Preparing a Wedding Dress

I like this passage from the autobiography of St. Therese (Story of a Soul):

One day during prayer, it was brought home to me that my too eager desire to take my vows was mingled with much self-love; as I belonged to Our Lord and was His little plaything to console and please Him, it was for me to do His Will, not for Him to do mine. I also understood that a bride would not be pleasing to the bridegroom on her wedding day were she not magnificently attired. But, what had I made ready? So I said to Our Lord: “I do not ask Thee to hasten the day of my profession, I will wait as long as Thou pleasest, only I cannot bear that through any fault of mine my union with Thee should be delayed; I will set to work and carefully prepare a wedding-dress enriched with diamonds and precious stones, and, when Thou findest it sufficiently rich, I am sure that nothing will keep Thee from accepting me as Thy Spouse.”

“It was for me to do His Will, not for Him to do mine.” How often I have to remind myself of that fact! And of course, His Will for me is perfect, so there is no reason to be unhappy with what He unfolds for me.

And I like the part about understanding that “a bride would not be pleasing to the bridegroom on her wedding day were she not magnificently attired.” Although I am not entering religious life, and have no hope of being a Bride of Christ in the sense that St. Therese was about to become, I still think about meeting His Majesty at the hour of my death. These words of St. Therese really struck me. She asks, “What, what had I made ready?” And I ask the same of myself. What have I made ready for my meeting with God?

All of us must prepare that wedding garment, mustn’t we? (cf., Matthew 22) St. Therese reminded me that I need to pay much more attention to my own wedding dress! I need to throw off the costume jewelry of pride, presumption, and ingratitude, and put on the true gems of faith, hope, and charity.

 
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.