked to explain this—what she says spiritual childhood consists of:

• Recognizing our nothingness—that's point one.
• Look for everything from God, just as a child would look for everything from a father.
• Do not be disturbed by anything—so nothing disquiets you or disturbs you.
• Do not be set on gaining things for yourself.
• Don't attribute to yourself the virtues you practice, and don't believe yourself capable of practicing virtue at all without God's help.

Ultimately, she says, God gives you virtues—because remember, virtues are how we grow in holiness—God gives you these things into the ones who are waiting to receive them, so that you can use them, but they're always treasures of God and they're used for God's glory.

So then now we're sitting here saying, "Okay, so I get that. Then how does this apply to poverty?"

Well, to receive in that way requires you not to be filled with yourself. To receive in that way requires you to let go of your own desires, and really ask what God is desiring from you.

Now, this is important. This means that the poverty itself must be protected. The recognition of this need should always be there, because if you don't think you need God for something, obviously that's pride. The guarding of your poverty—that's going to allow you to follow the little way that she talks about.

Now, it gets more interesting. How does this apply to someone like, let's say, the Blessed Mother, perhaps?

Well, Thérèse talks about that too. She says that in Nazareth, Mary lived in poverty, wanting nothing more. So there it is: "No rapture, miracle, or ecstasy to embellish your life, O Queen of the Elect!" Nothing. Poverty.

And again, at the end, she says, "It is by the ordinary way, incomparable Mother, that you like to walk to guide them to heaven."

You look at Mary: fully human, just like us, and we can imitate her in that.

So in other words, this little way is not based on our own capriciousness or some sweet-talking or charming. Really, we need to look at our nothingness and have God lift us up. And we know where our holiness lies, and that's in our ordinary life, because Mary had no extras. Mary lived her life out in Nazareth in poverty.

I'll see you next time.