'I have found my heaven on earth because heaven is God and God is in my heart.'
~ St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Elizabeth Catez of the Trinity was born in 1880 in the diocese of Bourges. In 1901 she entered the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Dijon. There she made her profession of vows in 1903 and from there she was called “to light, to love and to life” by the Divine Spouse in 1906. A faithful adorer in spirit and in truth, her life was a “praise of glory” of the Most Blessed Trinity present in her soul and loved amidst interior darkness and excruciating illness. In the mystery of divine inhabitation she found her “heaven on earth,” her special charism and her mission for the Church.
'A Carmelite is a soul who has looked upon the Crucified, who has seen Him offering himself as a Victim for souls to His Father, and recollecting herself beneath this great vision of Christ's charity, she has understood the ardent love of His soul and has willed to give herself as He did.'
'It seems to me that in heaven my mission will be to attract souls by helping them to go out from themselves to cling to God by a wholly simple and wholly loving movement, and to keep them in that great silence within which allows God to imprint Himself on them and to transform them into Himself.'
'Let us live of love to die of love and to glorify the God of all Love.'
Her Prayer to the Holy Trinity
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 until I die of love! 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 Saviour.
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 creature: “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.
'I find Him on the cross, it is there that He gives me His life.'
~ St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Prayer:
O God of bountiful mercy,
You revealed to Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity
the mystery of your secret presence
in the hearts of those who love you,
and you chose her to adore you in spirit and in truth.
Through her intercession
may we also abide in the love of Christ,
that we may merit to be transformed
into temples of your life-giving Spirit
to the praise of your glory.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
'I am going to Light, to Love, to Life.'
~ St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
To read more about St. Elizabeth and her writings, please see previous post or click here
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