HYMN OF ADORATION -  Part II

1. These notes follow on from the previous Update and there is no introduction. The material is centred on §43 of ‘Heaven in Faith’ [2], and is suitable for meditation. The whole of ‘Heaven in Faith’ was inspired, but this part portrays Sr Elizabeth, as her own self, at her most profound and repetitive best; presenting one with a myriad of nuances on love. Inevitably, these notes are, to some extent, repetitive also.
2. Attention is drawn to 4 minor works on ‘The Beatitudes’, ‘Do you love Me?’, ‘The gifts of God’, and 'Am I Nothing?' written as background material to these notes, which may be helpful. These are not referred to directly. Look for these in the third table of the ‘Index Page’ of this Web-site.
3. The text of 'Heaven in Faith' included in CW1 has been used for references in these notes. The source of the translation used, is either CW1 or MPA: in some instances, these translations have been modified by the site owner. Note that the text of Heaven in Faith given in the 1947 translation of MPA is incomplete.
4. The spiritual treatise 'The Last Retreat of Laudem Gloriae' is not included in this Update.
5. Although the phrase Praise of Glory, referred to in these notes, is taken from St Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians: specifically (v.1:12); this update is neither about the theology of St Paul nor his Epistles.
6. Where reference is made to quotations from Holy Scripture, any interpretation given in these notes, is that believed (by the site owner) to have been intended by Sr Elizabeth.
7. The opinions expressed are those of the site owner and as such may not be assumed to reflect or to represent the official teaching of Holy Mother Church at any time past or present, neither are those opinions intended in any way as criticism by the site owner of Holy Mother Church or her pastors.


A PRAISE OF GLORY IS ...

Proposition 2 A Praise of Glory is a silent soul [3], a lyre [4] beneath the mysterious touch of the Holy Spirit, from which He can draw divine harmonies. Knowing that suffering [5] is a string which produces still more exquisite tones, this soul rejoices at having it on its instrument, that it may thus more sweetly move the heart of its God.

To adore in silence. Silent adoration is a valued feature in the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. We ‘talk’ in the silence of our soul with Him as well as ‘listening’ in the silence of our soul to Him. The word ‘silence’ is capable of wide application. Silence can be practiced in actions, not only in speech, and in the senses: eyes, and ears; and interiorly as well: memory, intellect, and will. Practicing silence in these, and in other fields: particularly in little things; is of great help in times of difficulty: for example, suffering; and it sets one free: “we can only taste, by experience, the fullness of life which silence brings us” [6]. “It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God” (Lam. 3:26). The use of the word ‘silence’ in the supernatural setting of the soul is examined in the first part of these notes, which build on the material of Sr Elizabeth’s ‘Proposition 1’ for a Praise of Glory.

Are we not struck dumb, in the silence of wondrous adoration on our Mount Tabor; when we receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus in our own humble soul [7]? Surely, then, if at no other time, we experience the reality of Lacordaire’s words: “as the soul overflows with Love and can say no more”. “I am the Bread of life” (Jn 6:48). “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in him” (Jn 6:57). We gaze, face-to-face in darkness: in faith; on the incomprehensible wonder of God present in the soul; and keep silent before the greatness of Him who died for us. “May our simple gaze on Him separate us from everything and fix us in the unfathomable depths of the Mystery of the Three, while we await the Bridegroom’s “Veni”.” [8]. In that gaze the soul is filled with Love, which engenders a deep reverence for God.[9]

Very early in her young life, Elizabeth had learned to listen in faith to Jesus in the depths of her soul. For example, well known facts are: that Elizabeth’s vocation to Carmel was confirmed in the silent depths of her soul, as a teenager [10]; that she was aware of Him in her soul during the great mission of 1899. Her first communication in death was in silence to the soul of Mother Marie. Mother Marie, to whom Elizabeth owed so much as an extra-muros, and who had passed on to her daughter the Carmelite’s profound love of silence.[11] “The life of a Carmelite is silence, so she loves that above all” [12]. Elizabeth’s love of silence was well known to her sisters, as is evidenced by the Chapter entitled “The Ascesis of Silence” in MPA . “There is a wholly adorable intimacy when you realise that; you are never alone again!” [13]. The soul is penetrated to its very depths, and darkest recesses, and becomes aware of an alarming void: alarming, because the soul is even bereft of its own nothingness. “ O Deep! O Unfathomable Mystery! my soul becomes your humble sacrament, let us glorify the Father in Jesus, in silence and contemplation” [14]. Sr Elizabeth’s letters from Carmel leave one in no doubt that however ‘familiar’ she may have seemed with God, it was always against a background of deep adoration which she linked with a silence that permeated her very being [15]; and that can only be described as infectious. “I keep silent to adore Him” [16] for “The soul needs silence in order to adore” [17].

Silence in God. Silence is not the invention of man: it exists in God for all eternity, but man was made in the image of God. “One word spake the Father, which Word was His Son, and this Word He speaks ever in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul” [18]. “He will be silent in His Love” (Zeph. 3:17); the mutual Love of Father and Son manifest in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, a Praise of Glory not only is, but also has to be, a silent soul to listen to the ‘silence’ of God, or to the soft whispering of God [19]. We listen in faith, or we simply ‘know’ in faith, “Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening” (1 Sam.3:10). In her Prayer to the Trinity, Sr Elizabeth wrote, “I long to pass my life listening to Thee”, and in several letters she drew attention: to her passion for silence in order to be able to listen, and to Mary Magdalen listening in silence at the feet of the Master [20]. In a letter as an extra-muros, Elizabeth had written of the need to rest at the foot of the Cross and simply listen [21]. Of course, God may use our silence in other ways, “To fill us as He Wills” [22] or simply to remain silent.

“Silence is the attitude by which we honour the reality of God” [23]. When the soul seeks God in solitude; gradually, familiar everyday sounds fade; to be replaced in turn by silence, and then by an awareness of a ‘presence’: God. For example: Elijah stood on the mountain waiting for the Lord, the Lord was not found in the strong wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire. "And after the fire there was the sound of sheer silence. And when Elijah heard it he covered his face" [24]. When in prayer, Simone Weil, had the distinct impression of being transported to a place where there was "neither perspective nor view" and which seemed to stretch to an “infinity of infinity”. Silence filled every part of space, “a silence which was not an absence of sound but which was the object of a positive sensation, more positive than that of sound.” [25] “A voice from Heaven, as the noise of many waters” (Apoc. 14:2): the ‘silent music’ [26] of the ‘novum canticum’ [27]. Two familiar biblical quotes about silence are “Silence is praise” (Ps.65:1) [28], and “Be silent and know that I am God” (Ps.45:11). Translations vary, often only slightly from bible to bible. With both of these quotes, the ‘casualty’ is the word silence. This is no criticism of biblical scholarship: for it is simply the failure of words to convey an ineffable concept. Silence is a good description of ‘a soul in faith before God’: it is what we expect; yet although it is a good starting point, the word doesn’t quite convey that ‘something’ which is so very intimate. In Psalm 45, ‘Be silent’ is also rendered as ‘Be still’ , ‘Pause awhile’, ‘Wait quietly’, ‘Let be then’, ‘Cease striving’, etc.: each example adds more colour, but also serves to illustrate that inherent difficulty. Although Sr Elizabeth wrote, “Une louange de gloire, c’est une âme de silence… “ , in these notes it is assumed that the understanding, which she was attempting to convey, was closer to the Latin ‘vacuo – to make empty, or void’ of Psalm 45 [29].

“Jesus spent the first 30 years of His Life in silence, then when He came out of that silence to speak to men and establish the Kingdom, as soon as He had spoken He withdrew into the silence of the desert and the mountain” [30]. He withdrew into the desert to pray to His Father. “The Desert Fathers, in their withdrawal from all useless intercourse, show us the purifying function of silence” [31]. The presence of the Holy Trinity in the soul made Sr Elizabeth realise that, interior life cannot blossom unless the soul is a desert of silence: completely denuded; “The Lord is in His Holy Temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him” (Hab. 2:20). A few days before her death, Sr Elizabeth penned her heavenly mission, “to draw souls, by helping them to go out of themselves in order to adhere to God” [32], “behold I will allure her and will lead her into the wilderness: and I will speak to her heart” (Osee 2:14). In heaven not only did she wish to be Laudem Gloriae, it was her intention also to assist souls on earth to become Praises of Glory in the silence of God.

The whole of Our Blessed Lord’s Passion ran its course in silence. Yes, He answered authority, but His Sufferings were borne in silence. He is silent too in the Blessed Sacrament: “He Wills to be silent in every condition.” [33] Again, Sr Elizabeth applied this to the interior life: He is silent in the Heaven of our souls; so what need have those souls for words? “It seems to me that there is no need of set forms of words, (souls) penetrate the Infinity of God, and there, in that silence and calm where He Himself is, they hear what flows from one to the other.” [34]. “He has united us so closely! Let us hide ourselves in eternal silence” [35]. Hiding ourselves in silence was the underlying message when, Our blessed Lord spoke of the need to pray in the secret ‘room’ of our soul (Matt. 6:6). Sr Elizabeth suggested that we should construct a little cell in the soul [36] wherein God could be found. From time-to-time during the day, we could then go there to simply be with Him, in silence. Gradually these visits become more frequent, and longer in duration, until the soul remains almost permanently recollected in God: one abides in him in a manner so captivatingly described by Sr Elizabeth in ‘Heaven in Faith’ [37]. The idea of a cell is thought to have originated with St Catherine of Siena who lived for some 3 years as a recluse in her home, before being drawn back into the world by the Holy Spirit.

Silence of our soul. Mention of the words ‘silent soul’ brings to mind the exemplar of the interior life: Our Lady of Mount Carmel. One can do little more than imagine the virtues of her soul: overflowing with Love; a true garden with flowers of solitude, calm, peace, and tranquillity: in short, a garden of sheer beauty and delight, high up on Mount Carmel. Flowers, which will only grow in the rarefied atmosphere of silence and detachment. Nevertheless, every soul desirous of union with God, must strive to reach those heights of the Mountain of Perfection, with its summit where only the honour and glory of God dwells. “On the Mountain of Carmel in silence, … the Carmelite already lives, as in Heaven, on God alone” [38]. It is an exercise in ‘decreasing deception’, as we are purified during the rugged climb. We see the peak ahead of us; only to find when we arrive at the top, that it is not the summit of the Mountain. This happens time-and-again, but we know that we are heading onward and upward toward the summit, for Jesus is our guide. As we climb, as we are purified, the more rarefied atmosphere is a measure of the improvement in the silence of our soul in the things that are not ‘of God’. “Silence does good to the soul” [39].

In the Commentary on the ‘Living Flame of Love’, St John of the Cross presents an alternative ‘analogy’ of purification, in which the honour and glory of God is assumed [40] to reside in the deepest centre of the soul, in its substance [41], and the ‘fictional peaks’ of Mount Carmel are replaced by ‘degrees of love’. He observes that love is the inclination of the soul and the strength and power which it has to go to God, for, by means of love, the soul is united to God [42]. The Holy Spirit works from within the soul and in silence, at its deepest centre, in the purification of our love [43]. At any given ‘degree’ of that love, we are quite convinced we cannot love God to a greater extent than we are doing: that the flowers will not grow more profusely nor bloom better. Then the Holy Spirit ‘waters the garden’ and invites us to try again, and Jesus guides us in the next degree of love. This also happens time-and-again. St John explains that at each degree, the soul in its love, is centred in the Love of God. As we advance through the degrees of love, so the silence of our soul improves; we experience His Love more profoundly; and we become more deeply centred in Him. Although here-on-earth, we are unlikely to reach the ‘deepest centre’: which corresponds with the summit of Mount Carmel; God is never remote from us, and we always experience the joy of His Love to an ‘overflowing fullness’ concomitant with the degree of our love [44]. Whether we seek God on the heights of Carmel or in the depths of our soul, we need to embrace purification with lively faith, with buoyant hope, and with complete detachment, in the silence of our soul. “The love of silence leads to the silence of love” [45].

Silent to all that is ‘not God’. “Whatever is not God is nothing, and as nothing we ought to reckon it” [46]. There are no weeds in Our Lady’s garden, only flowers. Of course Our Lady gives the Gardener a free hand, whereas we seem to delight in growing a few weeds: we are our own enemy in the parable of the cockle (Matt. 13:24-30)!. So it is with our senses. Our ears listen to the Word of God; but also take in the cacophony of modern living, and gossip. Our eyes behold the Crucified; but stray to everyone else in sight. Our tongue voices the responses at Holy Mass, but afterwards spends a disproportionate amount of time talking with our neighbour and distracting others. No doubt, we do sincerely desire to remain recollected, and to ‘pray ceaselessly’, yet somehow we fail to curb the excesses of our senses. Although silence of the ears, the eyes, and the tongue reduce the spurious activity of the powers of the soul: memory, understanding and will; excessive silence would be counter-productive, for those powers were given to us by God for our eternal salvation. Hence, we strive to make those powers fit to use according to the Will of God [47] in our soul of ‘silence to all that is ‘not God’’, thereby making room for the Word of God [48]. “In all you do, remember your end, and you will never sin” (Ecclus 7:40).

The input from the senses fires the imagination: we can re-live the past, distort the present, and pre-determine the future. Nevertheless, it was to the imagination that Jesus appealed, when He spoke in parables. Realistically, ideas which the imagination conjures up relating to the past, or to the future, are of no moment. As to the present, with discipline, one can gradually tighten the rein on a hyperactive imagination through the intellect, the will, and a buoyant hope of eternal beatitude, to make our imagination a valuable faculty, directed by right reason and illumined by faith. Mother Marie refers to “living by the grace of the present moment before God”, as the ‘Silence of Simplicity’ [45,bis].

How often have we used the phrase, ‘Let’s forgive and forget’ in our dealings with friends, only to find that it is really difficult to ‘forget’? Then, another time and to our dismay, we realise just how easy it is to forget God! “They forgot His works: and they waited not for His counsel” (Ps. 105:13). We have a convenient memory! Is it any wonder that the silence of self-forgetfulness is so elusive: “Help me to forget myself utterly” [49]; let me prove to You, Lord, that my love is pure and disinterested; help me to achieve that void in my soul, and to strive with ‘determined determination’ [50] and with that “poverty of spirit” insisted upon by St John of the Cross [51], to climb Mount Carmel. “Help me to forget myself entirely, totally, unreservedly, without fear or susceptibility, in the big and the little things, O my God, help me” [52], to live in God, to rise above self so as to be a Praise of Glory. It is so important that the void is real, and not a sham: one must turn with ‘determination’ to face God, away from looking at one’s self, “For this you must be uprooted from self, or act as if you were by denying self wherever you meet it” [53] “To love, it is to forget one’s self, so as to be lost in Him that one loves” [54]; here-on-earth, one can be lost, but not completely lost, in His silence. [55]

Spring-cleaning is usually a time of discovery, as well as one of removing cobwebs! Things put safely away as treasures a year ago, are consigned to the dustbin as rubbish. At one time or another we are all guilty of amassing useless material in a filing cabinet (say). Perhaps we might need ‘X’; and we must save ‘Y’. A year on, did we need ‘X’, or look at ‘Y’? Often ‘X’, and/or ‘Y’ relate to spiritual matters, and alongside the ‘useful’ is the ‘useless’: the result of an overt curiosity, arrogant pride, or spiritual blindness. These latter items cannot just go in the dustbin, and spring-cleaning will mean attending to the ‘silence of our intellect’ through purification. How often have we shut up the filing cabinet and tried to forget?

The Holy Spirit’s Gift of wisdom and the Virtue of faith enable us to purify the intellect of error, ignorance and arrogance. St Thomas writes of the wisdom to live by faith, “that habit of mind whereby eternal life is begun in us, making the intellect assent to what is non-apparent” [56]. One might pray also for the Gift of ‘Fear of the Lord’, that in all humility, charity, and self-contempt before God, we conform our spiritual learning to the teaching and tradition of Holy Mother Church.

Sound knowledge of the Faith is the bedrock for our love of God; for our will tends to the good, which is known through the intellect [57]. Through our will we become good at what we do, either as a hobby or for a living. We become good at prayer, but for quite selfish reasons unless our will is ‘silent’: unless our will has for its ‘object’ not just good, but the Summum Bonum. Then we know that ‘silence of abandonment’: the sheer joy and confidence experienced when in His arms, “He leads me into that deep silence that I never want to leave again” [58]. Unfortunately, only part of our will is conformed to the Will of God: part is not, our self-will. Self-will is born of self-love and it serves its own end, instead of God. All our desires, joys, fears, and sorrows must be subject to God: we must be subject to God. “Inordinate love of self is the cause of every sin” [59]. Purification is aided by our buoyant hope in eternal beatitude, but attention to the Virtue of charity is more likely to be effective [60]. St Catherine of Siena said, “The soul cannot live without love” [61]. Since the object of our will, and obviously our love, must be God, and not ourselves; we can achieve this through the ‘silence of detachment’. God does not ask us to cut out all our friends: they are His friends as well; He simply asks that we ‘see’ them through Him, instead of vice-versa. He asks also that we love Him by doing His Will: to keep His commandments in the spirit of the sermon on the mount. In the ‘silence of love’, let us strive to be in His company day and night, to gaze on Him with the eyes of our soul, to imitate Him, to forget our-self in the Praise of His Glory.

A silent soul. Purification, recollection and detachment are never complete, not even in a lifetime; and as with the climb of any mountain, there will be losses as well as gains. However, the principle is unaffected: a silent-soul is the result of cooperation with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Our goal is to be ‘silent’ to all that is ‘not God’, in our senses and in the powers of our soul. St Teresa wrote that, “the person who does most is he who thinks least and desires to do least. The soul must just leave itself in the hands of God, and do what He wills it to do, for His honour and glory, completely disregarding its own advantage and resigning itself as much as it possibly can to the Will of God”.[62]. St Teresa also gives very good advice for those times when the powers of the soul are less active. Remarking on one of her favourite meditations, ‘Christ bound to the Column’, she wrote, “we must sometimes remain by His side with our minds hushed in silence. If we can, we should occupy ourselves in looking upon Him Who is looking at us; keep Him company, humble ourselves before Him; have our delight in Him, and remember that He never deserved to be there”.[63].

a lyre. The ‘silence’ gradually acquired by the soul enables it to hear more clearly the ‘silent music’ of God: unheard by the ear [64]. In the Spiritual Canticle, St John uses the words ‘silent music’ to denote the soul’s almost complete freedom from self-love: the soul is advanced in the illuminative way and the song of the heavenly choirs fills her with “silent music, sounding solitude “ [65]. Further on in the poem, as the soul is being fortified and prepared to enter the unitive way, the Bridegroom makes use of “pleasant lyres and by the sirens’ song” to fill the soul with sweetness and refreshment to combat the ‘ups-and-downs’ of the powers of the soul and to re-form the passions [66].

Although background information on the lyre is not necessary, it has been included because it may be found helpful with Sr Elizabeth’s reference to the lyre in this proposition. In Roman mythology, Mercury was claimed to be the inventor of the lyre, and he was subsequently the patron of shepherds. Although this is disputed in Greek mythology, there is agreement about the association with sheep. The first instrument was made from the shell of a nymph, Chelone, who had been condemned to perpetual silence and changed into a tortoise, for being late at (some sources say: ‘absent from’) Jupiter’s wedding. Although the lyre has fallen into complete desuetude, replica’s are still made: the smallest of these is called a chelys and is built up from the shell of a tortoise. Undoubtedly, the lyre is of great antiquity and is known to have been introduced into Greece through Asia-minor from Egypt. It was well known in Old Testament times and scholars are firmly of the opinion that David played on a lyre and not on a harp [67]. The instrument was often referred to as a ‘melodious’ lyre, and mythology cites examples of Arion charming dolphins, and Orpheus charming savage beasts and infernal gods, with the music. It is but a short step, to appreciate its use in accompanying certain species of poetry: themes of love, devotion, friendship; and by extension to songs and hymns. It was played with both hands: the fingers of one hand, and a plectrum held in the other. There are two examples showing female figures playing the lyre preserved in the Vatican: one on a statue of Apollo, the other on a Roman fresco painting. The number of strings could vary from a minimum of 3 up to around 10; and it is worth noting that the strings could not be stopped with the fingers. Hence the number of notes which could be produced, was the same as the number of strings: which is an important feature in the mystical use of the lyre to produce ‘silent music’.

With her passion for music; and later on, verse; it is impossible to date Elizabeth’s introduction to the lyre. However, it is likely that this coincided with the publication of the 2nd edition of Sr Therese’s autobiography, ‘Histoire d’une Ame’ because Elizabeth refers to a lyre in the opening line of her poem to mark her visit to Lourdes in July 1898. All of Sr Therese’s references to the lyre are mystical: the ‘face of Jesus’ is a lyre [68]; the human heart is a lyre [69]; and her sister Celine is the lyre of Jesus [70]. In passing, it should be noted that the painting of Sr Therese in the autobiography, shows her with a small 10 string harp, not a lyre. Elizabeth would have been familiar with these mystical uses of the lyre before she entered Carmel, but she made no reference to the lyre, either in her poetry or her letters, before she entered the infirmary in March 1906. On 8th April, Palm Sunday, Sr Elizabeth was granted a deep mystical experience. About 3 weeks later, she wrote to Guite, “I don’t know if the hour has come to pass from this world”; she knew that Guite must be prepared quickly to be Laudem Gloriae ; and so she continued, “the Holy Spirit will transform you into a mysterious lyre, which, in silence, beneath His Divine touch will produce a magnificent canticle of Love” [71]. Here is the core of Proposition 2. Here we have Sr Elizabeth’s sister, Guite, as the lyre of the Holy Spirit; while in Sr Therese’s letters [70,bis] her sister Celine is the lyre of Jesus. In a letter to her sister written on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Sr Elizabeth implicitly confirms her equality in love with Guite as she links phrase after phrase to her: “I do everything for both of us”, “it is for both of us”, “let us overlook no sacrifice”, “if He takes your sister, it would be to be even more yours”, “little sister, echo of my soul”, “the homeland of the two little sisters”, “wish I could make my soul pass into yours”, …… and “That is our refrain on our lyre of Praises of Glory” [72]. Separate wills, and Praises of Glory; but one soul in Him and one lyre under the touch of the Holy Spirit. It is implicit that even as the Praise of Glory is ‘in Christ’ (Gal.2:20); the lyre must also be in Christ and ‘heard’ through Christ (Gal.3:27). Finally, there is nothing to equal this tribute to her sister, on noticing Guite’s unselfish love for her husband: “I ought to be, like her, an instrument from which the divine Master can draw the melodies He loves best, effacing myself to give Him all the glory, only seconding His action by cooperation with His grace.” [73]

Sr Elizabeth wrote both a poem and a letter to mark Mother Germaine’s feast day in 1906. She concluded her poem [74] by writing that the Prioress would hear Sr Elizabeth’s lyre with its sweet refrain of love from heaven; and although she did not mention the lyre in her letter, she referred to the Prioress as “our shepherdess and our queen” [75]. The poem was entitled, ‘The Dream of a Praise of Glory – Intimate memories’, and it was written 2 months before her ‘Heaven in Faith’ retreat and the propositions for a Praise of Glory. In the short interval between the end of that retreat and her ‘Last Retreat’, she wrote to her beloved Mother Marie to mark her feast-day, “On her lyre is always the hymn of silence, is not that the most beautiful of canticles” [76], and a day later she wrote to another religious, “and with David sing to the Lord on our lyre: ‘I shall keep my strength for You’ “[77]: as with the letter to her sister there is one lyre [72,bis]. In both letters, she referred to herself as Laudem Gloriae [76.bis][77,bis]. Apart from the use in ‘Heaven in Faith’ and the ‘Last retreat’ [76.bis] these were the only references that Sr Elizabeth made to the ‘lyre’ while in Carmel.

beneath the mysterious touch of the Holy Spirit, from which He can draw divine harmonies. The lyre has yet to be fitted with strings, so that our ‘silent music’ of adoration may ascend to Our loving Father. Although that may be rather obvious, it does not help determine what strings are necessary; because the ‘sound’ emanating from a vibrating string is not the ‘string’. However, the fact that the Holy Spirit draws the divine harmonies from the strings does determine their type.

The work of the Holy Spirit in purifying us is frequently likened to the climb of Mount Carmel, and we have a mental picture of the Mountain, as drawn by St John of the Cross. We imagine the top to be quite flat, “where only the honour and glory of God dwells”. Perhaps we should look again, or better still, take a look at the Seal of the Discalced Carmelite Order: St John placed the Cross on the summit. Our climb of Mount Carmel is something far deeper than ‘just purification’; it is our ‘way of the Cross’ in which we share the Cross of Jesus and suffer with Him. Of course, the top of the Mountain hasn’t changed, for whenever we look at the Crucified, we look beyond it to ineffable Love. The measure of our love for Him is our willingness to suffer with Him. “If you only knew how necessary suffering is, in order that God’s work may be done in our soul” [78] This overflowing of our love delights Our loving Father and so determines 2 permanent strings on our lyre. The first is ‘suffering’: with, for, and in Jesus; while the second is ‘joy’: in sharing His Cross, and being with Him – the bride with her beloved Bridegroom, on the way of the Cross. There will be other ‘occasional’ strings as we make that journey: trials, consolations; presents from our Bridegroom. We must, however, make sure that these strings go on the lyre, “How worthless is everything that has not been done for God and with God” [79].

Every now and then, we have to be reminded that however independent we might be in our natural lives, the opposite is true at a supernatural level, “Without me you can do nothing” (Phil. 2:13)[80]. The soul does not act on its own initiative; but is docile to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, completely surrendered in loving attention to God. As the bride in the Spiritual Canticle says, “I gave myself to Him indeed, receiving nothing” [81] and she continues, “now my exercise is in loving alone” [82].

When we were baptised as Christians, we were given Gifts of the Holy Spirit together with infused Virtues. These were to enable us to be followers of Christ, in the supernatural sense. “The path of the just, as a shining light, goes forward and increases even to perfect day” (Prov.4:18). The Gifts are certain perfections in man by which he can be docile to the illumination, and the inspiration, of the Holy Spirit in a supernatural manner. The Gifts assist, and perfect, the Virtues by raising them to a supernatural level, and can accomplish things beyond the powers of the enhanced Virtues [83]. St Thomas states that “the operation which proceeds from a Virtue perfected by a Gift is called a Beatitude [84]. The Beatitudes are the “string-makers”, not the strings, and are necessary travelling companions on the way of the Cross. “By good works you may make sure of your calling and election” (2P.1:10).

Every Beatitude is pleasing to God, and the outpouring of Divine Love to the docile soul, resulting from the exercise of a Virtue, is manifest in the ‘Fruits of the Holy Spirit’ [85]. “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt.7:16). Fruits are not virtues, because they are not habits; but are acts proceeding in us under the influence of the Holy Spirit [86]. There is no 1:1 relationship between the Fruits and the Virtues [87]. The fruits are the other strings on the lyre and, although important as such, the real interest centres, not on the fruits themselves, but on the use to which these have been put. This is because the fruits cannot be offered to God as our spirituality, whereas their ‘use’ can be. In the same way that the strings are not the same as the sound created by the vibrating strings; so the fruits are not the same as the use to which they are put. [88] The ‘uses’ are carried to God as loving harmonies arising from the strings, to ‘praise the Glory of God’ (Ps.33:2); conveying the praise, the reverence, and the service which we, as creatures, owe to Him. Praising: joyfully acknowledging God for what He is; reverencing: joyfully preferring what is good, true, and right; and serving: joyfully giving back to God our free-will: “I with nothing to give, give back my whole self” [89].

knowing that suffering is a string which produces still more exquisite tones, this soul longs to see it on its instrument, Although 8 Beatitudes are given in St Matthews Gospel, these are simply to illustrate a principle: that anyone, docile to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, who works for the furtherance of the Kingdom of Our Father, in the Name of Jesus, will be rewarded. “As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to Me” (Matt. 25:40). ‘Beatitudes’ may be offered to us anywhere, and at any time, by the Spirit of Love. What would our response be, to finding the hungry to be fed, or the badly injured at the roadside? Do we give the one group money, and ring for an ambulance for the other on our mobile, before going on our way? We have been charitable, and have given practical help where needed, what more could anyone do? What more, indeed! We must not be surprised, however, if the Holy Spirit cannot even raise a tune on our lyre, that is if He can find any strings! The main thrust of Jesus’ words has been missed: Jesus, Himself, hungers in the hungry and suffers in the injured by the roadside; and if Jesus is hungry and suffering, then we must be hungry and suffering with Him, or have we forgotten about ‘He in me and I in Him? When our acts are influenced by Him and given expression with Him in mind, our character is changed by Him as a result of those acts. If we are truly compassionate, then we too suffer with Jesus over our neighbour; and our gentleness, humility, patience, etc. are all strengthened by the experience. For the only merit in suffering lies in the use to which it is put: for example, our capacity to love is measured by our capacity to suffer [90].

The ‘Beatitudes’ are now examined briefly to relate these to the Gifts, Virtues (spiritual habits), and Fruits (acts of virtue), so as to suggest possible strings for the lyre, in situations where suffering and joy would also be strings.

How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Perhaps, either we, or our neighbours, are downtrodden, no longer able to cope with life, oppressed by authority, elderly, or unemployed.
Strings: Benignity, Charity, Continency, Goodness, Mildness, Modesty, Suffering, Joy.
Virtue: Temperance.
Gift: Fear of the Lord, instils scorn for riches.

Happy are the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage.
Perhaps, either we, or our neighbours, have suffered the loss of earthly possessions or friends, or have been subjected to adversity or disgrace; but we are not letting this affect our love of God or sour our relations with other people.
Strings: Abandonment, Charity, Chastity, Fidelity, Longanimity, Mildness, Patience, Peace, Suffering, Joy.
Virtue: Justice.
Gift: Piety.

Happy are they that mourn: they shall be comforted.
Are we weeping for our sins at the sight of the Crucified; for the loss of loved ones; or for those suffering tyranny, oppression, and injustice?
Strings: Charity, Goodness, Modesty, Patience, Peace, Suffering, Joy.
Virtue: Hope.
Gift: Knowledge, enables us to prepare the way of the Lord, to disdain the vanity of the world, and to do the Will of God.

Happy are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.
The Cross is Infinite Mercy, when we bear it we become merciful. How do we measure up with the Corporal Works of Mercy? Do we feed the hungry, refresh the thirsty, help the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison, and bury the dead?
Strings: Benignity, Charity, Goodness, Mildness, Modesty, Patience, Peace, Suffering, Joy.
Virtue: Prudence.
Gift: Counsel, to re-animate and to encourage.

Happy those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: they shall be satisfied.
Are we passionate in our pursuit of virtue? “He that is righteous corrects his way” (Prov. 21:29). How do we deal with set-backs, contradictions and disillusionment as we labour for the glory of God, as we seek to triumph over self-love?
Strings: Fidelity, Goodness, Longanimity, Patience, Suffering, Joy.
Virtue: Fortitude.
Gift: Fortitude.

Happy are the pure in heart: they shall see God.
What is our inward purity like? Are we attached only to God with unalloyed love? Do we practice mortification, asceticism, and self-denial? Do we see our neighbour through God? What about outward purity: our purity of intention; not indulging in guile? “If thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off” (Matt.5:30). Are we careful not to provide fodder for the scandal-monger?
Strings: Charity, Chastity, Fidelity, Modesty, Suffering, Joy.
Virtue: Faith.
Gift: Understanding, to purify the eyes of the soul.

Happy are the peacemakers: they shall be called the sons of God.
Do we face unpleasantness and unpopularity when there is a need to establish peace; facing up squarely to the difficulties? Would we be prepared to sacrifice everything, even our lives, in the cause of peace?
Strings: Benignity, Charity, Goodness, Longanimity, Patience, Suffering, Joy.
Virtue: Charity.
Gift: Wisdom.

Happy are they who are persecuted in the cause of righteousness: theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
The various aspects of this Beatitude are covered collectively by all of the others.

It is usual to include the evangelical counsels along with the Beatitudes. These contribute as ‘a way of living’ to the ‘living’ of the Beatitudes; and as that ‘living’ is dynamic so the strings on the lyre: our spirituality offered to God; are ever-changing.

that (the ‘tones’ of suffering) may thus more deliciously move the Heart of its God. “God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son” (Jn 3:16). Could Our Father, so loving, look on the Passion and Death of His Son and be indifferent? What, then, is His reaction most likely to be when He sees a soul in suffering, identify herself freely and lovingly, with the Crucified? Even though God is prepared to allow us to suffer [91], His Heart is going to be moved: moved by the silent music drawn by the Holy Spirit of Love from the lyre of His Son, Jesus Christ. The ‘untransformed’ lyre of the Praise of Glory produces discordant notes; and it cannot be tuned, as the purification of the soul is on-going. This does not matter, because ‘tuning’ takes place as the soul is transformed in Jesus, and it is the silent music of His lyre which the Father hears. “And Thou, Oh Father, bend down toward Thy poor little creature … beholding in her none other than Thy Beloved Son” [92]. Flawless, or not, the divine harmonies will enter the Heart of God as surely as any arrow of love, and so cause an outpouring of Love to a joyous soul. “For the pursuit of God by the soul is indeed no other thing than the pursuit of the soul by God” [93].


APPENDIX ... The 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and some synonyms.

Charity	acceptance, benevolence, brotherly love, forbearance, generosity, goodwill, indulgence, leniency, sympathy, tolerance, understanding.
Joy	bliss, delight, euphoria, exultance, happiness, pleasure, rejoicing.
Peace	accord, calm, comfortableness, concord, empathy, harmony, placidity, quiet, restfulness, serene, stillness, tranquil, unity.
Patience	passiveness, politeness, resignation, self-control.
Longanimity	endurance, fortitude, long-suffering, patience, perseverance, self-control, tolerance.
Goodness	complacency, complaisance, concern, consideration, forgiving, generous, magnanimity, tender-heartedness, thoughtfulness, tolerance.
Benignity	blessing, courtesy, decency, kindly, niceness, service.
Mildness	control, gentleness, humility, leniency, meekness, mercy, moderation, restraint, sobriety, softness, submissiveness, temperance.
Fidelity	constancy, faith, faithfulness, loyalty, steadfastness, trueness.
Modesty	abasement, decency, delicacy, humility, lowliness, meekness, plainness, propriety, simplicity, unpretentiousness.
Continency	chastity, temperance.
Chastity	becomingness, honourable, purity, seemly, virtuousness.

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Next Update: Sept.25th 2005