Sabeth...

Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity.

Her memorial is November 8, or is it the 9th?  I'm not sure these days.  It doesn't matter since blesseds are usually only commemorated liturgically in their diocese or in the orders or institutes to which the belong. 

I was so in love with Therese of the Child Jesus and Carmelite spirituality, I wanted desperately to attach myself to Bl. Elizabeth.  I was disappointed however.  She wasn't Therese - nor was she that different from any fervent Carmelite... I thought.  Or was she?

Our Lady is honored as Decor Carmeli, Beauty of Carmel, her order 'blossom laden', if you will.  Carmel is an atmosphere of holiness - it is imbued with the odor of sanctity.  The Blessed Virgin's daughters are blossoms of virtue upon the vine of Carmel.  Each blossom, especially each saint, is completely unique.  Elizabeth is one of those very unique virgins imbued with doctrine, one who distilled the essential teachings of St. Teresa of Jesus and the Apostle St. Paul in a most 'ordinary' way.    I say ordinary, though in fact it be extraordinary, because her teaching is for ordinary souls.  Elizabeth understood her identity, her name in heaven, to be Praise of Glory.  She understood and experienced her entire being as the sanctuary, the tabernacle of the Most High, the dwelling place of the Blessed Trinity.  Her mission - yes - her very real 'mission' - her peculiar charism - was and remains so in heaven, to teach souls the mystery of the prayer of recollection - our heaven on earth.  Like Br. Lawrence of the Resurrection, Blessed Elizabeth understood the secret of sanctity, the secret of the indwelling of the Most Holy Trinity.   "God gives the lonely a place to live in..."  He in me, I in Him... on earth and in heaven for all eternity.

"I find Him everywhere while doing the wash as well as while praying."

"I think that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them to go out of themselves in order to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within which will allow God to communicate Himself to them and to transform them into Himself."

O my God, Trinity whom I adore; help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my Unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into the depths of Your mystery. Give peace to my soul; make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling and Your resting place. May I never leave You there alone but be wholly present, my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to Your creative Action.

O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I wish to be a bride for Your Heart; I wish to cover You with glory; I wish to love You...even unto death! But I feel my weakness, and I ask You to "clothe me with Yourself," to identify my soul with all the movements of Your Soul, to overwhelm me, to possess me, to substitute yourself for me that my life may be but a radiance of Your Life. Come into me as Adorer, as Restorer, as Savior.

O Eternal Word, Word of my God, I want to spend my life in listening to You, to become wholly teachable that I may learn all from You. Then, through all nights, all voids, all helplessness, I want to gaze on You always and remain in Your great light. O my beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may not withdraw from Your radiance.

O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, "come upon me," and create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humanity for Him in which He can renew His whole Mystery. And You, O Father, bend lovingly over Your poor little crature; "cover her with Your shadow," seeing in her only the "Beloved in whom You are well pleased."

O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself to You as Your prey. Bury Yourself in me that I may bury myself in You until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness. - Elizabeth of the Trinity