Christ: A "Vicitm of Love"

"In June [1897, Thérèse de Lisieux] said, 'Do not be troubled, little sisters, if I suffer very much and if you see in me, as I have already said to you, no sign of joy at the moment of death.  Our Lord really died as a Victim of Love, and see what His agony was!'  And in July she said: 'Our Lord died on the Cross in anguish, and yet His was the most beautiful death of love.  To die of love does not mean to die in transports.  I tell you frankly, it appears to me that this is what I am experiencing." [1], [2] [Emphasis original]

When Thérèse de Lisieux referred to Christ as a "Victim of Love" I cannot agree more because in a romantic sense, Christ was a victim of His pure and selfless love for all of us.  I do not think that Sainte Thérèse meant to use the word "victim" in a literal sense or with the connotation of meaninglessness, or maybe she did.  If she did, then I am at a loss as to how Christ can be a "victim" of God, His Father, Who is Love, or that the death of Christ was meaningless.  When Thérèse said the Lord's death on the cross "was the most beautiful death of love," [3] I believe she meant that Christ suffered with love, accepted His crucifixion with love and died of love.  Even as she was in agony before she died, Sainte Thérèse was seeing beauty but not blame, experiencing bliss but not bitterness and evoking purity but not pity.

"Mother Agnes collected the last words of Thérèse and wrote them in a notebook.

'I no longer believe in death for myself; I believe only in suffering.  Well so much the better!'
'O my God!'
'I love God!'
'O my good Blessed Virgin, come to my aid!'
'If this is the agony, then what is death?'
'Ah!  my God.  Yes, He is very good; I find He is very good!'
'If you but realized what it is to suffocate!'
'My God, have pity on me; have pity on your little child.  Have pity!'

"To Mother Marie de Gonzague Thérèse said:

'O Mother, I assure you, the chalice is filled to the brim!'
'God is surely not going to abandon me!'
'He has never abandoned me before!'
'Yes, my God, everything that You will, but have pity on me!'
'Little sisters, my little sisters, pray for me!'
'My God!  My God!  You are so good!'
'Oh! yes, You are good, I know it.'
'Yes, it seems I never looked for anything but the truth; I have understood humility of heart.  It seems that I am humble.'
'Everything I have written on my desire for suffering is true!'
'I do not regret having surrendered myself to Love.'
'Oh no!  I don't regret it; just the opposite!'" [4]

[1] Thérèse, de Lisieux, Saint.  Story of a Soul The Autobiography of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux . 3rd Edition. Translated by John Clarke, O.C.D.  Washington D.C.:  Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, Inc., 1996, p.269.
[2] Transports, defined in  OxfordDictionary.com, is an overwhelmingly strong emotion.  See  http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/transport
[3] Op. cit., Thérèse, de Lisieux, Saint, 269.
[4] Ibid, 270.