#stelizabethofthetrinity — Public Fediverse posts

Quote of the day, 17 May: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

When He first came into the world what did He say? “You no longer delight in holocausts; so I have assumed a body and I come, O God, to do Your will” [Heb 10:5–7].

During the thirty-three years of His life this will became so completely His daily bread, that at the moment of handing over His soul into His Father’s hands, He could say to Him: “All is accomplished” [Jn 19:30]; yes, all Your desires, all have been realized, that is why “I have glorified You on earth” [Jn 17:4].

When Jesus Christ spoke to His apostles of this food which they did not know, He explained to them “that it was to do the will of Him who sent Me” [Jn 4:34]. Also He could say: “I am never alone. He who sent Me is always with Me because I do always the things that are pleasing to Him” [Jn 8:29].

Let us lovingly eat this bread of the will of God. If sometimes His will is more crucifying, we can doubtless say with our adored Master: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by,” but we will add immediately: “Yet not as I will, but as You will” [Mt 26:39]; and in strength and serenity, with the divine Crucified, we will also climb our calvary singing in the depths of our hearts and raising a hymn of thanksgiving to the Father. For those who march on this way of sorrows are those “whom He foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of His divine Son” [Rom 8:29], the One crucified by love!

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Heaven in Faith, Day 8, Second prayer

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: A detail from one of four photos taken by her brother-in-law Georges Chevignard on 22 December 1902, the day of her canonical examination; the exam took place days before her religious profession on Epiphany Sunday, 11 January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (by permission)

Quote of the day, 8 May: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

“Virgo fidelis”: that is, Faithful Virgin, “who kept all these things in her heart.” [Lk. 2:19] She remained so little, so recollected in God’s presence, in the seclusion of the temple, that she drew down upon herself the delight of the Holy Trinity: “Because He has looked upon the lowliness of His servant, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed!” [Lk. 1:48]

The Father, bending down to this beautiful creature, who was so unaware of her own beauty, willed that she be the Mother in time of Him whose Father He is in eternity.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Heaven in Faith, 39

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple (detail), Pierre Mignard (French, 1612–1695), oil on canvas, 1635. Image credit: Private collection / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Quote of the day, 2 May: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Monsieur l’Abbé,

I had asked our Reverend Mother for permission to write and tell you how completely one my soul was with yours during these last days before your ordination; but now that I draw near you, before the great mystery that is being prepared, I can only be silent . . . and adore the exceeding love of our God!

With the Virgin, you can sing your “Magnificat” and leap with joy in God your Savior, for the Almighty is doing great things in you, and His mercy is eternal. . . . Then, like Mary, “keep all that in your heart,” draw your heart very close to hers, for this priestly Virgin is also the “Mother of Divine Grace,” and in her love she wants to prepare you to become “that faithful priest who is entirely according to God’s heart” of whom He speaks in Holy Scripture….

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 232 to Abbé Chevignard (excerpt), ca. 25 June 1905

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Visitation, designed by Raphael (1483–1520) and executed with assistance from Giulio Romano and Giovanni Francesco Penni, is an oil on panel transferred to canvas, painted 1517–1519. It comes from the collections of the Museo Nacional del Prado (non-commercial use). Source: www.museodelprado.es.

Quote of the day, 25 April: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

It has been a long time since I have seen you, my little Louise, and I don’t know if I will see you again here below, so I asked our Reverend Mother for permission to write you this little note on my little bed where it has pleased God to keep me for three months.

I don’t know if He will take me soon into His Heaven that I so desire, but before leaving, I was anxious to tell you that in paradise, as on earth, and even more so, I will always look on you as my little child. I am asking Our Lord Himself to be your Master, your Friend, your Confidant, your Strength; may He make your soul into a little heaven where He can rest with happiness, and remove from it anything that might offend His divine gaze.

He loves brave and generous hearts, and He said to one of His saints: “Your measure will be my measure.” So make Him a very large measure: He so desires to fill His little Louise. . . . And then remember that love must end in sacrifice.

Saint Paul tells us when speaking of the Master: “He loved me, He gave Himself up for me” [Gal 2:20]. May His holy will be the two-edged sword that immolates you at every moment; go learn this science near Jesus in the agony of the garden, when His crushed soul cried out: “May Your will be done and not mine” [Mk 14:36].

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 291 to Louise Demoulin, June 1906

Note: Louise was a friend of Saint Elizabeth’s aunts in Carlipa, France, where Elizabeth and her family would vacation in the summertime.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This last photo was taken of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity in mid-October, 1906, shortly before she died in the Carmel of Dijon, France. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission).

Quote of the day, 4 April: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Never have I felt so close to you! My heart does not leave you; I have never felt so much your daughter.

Your letter was a joy for my heart, a rest for my soul; I kissed it like one of your relics, thanking God for having given me such an incomparable Mama. If I had gone to Heaven, how I would have spent my life with you! I would never have left you; I would have made you feel the presence of your little Sabeth.

As I’m sure you will understand me, I’ll confess in a whisper my great disappointment at not going to Him whom I love so much. Think what an Easter Day your daughter would have had in Heaven!

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 266 to her mother, 15 April 1906 (excerpt)

Note: After a severe crisis on Palm Sunday, when she lost consciousness and the sisters believed death was near, Elizabeth unexpectedly revived before the priest arrived. In the days that followed—leading into Holy Saturday—her condition stabilized enough to suggest a brief possibility of recovery. This letter, dictated on Easter Day, 15 April 1906, follows that brief improvement on Holy Saturday and is written immediately out of that moment.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: St. Elizabeth is seen in this 1902 photograph along with an image of the old double cloister at the former monastery in Dijon. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission).

Quote of the day, 21 February: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

“Any destiny that doesn’t have its calvary is a punishment from God.”

Père Didon

Oh, then, if we knew how to surrender ourselves totally into the hands of Him who is our Father. . . . I recommend your intentions to Him.

Do not doubt Him, dear Madame, abandon everything to Him, as well as to your little friend [Elizabeth]. . . . She will be your advocate . . . for her mission is to pray unceasingly, and you know how much that holds true for you! She is so HAPPY, with a happiness that God alone knows, for He is its sole Object, a happiness that closely resembles that of Heaven.

During this Lent, so divine in Carmel, my soul will be especially united to yours. I am asking God to show you the sweetness of His presence and to make your soul a sanctuary where He can come to be consoled. Will you let me enter there and, with you, adore Him who dwells there?

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 157 to Madame de Sourdon (excerpt)
21 February 1903

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Detail from a photo taken shortly after Elizabeth’s solemn profession and veiling in January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission).

Quote of the day, 22 November: Conrad de Meester, O.C.D.

On December 28, for the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the novitiate staged a play for the community: the martyrdom of Saint Cecilia. (At the time, the Church in France was enduring a period of harsh persecution…) For the performance, they needed “heavenly melodies.” But—

“We have no instrument,” one of the nuns said.

So the gifted musician thought up a clever solution and wrote to her dear little Framboise (Françoise de Sourdon, by then 18 years old):

“I would be very grateful to you if you could lend me your little Swiss music box; I think it would do perfectly” (Letter 251).

Dear Elizabeth… always content.

Conrad de Meester, O.C.D.

Rien Moins Que Dieu, Chap. 28

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 1984, Je te cherche dès l’aurore : évocation d’un visage et d’un coeur, produced by C. de Meester and the Carmel of Dijon, Carmel de Dijon, Flavignerot.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Meester, Conrad de 2017, Rien moins que Dieu : sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Profession photo 63 from the photo album Je te cherche dès l’aurore published by the Carmel of Dijon. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

#conradDeMeester #holyInnocents #piousRecreation #saintCecilia #stElizabethOfTheTrinity

Quote of the day, 21 November: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, let me entirely forget myself that I may abide in you, still and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity…

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity
21 November 1904

Mother Germaine, the prioress of the Carmel of Dijon, offers us the following insights concerning the depth of St. Elizabeth’s prayer during the few months leading up to the composition of Elizabeth’s great prayer to the Trinity. These notes come from the Ordinary Process for Elizabeth’s beatification (PO 73v–74r):

“She depicts herself when she writes: “God in me, me in him, oh! That’s my life!” and again: “All my occupation is to go inside and lose myself in Those who are there!” [the divine Hosts of her soul, of whom she had just spoken].

Father Conrad de Meester, O.C.D., biographer and editor of the Oeuvres Complètes (Collected Works) of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, described the preached retreat that preceded the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 21 November 1904:

The retreat concluded on the morning of 21 November. After the Eucharist and a final address by Father Fages, O.P., the Carmelites went to the oratory and, before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed for adoration, they renewed their religious vows, one by one, after which each sister prostrated herself for a few moments on the floor in the form of a cross, as on the day of her first profession.

As daughters of Our Lady of Carmel, living perpetually in the cloistered temple of their monastery, each year they renew their ardent consecration to God and his universal Church on the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple. Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, the youngest professed, perhaps the most absolute, dedicated her whole being to those she liked to call “her Three.” On this day, the Blessed Sacrament remained exposed. Elizabeth was accustomed to spending all available time there.

After her death, they were surprised to find in her papers a prayer in her own handwriting, dated 21 November 1904, which began with the words, “O my God, Trinity whom I adore.” It was written in ink, on a sheet torn from a notebook.

“Her prayer to the Trinity was not only a pious elevation, but the expression of a gift of herself to God. We had prepared together for this renewal of our vows on 21 November 1904; when the day after I asked her about it, she replied that she had received a great grace that was difficult for her to express” (Testimony of Sister Marie of the Trinity, PO 152 r–v).

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Meester, Conrad de 2017, Rien moins que Dieu : sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: A detail from one of four photos taken by her brother-in-law Georges Chevignard on 22 December 1902, the day of her canonical examination; the exam took place days before her religious profession on Epiphany Sunday, 11 January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (by permission)

#holyTrinity #motherGermaine #prayer #retreat #stElizabethOfTheTrinity

8 November: Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity Catez

November 8
SAINT ELIZABETH OF THE TRINITY CATEZ
Virgin

Memorial

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.

From the common of virgins or of holy women (religious)

Office of Readings

Second Reading
From the writings of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, Virgin
(Oeuvres completes I (Paris, 1980), p. 200)

The indwelling 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 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 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.

Responsory

℟ You are God’s temple and the Spirit of God lives in you. * Glorify God in your body.
℣ To the praise of his glory, * glorify God in your body.

Prayer

O God of bountiful mercy,
you revealed to Saint 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,
God, forever and ever.

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

#DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #virgin

Quote of the day, 20 October: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Your Kalougas are excellent, that is a nice little change for me, for now, I have continual nausea; I am losing my sense of smell a little… I’m sorry about all these sweets for my wretched palate* which doesn’t even taste them anymore…

There is a Being who is Love and who wishes us to live in communion with Him (cf. 1 Jn 1:3). Oh, Mama, it is delightful, for He is there keeping me company, helping me to suffer, urging me to go beyond my suffering to rest in Him; do as I do, you will see how that transforms everything.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 327 to her mother
Around 20 October 1906

Note: Biographer and editor Father Conrad de Meester, O.C.D., offers the following insights concerning Elizabeth’s remark about her “wretched palate”:

After having recounted the [rite of clothing of the new novice on] October 22, Madame Catez testifies:

“Her tongue and her palate were on fire, speaking was excruciating for her, but she still addressed affectionate words to friends, [who were weeping when they left her]…” (Récit Biographique, 2). “At this time (October 22), a great interior inflammation increased her sufferings even more; she was literally burning to death and could speak only with difficulty, but the greatest joy shone on her face.”

And a priest who took her Communion “three weeks before her death”: “Even though I had been warned, when I saw that tongue, red as fire, I was so affected that my hand trembled” (Souvenirs, 241).

That condition kept on getting worse: “Toward the end of October, her stomach, which was nearly consumed, would accept only a few pieces of barley sugar; after All Saints’ Day, it was a complete fast; Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity could not even take a drop of water without experiencing acute pains; her mouth, already on fire for three weeks, continued to dry up. The scorching thirst, the torment of which we could not relieve, was particularly painful for her” (Souvenirs, 249–50).

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This last photo was taken of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity in mid-October, 1906, shortly before she died in the Carmel of Dijon, France. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission).

#adrenalInsufficiency #ConradDeMeester #dying #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #suffering

Quote of the day, 10 October: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Oh, how good Carmel is; I can’t find words to say this enough!

Tuesday [15 October] we’re going to celebrate the feast of Saint Teresa, and I’m already delighted about it. We’ll have the Blessed Sacrament in choir, and on that day I think I can stay there as much as I want; so you can imagine how I’m going to indulge myself!

Oh! if you knew what heavenly days your friend is spending in Carmel! I am growing weaker day by day, and I feel the Master will not delay much longer in coming to seek me. I am tasting, experiencing unknown joys.

The joy of pain, oh! little Germaine, how pleasant and sweet it is!… Before I die, I dream of being transformed into Jesus Crucified, and that gives me so much strength in suffering….

Little sister, we should have no other ideal but to be conformed to that divine Model; then what eagerness we would have in sacrifice, in contempt of ourselves, if the eyes of our heart [cf. Eph 1:18] were always focused on Him.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 97 to her sister Guite (excerpt)
10 October 1901

Letter 324 to her friend Germaine de Gemeaux (excerpt)
Around 10 October 1906

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Left: Photograph of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, October 1906. Image via Discalced Carmelites (by permission). Right: Artist unknown, Ecce Homo Cristo Pobre, oil on canvas, 109 x 81 cm, Pinacoteca Universidad de Concepción, Chile. Image via Chile Patrimonios/SURDOC (used for non-commercial educational purposes).

#ChristCrucified #deathAndDying #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #suffering #transformation

Quote of the day, 9 October: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

We’re having a holiday in Carmel, for our elections took place yesterday [9 October].

Oh! if you knew how, in taking away our good Mother whom I loved so much, God has given me two others who are so good, so good! You see, it is delightful, and that makes me love still more this good Master who spoils His little one so much.

Our dear Mother Sub-Prioress was elected Prioress, and my good Angel, Sub-Prioress; this good news is really going to delight my dear little Mama, and I’ve been anxious to announce it to you.

Because of the elections, we’re having a free day, that is, we can have little visits with each other during the day. But, you see, the life of a Carmelite is silence, so she loves that above all!

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 97 to her sister Guite (excerpt)

Note: According to the Book of Elections of the Dijon Carmel, it was indeed “yesterday,” on October 9, 1901, that Mother Germaine of Jesus (who also held the office of Mistress of Novices) was elected Prioress and Sister Marie of the Trinity (who remained Elizabeth’s “Angel” during these first days), Sub-Prioress. The two religious, aged 31 and 26 respectively, bore the title “Mother” by virtue of their office. The prioress who was “taken away” from the community in Dijon was Mother Marie of Jesus, who became the founding prioress of the Carmel of Paray-le-Monial.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

#elections #monasticLife #MotherGermaine #silence #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Quote of the day, 26 September: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

My darling little sister,

There is so much happiness in my soul that I needed to come tell you about it while asking for your prayers as well.

Our Reverend Mother is allowing me to begin retreat, and tonight I am leaving for my great journey: ten days of complete silence, absolute solitude, with my veil lowered and several additional hours of prayer; it’s a very enticing schedule, I’m taking you and your angel with me; please tell our dear Mama to pray for the hermit who, for her part, will not forget her.

Please recommend me to your brother-in-law, the Abbé, and to Marie-Louise [Hallo].

A Dieu, little sister, I leave you, and I’m going to lose myself in Him, to let all this happiness I can no longer contain overflow. Union.

Your Sabeth r.c.i. [unworthy Carmelite religious]

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 211 to her sister Guite

Note: Saint Elizabeth’s private ten-day retreat began on 26 September 1904. She indicated to her Rolland aunts in a New Year’s letter at the end of 1904 that it was the first retreat since her religious profession—”a very great grace” (Cf. Letter 216). After briefly explaining to her aunts what a private retreat is like for a Carmelite nun, she told them “that these ten days of prayer and silence have been a foretaste of our Homeland.”

Let’s pause to consider St. Elizabeth’s comment about her retreat being spent “with my veil lowered and several additional hours of prayer.” In her community—as in all Carmels today—private retreat days are devoted to prayer, spiritual reading, rest, and quiet work in the solitude of one’s cell. Each Carmel maintains its autonomy, so practices vary from monastery to monastery.

During retreat, the nun is typically excused from the two hours of community recreation, creating perfect opportunities for solitary prayer in the choir near the Blessed Sacrament or in an upper-floor prayer space overlooking the tabernacle and altar. For Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, St. Elizabeth would have worn her grand voile lowered while with the community—the large veil covering the nuns’ faces in the photo above. She would also have worn this lowered veil during silent meals in the refectory. The veil became her guardian of solitude throughout the retreat.

For Elizabeth, who loved to be “alone with the Alone” (Cf. Letter 297), we can understand why she called this ten-day retreat “a very enticing schedule.”

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Discalced Carmelites receive a new aspirant at the monastery of the Incarnation in Avila. Image credit: Discalced Carmelite (By permission)

#monasticLife #retreat #solitude #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #veil

Quote of the day, 15 September: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

I come to you by passing through the pierced Heart of the Mother of Sorrows.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity
Letter 312 to Madame Anthès

Note: The envelope has been preserved, postmarked Dijon, “9–18, 1906, at 8 P.M.” Baroness d’Anthès had just lost her daughter, Mme. de Maizières, and received this consoling note from St. Elizabeth. We can assume that Letter 313 to Mme. de Sourdon (the deceased woman’s sister) was sent the same day. St. Elizabeth shared a close friendship with the de Sourdon family—indeed, one of the saint’s final letters was a spiritual testament to Mme. de Sourdon, written less than two weeks before Elizabeth’s own death.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

#consolation #deathAndDying #MotherOfSorrows #spiritualFriendship #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Quote of the day, 14 September: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

I’m very tired, I haven’t the strength to hold my pencil, but I don’t have the courage to let Mama leave without sending you a word from my heart. I love you more than ever. I cover you and your angels with my prayer and my sufferings; you can draw from the chalice of your Sabeth: all that is hers is yours. I’ve read something so beautiful, listen: “Where then did Jesus Christ dwell but in suffering?” [cf. St. Angela of Foligno, Le livre des Visions et instructions].

O little child, it seems to me that I have found my dwelling place: it is the immense suffering that was also the Master’s; in a word, it is He Himself, the Man of sorrows.

I am begging Him to give you that love for the Cross that makes saints. Write me something of your interior life, little sister, I so love the story of your soul.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 311 to her sister, Guite
14 September 1906

Note: This letter dates from September 14, 1906, written during Elizabeth’s mother’s visit (cf. L 309). Elizabeth mentions she lacks “the courage to let Mama leave without sending you a word from my heart.” The September 14 date is confirmed by Elizabeth’s reference to making a novena “for October 2nd,” indicating the letter was written before September 23.

The dating is further supported by Elizabeth’s visiting pattern with her mother. On September 23, Elizabeth noted that her mother “came to see me every two weeks” and “is returning this week from the countryside.” This establishes a regular two-week interval between visits. The next scheduled visit would fall on the weekend of September 29-30, maintaining this pattern. No intermediate visit occurred between September 14 and 23, as this would have disrupted the already exceptional twice-monthly visiting arrangement that the Carmel had permitted, breaking from their usual monthly visits.

Additionally, in a letter written around September 21 (L 314), Elizabeth expresses joy about “seeing again” her family upon their return from the south of France at month’s end, without mentioning any imminent maternal visit.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Nighttime illumination of the medieval fortress city of Carcassonne in southern France, near the village where Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity’s family regularly vacationed in the Aude region. Image credit: © Little/Adobe Stock

#CrossOfChrist #ExaltationOfTheHolyCross #ManOfSorrows #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #suffering

Quote of the day, 5 August: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Voice of Heaven

We who are bathed in Light, within the ‘Three’ –
The Face of God, the splendour of its rays –
See, by those shinings, into Mystery:
They ever show new secrets, Heaven’s days.

Infinite Being! Depth unsoundable!
Delighted, lost in Your Divinity –
O Trinity, God thrice-immutable,
We see Yourself in Your own clarity.

Voice of Earth

The saints in Heav’n . . . but, also, here below
Souls come and merge themselves in such a Love;
In mystery and night this happens so –
God satisfies: in dark, in Day above.

Through everything . . . on earth: already we’re
Possessing You, our Peace and vision! (for,
As in one light we gather, there and here,
We lose ourselves in God, for evermore!

Voice of Heaven

As sharers, now, in God’s own Essence, you
Possess all we possess in Heaven . . . See! –
You have not yet the joy we have, that’s true;
But as for giving – you give more than we.

And when one loves, how good it is to give!
(You can be giving, every hour and place.)
Oh, give God glory while on earth you live –
By self-oblation. Seize on this high grace!

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Poem 80

Note: This poem was written by Elizabeth for the patronal feast of Mother Germaine on 15 June 1902. The original manuscript bears no title or date, but the handwriting and black ink confirm it was composed for this feast day. The poem takes the form of a dialogue between the “Voice of Heaven” and the “Voice of Earth,” alternating throughout. This poem was sung during a “pious recreation” performed by the community for their prioress, Mother Germaine, on her feast day, set to the melody “Reste avec moi, Jésus-Eucharistie” (Remain with me, Jesus-Eucharist). Sister Agnès of Jesus-Maria testified at Elizabeth’s beatification process that when she and Elizabeth went to work in the garden during recreation, they would heartily sing this poem together. The French critical edition notes that the autograph contains some words that are difficult to decipher, and editor Conrad de Meester, OCD, reconstructed portions of the text for clarity.

de la Trinité, E 1996, Oeuvres complètes / édition critique réalisée par le P. Conrad de Meester, carme, Les Editions du Cerf, Paris.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, Marmion, C and Bancroft, A 2001, Barb of fire: twenty poems of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity: with selected passages from Blessed Columba Marmion, OSB, Gracewing, Leominster.

#heaven #HolyTrinity #monasticLife #MotherGermaine #poetry #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Quote of the day, 15 June: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

My dear little sister Germaine of the Trinity,

Your kind letter and your confidences have made me very happy.

I so love, when you lift the veil of your soul for me, to enter into that private sanctuary where you live completely alone with Him who wants you all for Himself and who creates a beloved solitude within you for Himself.

Refresh Him there, my little Germaine, by resting in Him; listen to all that is being sung in His Soul, in His Heart; it is Love, Infinite Love that envelops us and wants us to share even here below in all His beatitudes.

The entire Trinity rests within us, this whole mystery that will be our vision in Heaven: let this be your cloister. My little sister, it makes me so happy when you tell me that your life is spent there.

Mine too: I am “Elizabeth of the Trinity,” that is, Elizabeth disappearing, losing herself, letting herself be invaded by the Three; you can see that we are very close in Them, we are completely one, aren’t we? From morning to night I do everything with you, and I think of you as the true sister of my soul.

I commend you to all our saints, and very particularly to our holy Mother Teresa and to Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus…

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 172 to Germaine de Gemeaux
20 August 1903

Note: Editor Conrad de Meester indicates that Germaine de Gemeaux and the Gemeaux family were friends of Madame Catez and her daughters, who would visit them over summer vacations at the Gemeaux chateau in the village of the same name. Germaine was eight years younger than Elizabeth. One day, with a very serious tone, Elizabeth asked eight-year-old Germaine what she wanted to be when she grew up. “I want to be a Carmelite!” Elizabeth rushed to tell her mother. Madame Catez, knowing that Madame Gemeaux was contrary to any such idea, promptly, firmly, and wisely told Elizabeth, “tais-toi” (be quiet).

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Elizabeth poses at the piano in the chateau of Germaine de Gemeaux, 1893. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (Used by permission).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
Does imagining the entire Trinity resting with you help you to pray more deeply?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#alone #heaven #HolyTrinity #love #piano #prayer #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Quote of the day, 27 May: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Throughout her stay in Carmel, Elizabeth lived with the very real threat of being expelled from France, along with her entire community. The liturgical calendar of Carmel, composed in 1905 (for the year 1906) mentions that, out of the 117 French Carmels, 38 actually were expelled.

On 1 July 1901, one month before Elizabeth entered Carmel, the Waldeck-Rousseau government promulgated the law concerning associations, which was aimed primarily at religious congregations. They had to ask for legal authorization before October 3, present their financial balance sheet, and an inventory of their goods.

For decades, the Catholic Church in France had been facing a headwind. The painful memory of the French Revolution and its martyrs a century earlier was still alive and, in the minds of young Christian idealists like Elizabeth, the idea of martyrdom could resurface from time to time, following the example of the Carmelites of Compiègne who were guillotined. She entered Carmel with this readiness for martyrdom, as she had declared to Marguerite Gollot when they were postulants “outside the walls”: “So, what happiness to go together to martyrdom!… I can hardly think of it… it’s too good!” (Letter 57).

Conrad De Meester, O.C.D.

Chapter 22, Partir en exil à l’étranger?

Note: The Mass and rite of beatification of Mother Teresa of St. Augustine and the Martyrs of Compiègne took place in Rome on Sunday, 27 May 1906. Later that year, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity attended a triduum celebrated in mid-October by the Carmel of Dijon in their honor. Their canonization—formally approved by Pope Francis on 18 December 2024—was the final one he authorized before his death.

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How am I inspired by the Holy Martyrs of Compiègne in my own faith and witness?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#anniversary #beatification #CarmelOfDijon #history #inspiration #martyrdom #MartyrsOfCompiègne #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Marie du jour, 8 May: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

“Virgo fidelis”: that is, Faithful Virgin, “who kept all these things in her heart” [Lk. 2:19].

She remained so little, so recollected in God’s presence, in the seclusion of the temple, that she drew down upon herself the delight of the Holy Trinity: “Because He has looked upon the lowliness of His servant, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed!” [Lk. 1:48].

The Father bending down to this beautiful creature, who was so unaware of her own beauty, willed that she be the Mother in time of Him whose Father He is in eternity.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Heaven in Faith, 49

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

 Featured image: An AI-generated image of the Virgin Mary as a young child in the Temple of Jerusalem, surrounded by older women engaged in prayer and sacred tasks. Inspired by ancient tradition and Exodus 26:31, the scene reflects Mary’s hidden life of consecration and interior grace. Image generated by ChatGPT (DALL·E), May 2025.

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How can I cultivate the humility and recollection that drew God’s gaze to Mary?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#BlessedTrinity #BlessedVirginMary #creature #littleness #MotherOfGod #prayer #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #temple #VirgoFidelis

Marie du jour, 2 May: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Monsieur l’Abbé,

I had asked our Reverend Mother for permission to write and tell you how completely one my soul was with yours during these last days before your ordination; but now that I draw near you, before the great mystery that is being prepared, I can only be silent . . . and adore the exceeding love of our God!

With the Virgin, you can sing your “Magnificat” and leap with joy in God your Savior, for the Almighty is doing great things in you, and His mercy is eternal. . . . Then, like Mary, “keep all that in your heart,” draw your heart very close to hers, for this priestly Virgin is also the “Mother of Divine Grace,” and in her love she wants to prepare you to become “that faithful priest who is entirely according to God’s heart” of whom He speaks in Holy Scripture….

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 232 to Abbé Chevignard
Around 25 June 1905

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Cope hood, ca. 1850, Dominican Sisters of St Catherine of Siena, Staffordshire, England. Image credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew, OP (Some rights reserved)

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How might I let Mary teach me to ponder God’s gifts with silence, joy, and faithful love?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#Magnificat #MotherOfDivineGrace #ordination #priest #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #VirginMary

Quote of the day, 30 April: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Would you please send me during the next few days the muslin that’s left from our first Communion dresses, and if there’s not very much of it, that dotted muslin that’s in a box in the attic (still to be delivered to Mother Sub-Prioress).

It’s for Saint Germaine, I’ll tell you about it (I’ll return it to you afterward).

Adieu, I only have time to kiss you before going to sleep.

In union, we have our Heaven within us, let’s live it.

I love you much, my Guite.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 120 to her sister Marguerite Chevignard
Shortly before 15 June 1902

Note: In this letter, Elizabeth and her sister Guite plan a special gift for Mother Germaine, Prioress at the Carmel of Dijon. The gift would be presented on the feast day on her feast day. Elizabeth had made her First Holy Communion on 19 April 1891 at Saint Michael’s Parish in Dijon. Madame Catez later recalled“I will never forget the emotions of 19 April: I saw my child so recollected, so earnest, her tears did not cease to flow and I understood that God had taken possession of that heart so pure, so loving, which no longer would beat except for him” (De Meester, C 2017, Rien Moins Que Dieu).

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Detailed portrait of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, taken on 8 June 1891 after her Confirmation. Although photographed on the day of her Confirmation, the portrait also commemorates her First Holy Communion, received earlier on 19 April 1891. The setting is the garden of the Catez family home in Dijon. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (used by permission).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How can I live more consciously today in the “Heaven within me” that Elizabeth describes?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#FeastDay #FirstCommunion #heaven #MadameCatez #MargueriteChevignard #MotherGermaine #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Quote of the day, 11 February: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

To Lourdes, in the Pyrenees

Beneath my trembling fingers, O lyre, vibrate—
let us sing a new hymn together
to greet this beautiful land
and express what it awakens in me.
Hail, beautiful nature!
Hail, immortal mountains!
Hail, you who lift the soul toward Heaven,
O solitary and blessed grotto,
where I love to contemplate Mary,
where all is pure, calm, and silent.
O Lourdes, land of miracles,
a foretaste of the Eternal Home,
are you not a little piece of Heaven
in the midst of this shadowed valley?
I wish I could stay here forever.
Alas, we must part,
and for how many years?
You whom I love, dear Pyrenees…
Who knows? One day, among you,
perhaps she will bring me back,
the Madonna of Massabielle.
How sweet that happiness would be!
I would return, poor and alone,
having nothing left on this earth
but the Heart and the Cross of Jesus.
Oh! What more could one desire?
Is this not the highest treasure
that Jesus gives to those He loves?
For to those privileged in His Heart,
He shares His suffering.

And so, beloved mountains,
O blessed and silent grotto,
beautiful land that lifts the soul toward Heaven,
I must now say to you:
A Dieu.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Poetry 59, To Lourdes, in the Pyrenees
22 July 1898

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception was the first church built at Lourdes. Its construction was intended to serve as the chapel requested by the Blessed Virgin through her messages to Saint Bernadette Soubirous. Situated above a crypt, it overlooks the grotto of Massabielle cave and its rocky cliff upon which the basilica’s foundations are built. The construction of the church continued from 1862 to 1871 according to the plans of architect Hippolyte Durand. The basilica’s solemn consecration took place on 2 July 1876. Image credit: Lawrence Lew, OP / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#France #grotto #heaven #Jesus #Madonna #Massabielle #poetry #Pyrenees #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #VirginMary

Quote of the day, 11 January: Conrad de Meester, O.C.D.

Profession of
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Sunday, 11 January 1903

“My Mother, here is the Bridegroom!” (L 155).

After the 8 o’clock Mass, the community, in their white mantles and a large candle in their hands, go up the grand staircase to the chapter room, singing the O gloriosa Virginum (“O glorious Virgin”) to Mary. As a small cell of the Church, the community experiences the profession as a great moment of universal significance, an offering for the universal Church. United in intimacy, it’s also the family that’s going to grow. At the end of the procession, the prioress leads the novice by the hand. 

The account of Sister Mary of the Trinity, plainly taken up again in the Memoirs (S 107), introduces us to this supreme act:

“Her profession was still made entirely in faith, but already in peace since her visit with the priest. She tells us that she was taken up by the idea of sacrifice and immolation alone. Especially as she climbed the steps, going up to the chapter room, she was strongly taken, seized by this thought and then told us that she had found her whole state of mind in the day’s reading: ‘Offer your bodies to God as pure, holy and pleasing hosts to God’” (cf. Rom 12:1).

Climbing the stairs reminds Elizabeth of the symbol of the mountain, whether it be Tabor or Calvary—like Abraham going up to the top of the mountain indicated by Yahweh to sacrifice his son Isaac (cf. Gen 22:1-19), like Jesus Christ on his way to the Cross. Each stair-step is a decisive movement towards total self-giving to God, prayer, and sacrifice for the Church.

Upon arriving in the chapter room, the Prioress sits on the left side of the altar. Elizabeth kneels before her. Mother Germaine asks her the same questions as on the day she took the habit. The same answers resound—standard, formulated answers—but with great density, essential expressions of what one is seeking. After Elisabeth has thus sought “the mercy of God, the poverty of the Order and the company of her sisters,” the Prioress reminds her of the demands of the narrow path she is following forever.

Then, with her hands joined in those of the Prioress, Mother Germaine of Jesus, Elizabeth Catez repeated the formula of her profession three times: “I, Sister Mary Elizabeth of the Trinity, make my profession, and I promise chastity, poverty and obedience to God, Our Lord, and to the Blessed Virgin Mary,” in obedience to the superiors “according to the primitive, unmitigated Rule of the Order of Mount Carmel until death.”

Translator’s Note—In English-speaking Discalced Carmelite monasteries, the formula was:  I, Sister N. of N., make my solemn profession and I promise obedience, chastity, and poverty to God, to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, and to you, Rev. Mother Prioress, and to your successors, according to the primitive Rule of the Discalced Carmelites and our Constitutions, until death.

In this very sparse setting, the words resonate…

After the prayers offered by the Prioress, as on the day she took the habit, the newly professed is clothed in her Marian scapular and white mantle to symbolize the new life received from the Risen One. Now she lies on the floor in the form of a cross on the wool carpet decorated with flowers while the community sings the Te Deum. After she has been sprinkled with holy water, a reminder of the water of Baptism, Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity rises, kneels before the Prioress, kisses her hand, embraces her, and goes to kiss all the sisters as they sing Psalm 133, Ecce quam bonum: See how good it will be to live together as true sisters.

She receives her profession crucifix, on the back of which she has had St. Paul’s words engraved in Latin: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). She also receives her copy of the Constitutions of the Order and the Prioress places a crown of flowers on her head, which she wears all day long, she who is Christ’s bride.

During the day’s prayers, she is the one who presides. At meals and evening recreation, she sits between the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress, her place in the refectory being adorned with flowers. The community has “license” today to visit each other, but the newly professed remains in silence, in a prayer of gratitude and love, until the joyful and emotional gathering during the evening recreation.

After Compline, the Prioress removes the crown from Elizabeth who will place it in front of the statue of Our Lady of Grace in the cloister, the Queen of Heaven, of whom she wants to remain more than ever the daughter, the mystical Spouse of Jesus.

Conrad de Meester, O.C.D.

Rien Moins Que Dieu: Sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité
Chap. 22: Chaque jour ma vie d’épouse (excerpt)

Note: We invite our readers to explore the official website of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. Although the website has not yet been completely translated to in English, the most important information has been translated for English visitors.

https://youtu.be/XHFggZzlUGw

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 1984, Je te cherche dès l’aurore : évocation d’un visage et d’un coeur, produced by C. de Meester and the Carmel of Dijon, Carmel de Dijon, Flavignerot.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S, de Meester, C, Lonchampt, J, 1980, Oeuvres Complètes, Les Editions du Cerf, Paris.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Profession photo 63 from the photo album Je te cherche dès l’aurore published by the Carmel of Dijon. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

#biography #ConradDeMeester #GregorianChant #history #religiousProfession #spirituality #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Her prayer to the Trinity was not only a pious elevation, but the expression of a gift of herself to God. We had prepared together for this renewal of our vows on 21 November 1904; when I asked her about it on the next day, she replied that she had received a great grace that was difficult for her to express.

Sister Marie of the Trinity, O.C.D.
Witness, Ordinary Process

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s famous prayer, O my God, Trinity Whom I adore, was discovered only after her death. Found among her private papers, the prayer was handwritten on a page torn from her personal notebook and dated November 21, 1904—a day that was deeply significant in her spiritual journey.

The day marked the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a celebration in Carmel where the sisters renewed their religious vows before the Blessed Sacrament. St. Elizabeth, the youngest of the community, fully embraced this annual act of consecration, offering herself entirely to “her Three,” as she lovingly called the Holy Trinity. This prayer, born in the silence of her cloister and from the depths of her heart, was not shared during her lifetime. Her companions only discovered it after her passing, tucked away in her writing desk.

According to her fellow Carmelite, Sr. Marie of the Trinity, the prayer was not just a spiritual meditation but an act of total self-giving. St. Elizabeth later confided that the day she composed it was one of profound grace, though she found it difficult to describe the experience in words. Her offering echoes the great spiritual traditions of the Church, drawing comparisons with St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Act of Oblation to Merciful Love and St. Catherine of Siena’s prayer to the Eternal Trinity.

Yet, Elizabeth’s voice is uniquely her own, expressing her desire to be a “heaven” for God, a place where the Trinity could dwell and be adored without distraction. This prayer, considered one of the most beautiful expressions of Trinitarian spirituality, invites us to surrender ourselves entirely to God. In its profound simplicity, it captures the heart of St. Elizabeth’s message: to live continually in God’s presence, wholly adoring, wholly surrendered, and wholly at peace.

To reflect more deeply on this prayer and the life of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, listen to our podcast episode embedded below. Let her words inspire you to invite God to make your soul His dwelling place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbvMvLpH6fo

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: A detail from one of four photos taken by her brother-in-law Georges Chevignard on 22 December 1902, the day of her canonical examination; the exam took place days before her religious profession on Epiphany Sunday, 11 January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/08/s2ep32sabeth/

#CarmelOfDijon #ConradDeMeester #monasticLife #Podcast #PrayerToTheHolyTrinity #religiousProfession #spirituality #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #Trinitarian

Her prayer to the Trinity was not only a pious elevation, but the expression of a gift of herself to God. We had prepared together for this renewal of our vows on 21 November 1904; when I asked her about it on the next day, she replied that she had received a great grace that was difficult for her to express.

Sister Marie of the Trinity, O.C.D.
Witness, Ordinary Process

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s famous prayer, O my God, Trinity Whom I adore, was discovered only after her death. Found among her private papers, the prayer was handwritten on a page torn from her personal notebook and dated November 21, 1904—a day that was deeply significant in her spiritual journey.

The day marked the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a celebration in Carmel where the sisters renewed their religious vows before the Blessed Sacrament. St. Elizabeth, the youngest of the community, fully embraced this annual act of consecration, offering herself entirely to “her Three,” as she lovingly called the Holy Trinity. This prayer, born in the silence of her cloister and from the depths of her heart, was not shared during her lifetime. Her companions only discovered it after her passing, tucked away in her writing desk.

According to her fellow Carmelite, Sr. Marie of the Trinity, the prayer was not just a spiritual meditation but an act of total self-giving. St. Elizabeth later confided that the day she composed it was one of profound grace, though she found it difficult to describe the experience in words. Her offering echoes the great spiritual traditions of the Church, drawing comparisons with St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Act of Oblation to Merciful Love and St. Catherine of Siena’s prayer to the Eternal Trinity.

Yet, Elizabeth’s voice is uniquely her own, expressing her desire to be a “heaven” for God, a place where the Trinity could dwell and be adored without distraction. This prayer, considered one of the most beautiful expressions of Trinitarian spirituality, invites us to surrender ourselves entirely to God. In its profound simplicity, it captures the heart of St. Elizabeth’s message: to live continually in God’s presence, wholly adoring, wholly surrendered, and wholly at peace.

To reflect more deeply on this prayer and the life of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, listen to our podcast episode embedded below. Let her words inspire you to invite God to make your soul His dwelling place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbvMvLpH6fo

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: A detail from one of four photos taken by her brother-in-law Georges Chevignard on 22 December 1902, the day of her canonical examination; the exam took place days before her religious profession on Epiphany Sunday, 11 January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/08/s2ep32sabeth/

#CarmelOfDijon #ConradDeMeester #monasticLife #Podcast #PrayerToTheHolyTrinity #religiousProfession #spirituality #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #Trinitarian

Her prayer to the Trinity was not only a pious elevation, but the expression of a gift of herself to God. We had prepared together for this renewal of our vows on 21 November 1904; when I asked her about it on the next day, she replied that she had received a great grace that was difficult for her to express.

Sister Marie of the Trinity, O.C.D.
Witness, Ordinary Process

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s famous prayer, O my God, Trinity Whom I adore, was discovered only after her death. Found among her private papers, the prayer was handwritten on a page torn from her personal notebook and dated November 21, 1904—a day that was deeply significant in her spiritual journey.

The day marked the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a celebration in Carmel where the sisters renewed their religious vows before the Blessed Sacrament. St. Elizabeth, the youngest of the community, fully embraced this annual act of consecration, offering herself entirely to “her Three,” as she lovingly called the Holy Trinity. This prayer, born in the silence of her cloister and from the depths of her heart, was not shared during her lifetime. Her companions only discovered it after her passing, tucked away in her writing desk.

According to her fellow Carmelite, Sr. Marie of the Trinity, the prayer was not just a spiritual meditation but an act of total self-giving. St. Elizabeth later confided that the day she composed it was one of profound grace, though she found it difficult to describe the experience in words. Her offering echoes the great spiritual traditions of the Church, drawing comparisons with St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Act of Oblation to Merciful Love and St. Catherine of Siena’s prayer to the Eternal Trinity.

Yet, Elizabeth’s voice is uniquely her own, expressing her desire to be a “heaven” for God, a place where the Trinity could dwell and be adored without distraction. This prayer, considered one of the most beautiful expressions of Trinitarian spirituality, invites us to surrender ourselves entirely to God. In its profound simplicity, it captures the heart of St. Elizabeth’s message: to live continually in God’s presence, wholly adoring, wholly surrendered, and wholly at peace.

To reflect more deeply on this prayer and the life of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, listen to our podcast episode embedded below. Let her words inspire you to invite God to make your soul His dwelling place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbvMvLpH6fo

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: A detail from one of four photos taken by her brother-in-law Georges Chevignard on 22 December 1902, the day of her canonical examination; the exam took place days before her religious profession on Epiphany Sunday, 11 January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/08/s2ep32sabeth/

#CarmelOfDijon #ConradDeMeester #monasticLife #Podcast #PrayerToTheHolyTrinity #religiousProfession #spirituality #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #Trinitarian

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity: Wholly Adoring, Wholly Surrendered

Her prayer to the Trinity was not only a pious elevation, but the expression of a gift of herself to God. We had prepared together for this renewal of our vows on 21 November 1904; when I asked her about it on the next day, she replied that she had received a great grace that was difficult for her to express.

Sister Marie of the Trinity, O.C.D.
Witness, Ordinary Process

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s famous prayer, O my God, Trinity Whom I adore, was discovered only after her death. Found among her private papers, the prayer was handwritten on a page torn from her personal notebook and dated November 21, 1904—a day that was deeply significant in her spiritual journey.

The day marked the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a celebration in Carmel where the sisters renewed their religious vows before the Blessed Sacrament. St. Elizabeth, the youngest of the community, fully embraced this annual act of consecration, offering herself entirely to “her Three,” as she lovingly called the Holy Trinity. This prayer, born in the silence of her cloister and from the depths of her heart, was not shared during her lifetime. Her companions only discovered it after her passing, tucked away in her writing desk.

According to her fellow Carmelite, Sr. Marie of the Trinity, the prayer was not just a spiritual meditation but an act of total self-giving. St. Elizabeth later confided that the day she composed it was one of profound grace, though she found it difficult to describe the experience in words. Her offering echoes the great spiritual traditions of the Church, drawing comparisons with St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Act of Oblation to Merciful Love and St. Catherine of Siena’s prayer to the Eternal Trinity.

Yet, Elizabeth’s voice is uniquely her own, expressing her desire to be a “heaven” for God, a place where the Trinity could dwell and be adored without distraction. This prayer, considered one of the most beautiful expressions of Trinitarian spirituality, invites us to surrender ourselves entirely to God. In its profound simplicity, it captures the heart of St. Elizabeth’s message: to live continually in God’s presence, wholly adoring, wholly surrendered, and wholly at peace.

To reflect more deeply on this prayer and the life of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, listen to our podcast episode embedded below. Let her words inspire you to invite God to make your soul His dwelling place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbvMvLpH6fo

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: A detail from one of four photos taken by her brother-in-law Georges Chevignard on 22 December 1902, the day of her canonical examination; the exam took place days before her religious profession on Epiphany Sunday, 11 January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

#CarmelOfDijon #ConradDeMeester #monasticLife #Podcast #PrayerToTheHolyTrinity #religiousProfession #spirituality #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #Trinitarian

Her prayer to the Trinity was not only a pious elevation, but the expression of a gift of herself to God. We had prepared together for this renewal of our vows on 21 November 1904; when I asked her about it on the next day, she replied that she had received a great grace that was difficult for her to express.

Sister Marie of the Trinity, O.C.D.
Witness, Ordinary Process

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s famous prayer, O my God, Trinity Whom I adore, was discovered only after her death. Found among her private papers, the prayer was handwritten on a page torn from her personal notebook and dated November 21, 1904—a day that was deeply significant in her spiritual journey.

The day marked the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a celebration in Carmel where the sisters renewed their religious vows before the Blessed Sacrament. St. Elizabeth, the youngest of the community, fully embraced this annual act of consecration, offering herself entirely to “her Three,” as she lovingly called the Holy Trinity. This prayer, born in the silence of her cloister and from the depths of her heart, was not shared during her lifetime. Her companions only discovered it after her passing, tucked away in her writing desk.

According to her fellow Carmelite, Sr. Marie of the Trinity, the prayer was not just a spiritual meditation but an act of total self-giving. St. Elizabeth later confided that the day she composed it was one of profound grace, though she found it difficult to describe the experience in words. Her offering echoes the great spiritual traditions of the Church, drawing comparisons with St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Act of Oblation to Merciful Love and St. Catherine of Siena’s prayer to the Eternal Trinity.

Yet, Elizabeth’s voice is uniquely her own, expressing her desire to be a “heaven” for God, a place where the Trinity could dwell and be adored without distraction. This prayer, considered one of the most beautiful expressions of Trinitarian spirituality, invites us to surrender ourselves entirely to God. In its profound simplicity, it captures the heart of St. Elizabeth’s message: to live continually in God’s presence, wholly adoring, wholly surrendered, and wholly at peace.

To reflect more deeply on this prayer and the life of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, listen to our podcast episode embedded below. Let her words inspire you to invite God to make your soul His dwelling place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbvMvLpH6fo

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: A detail from one of four photos taken by her brother-in-law Georges Chevignard on 22 December 1902, the day of her canonical examination; the exam took place days before her religious profession on Epiphany Sunday, 11 January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/08/s2ep32sabeth/

#CarmelOfDijon #ConradDeMeester #monasticLife #Podcast #PrayerToTheHolyTrinity #religiousProfession #spirituality #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #Trinitarian

Propter nimiam charitatem!…

That day was God-ordained:
the Father, by decree,
Laid down that you began
my Mother here to be.
I hail that joyous day:
the Triune Loving — more,
‘Excess of Charity’!
I see it, and adore.

Such overflowing love! —
that’s what it is, I know,
When God, in prescient love,
arranged that this be so —
For He (that I should make
oblation here fore-known)
Had consecrated you
with unction of His own.

And, from the very start,
O Mother, God was pleased
To love as one in Him
His victim and His priest:
His gaze of love on us
from all eternity,
He’ll always look and see
not two, but unity.

So, if your little ‘host’
(O Pontiff, whom I love!)
Is very soon transferred
up to the Home Above,
She will be yours still more! —
I think it might be so —
Than when the night of faith
she lived in, here below.

Have you not seen a priest
who’s going through the town
Carrying God, the Host,
hidden beneath his gown? —
On your maternal heart
that way, will not it be
That Laudem Gloriae
spends her eternity?

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

P 122 [for 9 October 1906]

Note: St. Elizabeth wrote this poem for the fifth anniversary of the election of the prioress, Mother Germaine. Elizabeth refers to herself as a “victim” and “little ‘host'”; she refers to Mother Germaine as “priest” and “Pontiff”.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, Marmion, C and Bancroft, A 2001, Barb of fire: twenty poems of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity: with selected passages from Blessed Columba Marmion, OSB, Gracewing, Leominster.

Featured image: Image credit for St. Elizabeth of the Trinity: Discalced Carmelites. Collage created in Adobe Express.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/07/sabeth-p122/

#Eucharist #LaudemGloriae #monasticLife #MotherGermaine #poetry #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

November 8
SAINT ELIZABETH OF THE TRINITY CATEZ
Virgin

Memorial

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.

From the common of virgins or of holy women (religious)

Office of Readings

Second Reading
From the writings of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, Virgin
(Oeuvres completes I (Paris, 1980), p. 200)

The indwelling 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 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 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.

Responsory

R./ You are God’s temple and the Spirit of God lives in you. * Glorify God in your body.
V./ To the praise of his glory, * glorify God in your body.

Prayer

O God of bountiful mercy,
you revealed to Saint 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,
God, forever and ever.

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/06/liztrinlit24/

#DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #virgin

November 8
SAINT ELIZABETH OF THE TRINITY CATEZ
Virgin

Memorial

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.

From the common of virgins or of holy women (religious)

Office of Readings

Second Reading
From the writings of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, Virgin
(Oeuvres completes I (Paris, 1980), p. 200)

The indwelling 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 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 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.

Responsory

R./ You are God’s temple and the Spirit of God lives in you. * Glorify God in your body.
V./ To the praise of his glory, * glorify God in your body.

Prayer

O God of bountiful mercy,
you revealed to Saint 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,
God, forever and ever.

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/06/liztrinlit24/

#DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #virgin

I do not forget you, I assure you, on my cross where I taste unknown joys. I understand that suffering is the revelation of Love, and I rush to it: it is my beloved dwelling place where I find peace and rest, where I am sure to meet my Master and dwell with Him.

A Dieu, dear Madame, this time I don’t think He will be much longer in coming to seek me; you are part of my heart, so I bring you with me, that you might be unceasingly present before the Face of God.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 323 to Madame de Sourdon (excerpt)
9 October 1906

Note: St. Elizabeth’s prioress, Mother Germaine, included a brief note to Madame de Sourdon: “Dear Madame, our child speaks very truthfully: I think the last ‘veni’ will not be long in coming; she is really going downhill, the little saint. Another month, six weeks perhaps…. Her poor Mother is admirably prepared for it: she finds her changed, actually it is very perceptible.”

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This detail from the last photo of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity was taken in mid-October, 1906, less than one month before her death on November 9 in the Carmel of Dijon, France. The statue of Our Lady of Lourdes on the small table next to Elizabeth is the one that she gave to her mother when entering the monastery. In her final illness, the statue returned to Carmel and Elizabeth called her, “Janua Coeli”, meaning “Gate of Heaven.” Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/09/sabeth-ltr323/

#cross #DivineMaster #joy #loveForEnemies #MotherGermaine #peace #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #suffering

I come to you by passing through the pierced Heart of the Mother of sorrows. Along with her, you have consummated your sacrifice, and I am begging her to pour out in your soul the calm, peace, and strength that always accompanied her during her cruel martyrdom.

One saint, speaking of the Master, said: “Where then did He dwell but in suffering?”[cf. St. Angela Foligno]. Any soul immersed in suffering, then, lives beside Him; she dwells with Jesus Christ in that immensity of suffering sung by the prophet [cf. Lam 1:12]; the dwelling place of those predestined, those whom the “Father has known and wishes to be conformed to His divine Son, the Crucified” [cf. Rom 8:29]; Saint Paul says that.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 312 to Baroness d’Anthès (excerpt)
18 September 1906

Note: The Carmelites had celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows only two days before, on 16th September 1906. The baroness was the mother of the deceased, Madame de Maizières. It was to the baroness’ grandniece Françoise de Sourdon that Elizabeth penned Letter 310, also known as the treatise on The Greatness of our Vocation.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This is a detail from the painting Mater Dolorosa and Christ of Sorrows by Simon Marmion (French, 1420-1489). The artwork was executed in oil on wood panel, ca. 1460. It comes from the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Strasbourg. Image credit: jean louis mazieres / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/09/17/sabeth-ltr312/

#ChristCrucified #JesusChrist #MotherOfSorrows #sacrifice #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #suffering #sympathy

Oh, my darling, when you’re sad, tell Him, the One who knows everything, who understands everything, and who is the Guest of your soul: realize that He is within you as in a little Host. He loves His little Guite so much, I am telling you for Him. . . .

During the day, sometimes think of Him who lives in you and who so thirsts to be loved. It is close to Him that you will always find me!

Take your Crucifix, look, listen. You know our rendezvous is there, and don’t be troubled when you are occupied like you are now and can’t do all your exercises: you can pray to God while working, it’s enough to think of Him. Then all becomes sweet and easy since you’re not working alone, since Jesus is there.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 93 to her sister Guite (excerpts)
12 September 1901

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This is a detail of a photo that was taken by professional photographer Mazillier on 22 December 1902, the day of Elizabeth’s canonical exam. Her mother hired the photographer to capture portraits for the special occasion when she was permitted to see her daughter outside the cloister one last time. The sisters at the turn loaned Elizabeth one of their black veils, which they pinned on top of her white veil; Elizabeth holds her profession crucifix in her hands. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/09/11/sabeth-ltr93/

#crucifix #emotions #familyLife #Jesus #MargueriteChevignard #prayer #SacredHost #spiritualDirection #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #stress #work

“As the thirsty doe longs for the springs of fresh water, so my soul longs for You, O God! My soul thirst for the living God! When will I appear before His face!…” (Ps 42:1–2).

And yet, as “the sparrow has found a home,” and “the turtle dove a nest in which she may lay her young” (Ps 84:3), so Laudem Gloriae has found while waiting to be brought to the holy Jerusalem, “beata pacis visio”—her retreat, her beatitude, her anticipated Heaven in which she begins her life of eternity. “In God my soul is silent; my deliverance comes from Him. Yes, He is the rock in which I find salvation, my stronghold, I shall not be disturbed!” (Ps 62:1–2).

This is the mystery my lyre sings of today! My Master has said to me as to Zacchaeus: “Hurry and come down, for I must stay in your house today…” (Lk 19:5). Hurry and come down, but where? Into the innermost depths of my being: after having forsaken self, withdrawn from self, been stripped of self—in a word, without self.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Last Retreat, sixteenth day
31 August 1906

Note: Beata pacis visio (Blessed vision of peace) is a phrase found in the first stanza, second line of the hymn Coelestis urbs Jerusalem, which is sung at Vespers for the Common of the Dedication of a Church. Note that having begun her Last Retreat on the sixteenth of August, the “sixteenth day” is 31 August, on which the Dedication of the Churches of Carmel was celebrated.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This detail from the last photo of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity was taken in mid-October, 1906, less than one month before her death on November 9 in the Carmel of Dijon, France. The statue of Our Lady of Lourdes on the small table next to Elizabeth is the one that she gave to her mother when entering the monastery. In her final illness, the statue returned to Carmel and Elizabeth called her, “Janua Coeli”, meaning “Gate of Heaven.” Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/08/30/sabeth-lastretr16a/

#CarmeliteSpirituality #contemplation #inspiration #Jesus #LaudemGloriae #NewJerusalem #Psalms #selfDenial #spiritualDirection #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

“As the thirsty doe longs for the springs of fresh water, so my soul longs for You, O God! My soul thirst for the living God! When will I appear before His face!…” (Ps 42:1–2).

And yet, as “the sparrow has found a home,” and “the turtle dove a nest in which she may lay her young” (Ps 84:3), so Laudem Gloriae has found while waiting to be brought to the holy Jerusalem, “beata pacis visio”—her retreat, her beatitude, her anticipated Heaven in which she begins her life of eternity. “In God my soul is silent; my deliverance comes from Him. Yes, He is the rock in which I find salvation, my stronghold, I shall not be disturbed!” (Ps 62:1–2).

This is the mystery my lyre sings of today! My Master has said to me as to Zacchaeus: “Hurry and come down, for I must stay in your house today…” (Lk 19:5). Hurry and come down, but where? Into the innermost depths of my being: after having forsaken self, withdrawn from self, been stripped of self—in a word, without self.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Last Retreat, sixteenth day
31 August 1906

Note: Beata pacis visio (Blessed vision of peace) is a phrase found in the first stanza, second line of the hymn Coelestis urbs Jerusalem, which is sung at Vespers for the Common of the Dedication of a Church. Note that having begun her Last Retreat on the sixteenth of August, the “sixteenth day” is 31 August, on which the Dedication of the Churches of Carmel was celebrated.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This detail from the last photo of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity was taken in mid-October, 1906, less than one month before her death on November 9 in the Carmel of Dijon, France. The statue of Our Lady of Lourdes on the small table next to Elizabeth is the one that she gave to her mother when entering the monastery. In her final illness, the statue returned to Carmel and Elizabeth called her, “Janua Coeli”, meaning “Gate of Heaven.” Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/08/30/sabeth-lastretr16a/

#CarmeliteSpirituality #contemplation #inspiration #Jesus #LaudemGloriae #NewJerusalem #Psalms #selfDenial #spiritualDirection #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

We are going to have very beautiful feast days in honor of our blessed martyrs of Compiègne on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

I will be able to attend them in a little tribune, for Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus granted my prayer three months ago by giving me the strength to take a few steps, which had been impossible for me.

That is a great consolation to me, for I can spend many hours in the dear little tribune, which has a grille opening on the sanctuary; I go to seek strength there, close to Him who has suffered so much because “he loved us exceedingly” [Eph 2:4], as the Apostle says.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 324 to Germaine de Gemeaux (excerpt)
Around 10 October 1906

Biographer and editor Conrad de Meester, O.C.D. mentions that the Carmelites of Dijon celebrated the beatification of the Martyrs of Compiègne for three consecutive days: Saturday through Monday, 13 through 15 October 1906.

Mother Teresa of St. Augustine Lidoine and the Martyrs of Compiègne were beatified on 27 May 1906 by St. Pius X in St. Peter’s Basilica. Father de Meester notes that during this October triduum, Père Vallée, the prior of the Dominican friars at Dijon, preached at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on 13 and 14 October.

Then Bishop Dadolle of Dijon celebrated a pontifical Mass in the morning on Monday 15 October for the solemnity of St. Teresa of Avila; he also was the preacher for Benediction later in the day.

There was a window with a grille in the second-floor infirmary that permitted Elizabeth to look down on the sanctuary during the Mass and Benediction and to pray near the tabernacle whenever she desired (Cf. Photograph 191 on page 126 in Light, Love, Life: a look at a face and a heart).

Elizabeth attributes her ability to walk from her infirmary bed to this window to the intercession of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

Elizabeth enclosed a holy card of the newly-beatified Martyrs in her letter to her young friend Germaine.

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: In the background, we see a detail of the renowned stained glass depiction of the martyrdom of the Carmelites of Compiègne, masterfully designed and executed by Sr. Margaret Agnes Rope, O.C.D. for the Carmel of Quidenham, England. In the foreground are two newsclips from the New Orleans Times-Democrat (seen on the left) and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on the right) announcing celebrations in the Discalced Carmelite monasteries in New Orleans and St. Louis to mark the beatification of the Martyrs of Compiègne. Image credit: newspapers.com (Public domain), Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/07/16/sabeth-ltr324-3/

#beatification #benediction #HighMass #infirmary #MartyrsOfCompiègne #prayer #sanctuary #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #StThereseOfLisieux #triduum

When I read in the Gospel “that Mary went in haste to the hill country of Judea” (Lk 1:39) to perform her loving service for her cousin Elizabeth, I imagine her passing by so beautiful, so calm and so majestic, so absorbed in recollection of the Word of God within her.

Like Him, her prayer was always this: “Ecce, here I am!”

Who? “The servant of the Lord,” (Lk 1:38) the lowliest of His creatures: she, His Mother!

Her humility was so real for she was always forgetful, unaware, freed from self. And she could sing: “The Almighty has done great things for me, henceforth all peoples will call me blessed” (Lk 1:49, 48).

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Last Retreat, Fifteenth Day

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Italian photographer Siby captures these statuettes representing the Virgin Mary greeting Elizabeth and Zechariah, and singing her Magnificat. This is part of a large nativity scene, so typical of western Europe. Image credit: Siby / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/31/mdj2024-ep31/

#blessed #BlessedVirginMary #Elizabeth #humility #incarnation #Judea #love #Magnificat #presenceOfGod #servant #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #virtues #Visitation

Throughout her stay in Carmel, Elizabeth lived with the very real threat of being expelled from France, along with her entire community. The liturgical calendar of Carmel, composed in 1905 (for the year 1906) mentions that, out of the 117 French Carmels, 38 actually were expelled.

On 1 July 1901, one month before Elizabeth entered Carmel, the Waldeck-Rousseau government promulgated the law concerning associations, which was aimed primarily at religious congregations. They had to ask for legal authorization before October 3, present their financial balance sheet, and an inventory of their goods.

For decades, the Catholic Church in France had been facing a headwind. The painful memory of the French Revolution and its martyrs a century earlier was still alive and, in the minds of young Christian idealists like Elizabeth, the idea of martyrdom could resurface from time to time, following the example of the Carmelites of Compiègne who were guillotined. She entered Carmel with this readiness for martyrdom, as she had declared to Marguerite Gollot when they were postulants “outside the walls”: “So, what happiness to go together to martyrdom!… I can hardly think of it… it’s too good!” (Letter 57).

Conrad De Meester, O.C.D.

Chapter 22, Partir en exil à l’étranger?

Note: The Mass and rite of beatification of Mother Teresa of St. Augustine and the Martyrs of Compiègne took place in Rome on Sunday, 27 May 1906. Elizabeth was present for the triduum in mid-October 1906 that the Carmel of Dijon celebrated in honor of the martyrs’ beatification.

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/26/meester-exile/

#anniversary #beatification #CarmelOfDijon #history #inspiration #martyrdom #MartyrsOfCompiègne #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Throughout her stay in Carmel, Elizabeth lived with the very real threat of being expelled from France, along with her entire community. The liturgical calendar of Carmel, composed in 1905 (for the year 1906) mentions that, out of the 117 French Carmels, 38 actually were expelled.

On 1 July 1901, one month before Elizabeth entered Carmel, the Waldeck-Rousseau government promulgated the law concerning associations, which was aimed primarily at religious congregations. They had to ask for legal authorization before October 3, present their financial balance sheet, and an inventory of their goods.

For decades, the Catholic Church in France had been facing a headwind. The painful memory of the French Revolution and its martyrs a century earlier was still alive and, in the minds of young Christian idealists like Elizabeth, the idea of martyrdom could resurface from time to time, following the example of the Carmelites of Compiègne who were guillotined. She entered Carmel with this readiness for martyrdom, as she had declared to Marguerite Gollot when they were postulants “outside the walls”: “So, what happiness to go together to martyrdom!… I can hardly think of it… it’s too good!” (Letter 57).

Conrad De Meester, O.C.D.

Chapter 22, Partir en exil à l’étranger?

Note: The Mass and rite of beatification of Mother Teresa of St. Augustine and the Martyrs of Compiègne took place in Rome on Sunday, 27 May 1906. Elizabeth was present for the triduum in mid-October 1906 that the Carmel of Dijon celebrated in honor of the martyrs’ beatification.

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/26/meester-exile/

#anniversary #beatification #CarmelOfDijon #history #inspiration #martyrdom #MartyrsOfCompiègne #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Dijon Carmel, May 20

J. M. + J. T.

My dear Little Germaine,

After Mama told me that you were to have dinner next week at Marguerite’s, I asked our Reverend Mother for permission to write and tell you that I truly think of you as my little sister.

It seems to me that our two souls are one, that you are a Carmelite with me, for all that I do is with you; and when God looks at me among His beloved ones in Carmel, He also sees His little Germaine of the Trinity. On Sundays, I spend my day with you in honor of the Holy Trinity; oh, my little Germaine, how good God is to have given us an attraction to this mystery.

May our life flow into His, as we were saying the other day, may this truly be our dwelling on earth. There let us become silent so we may listen to Him who has so much to tell us, and since you too have this passion to listen to Him, we will meet close to Him so we may hear everything that is being sung in His soul! . . .

That is the life of the Carmelite: she is above all a contemplative, another Mary Magdalene whom nothing must distract from the One thing necessary [cf Lk 10:42]. She loves the Master so much that she wants to become one who is immolated like Him, and her life becomes a continual gift of herself, an exchange of love with Him who possesses her to the point of wanting to transform her into another Himself. There, in HIM, I feel quite close to you. Our motto must be these words of Saint Paul: “Our life is hidden with Christ in God” [Col 3:3].

A Dieu, my little sister, tell your good, dear mama that I pray every day for her, that I love her with all my heart as well as Yvonne, who is also the little sister of my heart. We are going into retreat from Ascension to Pentecost, and I will make it with you in the soul of the Master. Pray for your big sister, too.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 164 to Germaine de Gemeaux
Wednesday, 20 May 1903

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/19/liz-ltr164/

#contemplativeLife #DiscalcedCarmelite #distractions #listening #MaryMagdalene #Pentecost #selfGiving #silence #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #transformation #vocation

“Virgo fidelis”: that is, Faithful Virgin, “who kept all these things in her heart.” [Lk. 2:19] She remained so little, so recollected in God’s presence, in the seclusion of the temple, that she drew down upon herself the delight of the Holy Trinity: “Because He has looked upon the lowliness of His servant, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed!” [Lk. 1:48] The Father bending down to this beautiful creature, who was so unaware of her own beauty, willed that she be the Mother in time of Him whose Father He is in eternity.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Heaven in Faith, Tenth Day

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple (detail) by Italian artist Cima da Conegliano (1459–1518) was executed in oil on panel in 1497. It comes from the collections of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden. Image credit: Jean Louis Mazieres / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/07/mdj2024-08/

#beauty #faithful #HeavenlyFather #Magnificat #MotherOfChrist #recollection #solitude #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #VirgoFidelis

In her letters and writings, Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity often referred to the Virgin Mary as “Janua Coeli”, recognizing Mary’s pivotal role in bringing souls closer to God. This title reflects Elizabeth’s deep devotion to Mary and her belief in Mary’s intercession and maternal care for all who seek refuge in her.

Around 25 June 1905, Elizabeth writes to the young deacon, André Chevignard, in Letter 232:

Monsieur l’Abbé, I had asked our Reverend Mother for permission to write and tell you how completely one my soul was with yours during these last days before your ordination; but now that I draw near you, before the great mystery that is being prepared, I can only be silent. . . and adore the exceeding love of our God! With the Virgin, you can sing your “Magnificat” and leap with joy in God your Savior, for the Almighty is doing great things in you, and His mercy is eternal. . . [Lk 1:46–55]. Then, like Mary, “keep all that in your heart” [Lk 2:19, 51]; draw your heart very close to hers, for this priestly Virgin is also the “Mother of Divine Grace,” and in her love, she wants to prepare you to become “that faithful priest who is entirely according to God’s heart” [1 Sam 2:35] of whom He speaks in Holy Scripture….”

We invite you to subscribe to the Carmelite Quotes podcast for more inspiring quotes and reflections. We’re available on Spotify and we will be coming soon to Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This detail from the last photo of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity was taken in mid-October, 1906, less than one month before her death on November 9 in the Carmel of Dijon, France. The statue of Our Lady of Lourdes on the small table next to Elizabeth is the one that she gave to her mother when entering the monastery. In her final illness, the statue returned to Carmel and Elizabeth called her, “Janua Coeli”, meaning “Gate of Heaven.” Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/02/mdj2024-ep002/

#faithful #friendship #love #Magnificat #mercy #MotherOfDivineGrace #ordination #priesthood #savior #StElizabethOfTheTrinity

Dear little mother, it is with pleasure that I see the new year arrive in order to renew my wishes for a happy new year.

I wish you everything you could possibly desire, and now that I’m older I’m going to be a sweet, patient, obedient, diligent little girl who never gets angry.

First of all, since I am the elder, I must set an example for my little sister; I will not upset her anymore.

Finally, I will be a little role model and you will be able to say that you are the happiest of mothers, and since I hope that I will soon have the happiness of making my First Communion, I will be even more well behaved because I will pray to God to make me even better.

I leave you, my dear little mother, with a heartfelt kiss.

Elisabeth Catez
Dijon, December 31, 1889

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 5

Note: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity made her First Holy Communion on 19 April 1891 in St. Michael Parish, Dijon.

What struck me in that first meeting was her gentleness and friendliness, which contrasted with her intense nature and her fiery gaze. I also saw that she was the heart and soul of this meeting, which was to be followed by so many others.

As I was amazed by her even temperament and gentleness, my mother spoke to Madame Catez, who then confided to her that, until the year before her first Holy Communion, Elisabeth was angry every day. It was then that her mother told her that a real change was needed to make that First Communion she so desired.

A transformation immediately began to be visible in her character and when I got to know her, it seemed impossible that she could have been so different. As I was quick to get upset myself, I understood that I had to imitate her and make great efforts to become like her, gentle and humble.

Louise Recoing

Récits Biographiques 49, nos. 2–3

Note: Louise was a good friend of Elizabeth, whom Louise met not long before the saint was 12 years old.

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity on her first Communion day. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/04/18/sabeth-primcomm/

#anger #childhood #familyLife #FirstCommunion #inspiration #selfControl #StElizabethOfTheTrinity #transformation

#StElizabethoftheTrinity was a great student & disciple of St Paul, often quoting him in her writings. Read a quote from her retreat, "Heaven in Faith" as she follows in the Apostle's footsteps
Read more!
http://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/01/24/sabeth-faith/

#ConversionOfStPaul #saintoftheday #Catholic #Carmelite #quotes

#StElizabethoftheTrinity was a great student & disciple of St Paul, often quoting him in her writings. Read a quote from her retreat, "Heaven in Faith" as she follows in the Apostle's footsteps
Read more!
http://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/01/24/sabeth-faith/

#ConversionOfStPaul #saintoftheday #Catholic #Carmelite #quotes

#StElizabethoftheTrinity was a great student & disciple of St Paul, often quoting him in her writings. Read a quote from her retreat, "Heaven in Faith" as she follows in the Apostle's footsteps
Read more!
http://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/01/24/sabeth-faith/

#ConversionOfStPaul #saintoftheday #Catholic #Carmelite #quotes

In this Sunday's gospel, we read that John the Baptist saw the Spirit come down from heaven and remain on Jesus; in a similar way, St Elizabeth of the Trinity begs the Spirit to come upon her and create "a kind of incarnation of the Word."

🙏🏾 Read her famous prayer to the Holy Trinity
http://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/01/14/liz-prayer/

#stelizabethofthetrinity #sunday #gospel #gospelofjohn #stjohnthebaptist #holyspirit #heaven #jesus #incarnation #eternalword #prayer #catholic #carmelite #quotes

In this Sunday's gospel, we read that John the Baptist saw the Spirit come down from heaven and remain on Jesus; in a similar way, St Elizabeth of the Trinity begs the Spirit to come upon her and create "a kind of incarnation of the Word."

🙏🏾 Read her famous prayer to the Holy Trinity
http://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/01/14/liz-prayer/

#stelizabethofthetrinity #sunday #gospel #gospelofjohn #stjohnthebaptist #holyspirit #heaven #jesus #incarnation #eternalword #prayer #catholic #carmelite #quotes

In this Sunday's gospel, we read that John the Baptist saw the Spirit come down from heaven and remain on Jesus; in a similar way, St Elizabeth of the Trinity begs the Spirit to come upon her and create "a kind of incarnation of the Word."

🙏🏾 Read her famous prayer to the Holy Trinity
http://carmelitequotes.blog/2023/01/14/liz-prayer/

#stelizabethofthetrinity #sunday #gospel #gospelofjohn #stjohnthebaptist #holyspirit #heaven #jesus #incarnation #eternalword #prayer #catholic #carmelite #quotes