Ven. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, OCD founded the secular Institute of Notre Dame de Vie in Venasque, France in 1932. One beautiful fruit of the Institute has been the development of a catechetical program for children called “Come, Follow Me.” This catechetical model proceeds from the conviction that children are capable of genuine contact with God—and that a marvelous exchange is possible for the child living in the grace of Baptism.

For the edification and inspiration of our readers, we wish to share this excerpt from a hitherto unpublished presentation given by Ven. Marie-Eugene in 1959, in which he describes the supernatural capacities of a child in grace. This discalced Carmelite’s confidence in the child’s ability to penetrate into the divine mystery, because of the presence of divine life in the child, is provocative. It is indeed a fascinating insight—the possibilities for communion with God available to the youngest children before the age of reason, who are in possession of the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity and yet unencumbered by personal sin.