Therese's tearful plea in her audience with Pope Leo XII to enter the Carmel monastery at the age of fifteen is answered, not with his approval, but with a steady gaze and a servant's referral, "You will enter [Carmel] if it is God's will."

Ushered from the audience by physical assistance of Papal Guard and Father Reverony, Therese felt the distress of being blocked in her desire, "Jesus was silent...the sun did not dare shine...my journey was to no purpose." But also inwardly Therese felt a deep peace that she had done everything possible to answer God's call. Offering herself as a 'little ball, His little plaything', "I wished only to amuse the Child Jesus and let Him do with me exactly as He liked." He had pierced the little ball to see what was inside, then dropped it and let it roll away, "but in the end [he would hold] it close to His heart, never to let slip from His hands again."