1. This Update is a continuation Update 17. As 'prayer' has been mentioned in most of the Updates, and this Update is in part a drawing together of previous threads, some repetition is unavoidable. It is suggested that a Desktop Search Engine – such as Copernic – can be helpful to identify previous usage on the site.
2. References for Sr Elizabeth's letters and poems from previous Updates can be found on the Web-site. Go to the 'Index Page', then scroll down to the bottom table for the listing. Also note that a short paper entitled 'The Gifts of God' is on the web site.
3. Note that the right column in the table of contents (above) is active, and can be used for navigation. Return to the top of the table of contents from within the text, can be achieved by clicking the active track of the twin tracks on the right side of the text.
4. References '[ ]' in this Update are neither 'active' nor provided with 'tool-tips'. Access to the expanded references is obtained by clicking the active track of the twin tracks on the left side of this text.
5. Where Fr De Meester has been quoted or paraphrased, in translation, any misrepresentation in his intended meaning is unintentional and is regretted.
6 "Let the reader, ... where he finds me erring, call me to his side. So we may keep to the path, in Love, as we fare towards Him, 'whose Face is ever to be sought'." [3]
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.



THE SOUL: EXPRESSING THE INEXPRESSIBLE!

Introduction
It has been noted many times in these updates how Sr Elizabeth matched the content of her letters to their recipients. She knew them from in the world and was writing from that knowledge, as well as from her developing spirituality. On many occasions in letters to non-religious, especially in relation to prayer, she referred to the soul in terms fairly easy to comprehend: using familiar everyday analogies. Although Sr Elizabeth thought in terms of these analogies; these were for her, and for us, merely 'stepping-stones' used by the Holy Spirit to invite us to go further. We don't cast them aside, but 'look through them' to the Reality beyond, to which we aspire: a Reality beyond analogy or name; but, as yet, which "we see through a glass in a dark manner." (1Cor.13:12). For example, "A Carmelite is a soul ... who has gazed on the Crucified." [4]: superficially, we see the folly and the horror of crucifixion; but, by grace, 'looking through the Cross' we see ineffable Love. Some of these analogies have occurred in previous updates, and are referred to in the present update. Hence it is useful to view them collectively: subject to the important provisos that this is not attempt to 'explain' the spirituality of the soul, and the results are in accord with the dogma and doctrine of Holy Mother Church. This treatment is not an alternative to the Propositions in the 'Hymn of Adoration Updates: there is no clash. There, the 'action' of the soul in the 'praise of Glory' was emphasized.

Prior to Carmel
Every year up until 1900, Elizabeth went with her Mother and sister to the south of France on holiday. They visited churches and shrines, often staying with their many friends. There was ample opportunity for the sisters and their friends to enjoy the countryside with excursions, picnics, and walks. Elizabeth was thrilled by everything which she saw. These activities are well documented by Elizabeth in about 15 letters covering the period from 1893-1900. [5] We read how she loved walking, picking raspberries in the woods [6], and going on picnics taking books with her [7]. Like Therese before her, she was fascinated by the sea: on one occasion, spending a morning on the beach, admiring the sea "which I love so much"; on another, going on a small boat in a rough sea, to visit a liner. She thrilled to witness ocean waves pounding the rocks. It was a visit to the ocean at Biarritz which occasioned her remark, "I love this horizon without boundary, without limit." [8] Mountains and rocks captivated her: "the mountains are so beautiful. I would have liked never to leave them" [9]. In a poem, the 'blessed rocks of Massabielle' were linked with a visit to Lourdes. [10] She also describes with great gusto her visit to the breathtaking 'Gulf of Hell' near Luchon, and of how, with no fear she looked over the edge of the precipitous ravine into the waters far below. [11] Elizabeth has left us her reminiscences of 1898 in 5 poems: her ecstasy, happiness, and joy leap out from every line! [12]

"The beauties all around her always reminded her heart of Heaven." [13] "My heart is always with Him." [14] Carlipa had a special place in her heart, to which she always referred in her letters from Carmel to her 'Rolland aunts'. The profound solitude [15] of the thickly wooded countryside; walking on a nearby 'flat-topped' hill under a star-lit sky, or along the lovely valley of the river; were treasured memories. She often met her childhood-confident, Canon Angles, on these summer vacations, but whether she stayed at his home is uncertain.[16] In April 1897 he moved to Carcassonne which was not far from Carlipa. Carcassonne, 'the virgin of Languedoc', was a fortified town which in the middle-ages was "virtually impregnable", but then it fell into decay. The romantic period of the 19th Century brought about a revival of the town's fortunes, and in Elizabeth's lifetime the 'city' had been almost completely restored. Elizabeth, the daughter and grand-daughter of army officers always had a fascination for 'things military' [17] and would doubtless have been told about those "impregnable defences" either by the Canon or by her Mother who stayed with him when Elizabeth was in Carmel. [18]

In Carmel
Elizabeth took the memories of God's creation: the beauties of nature, to Carmel with her; which is not surprising. What is surprising, at first sight, is that she took the impregnable defences of Carcassonne with her as well! The former, as the basis of her 'descriptive' activities of the soul; the latter, in her positive phrase: "the impregnable/invincible fortress of recollection". It is a truism that, for Sr Elizabeth, some spiritual activities of the individual soul could be discussed by reference to familiar analogies in the world: provided, such discussion was limited to the wonders of God's creation in nature; and that, however plausible, the references were not by way of theological explanation.

In a letter written less than a month after her entry into Carmel, she wrote, " In God, I have all valleys, all lakes, all perspectives." [19]. Here, it is 'In God' that is important: yes, those memories are there, now transformed in her Bridegroom, with the added joy of finding them 'in Him'; "Now that I least desire them, I have them all without desire." [20] Fr De Meester draws our attention to Sr Therese's poem, "Ce que j'aimais" [21] in which she wrote, "I have the beautiful lake ... the valley ... the seas ... the brilliant star ... the forests ... the mountains". It was written for Celine and, although continuous, divides into 2 parts: before Carmel, and in Carmel. Although there are parallels between Sr Elizabeth's letters and Sr Therese's poem; it must be remarked that the poem was written to assuage sadness thereby turning it to joy; while the letters were written in joy. Fr De Meester is not suggesting plagiarism, because this would be refuted by Sr Elizabeth's relevant poems and letters having been written before the first publication of 'Histoire d'une Ame' in 1898. Fr D. Kinney draws attention to the inclusion of the same ideas in the 'Spiritual Canticle' by our Holy Father [22]; but Elizabeth was not familiar with this material either, prior to Carmel.

In another letter she wrote, "The horizons at Carmel are even more beautiful, it is the infinite." [23] Sr Elizabeth noted that because the horizon was the infinite, it expanded every day [24] and "one can always go further in infinity". [25] We set ourselves goals of Christian Perfection on the horizon that God lets us see, but then God encourages us to go further. As she remarked, the horizon seems to move and we usually do not reach it in this life. Sr Elizabeth was not linking either the horizon or infinity with God.[26] By definition, we cannot quantify the 'presence of God': God 'is' where He 'acts'. This point has been 'laboured', because her neat phrase that 'one can always go further in infinity', must not be linked with St John of the Cross commentary on the 'Living Flame' where he states that God is at the deepest centre of the soul: one may be seeking an illusory 'centre', which is not the 'deepest' centre [27]. However her remark, that "the Divine Guest was to be found in the depths of our souls." [28], is clearly in keeping with our holy Father's remarks.

The 'Cell' and the 'Depths of the Soul'
Sr Elizabeth advised a young friend to build a cell in her soul as a sort of hermitage or refuge, where she would be sure to find God.[29] The key words in the letter were: "build a cell" and "enter it from time to time". Fr De Meester has noted 'little cell (within the heart)', and St Catherine of Siena advised "never leave it".[30] The fact that we have built a 'cell' resides in our memory, and from time to time, activated by the heart, we recall it to mind. This meaning of 'enter it' is embodied in Jesus instruction "enter into thy chamber and having shut the door, .." (Matt.6:6). The point has been emphasized, because Sr Elizabeth refers both to the 'soul in the Presence of God' and to 'us entering into our soul in His Presence', which can be confusing. The cell is a first stage: to get us to withdraw into the soul. As our purification proceeds and we spend more time in our souls, Sr Elizabeth recommended that we go deeper, "enter in the centre of your soul where the Divine Guest dwells".[31]

"When Elizabeth Catez was shown into her Carmelite cell she was heard to murmur: "The Trinity is there!"." [32]: "where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also." (Matt.6:21) She apparently made little or no distinction between 'our cell' in Carmel and the 'little cell within the soul'. In her letters she refers to her cell as a little nest [33], a true paradise [34] filled with silence [35], a Sanctuary for Him and me alone [36] in solitude [37]. "If He did not fill our cells how empty they would be." [38] The foregoing remarks could apply to either type of cell, whereas "from deep in my cell, I follow you everywhere" [39] would appear to refer to the cell of her soul.

When the first signs of Sr Elizabeth's illness became apparent, "(she spent) time in the fresh air ... in the most deserted part of our big garden ... All nature seems so full of God.. " [40] That deserted part of the garden became her 'cell'. More than that, it became her Thebaid [41], her desert region where she had solitude and silence. She specifically referred to the cell being her Thebaid in her retreat of October 1905 [42]; but interestingly, she referred to woodlands in southern France as a Thebaid in 1902 [43], having first used the word in a letter when on holiday following the great mission of 1899 [44] and well before entering Carmel. The cell merely requires to be a region of tranquility, and solitude, where she can be 'alone with the Alone' in silence: "I will lead my bride into the desert and speak to her heart."(Hos.2:14); a region to commune with God 'heart-to-heart'. Following the example of Our Blessed Lord (e.g., Lk.5:16), it could mimic the desert regions of the upper Nile valley, or the thickly wooded countryside of the Aude.

Although constructing a 'cell' is merely a beginning in the sense of being a hermitage, of being a desert place were we go, "another Bethany where Jesus may come to rest and where (we) serve Him the banquet of love." (Lk.10:38-42) [45] It must be 'alive', growing from a place to go from time-to-time; to become the heart of our inner life: "the Divine Guest (is) to be found in the depths of our souls." [46] The analogy of the desert must ultimately be left behind. This applies to a similar concept: the abyss; extensively used by Sr Elizabeth. Although 'abyss' was very much a vogue word of her time [47], using an analogy of an abyss would surely have been suggested by Elizabeth's excitement at the 'Gulf of Hell'. Fr De Meester lists over 30 instances of its use in her writings: interestingly, it does not occur in her 'Personal notes' or in her treatise, 'Let yourself be Loved'. It seems to have been first used in a letter, following her meeting with Pere Vallee in 1901 in which Divine Indwelling was discussed.

The 'abyss'
With her excitement hardly contained, she wrote, "I so love the mystery of the Holy Trinity, it is an abyss in which I lose myself" [48]: i.e., a 'silent desert'. We notice that in its use here, 'abyss' could have been replaced by 'mystery': apart from the repetition; it is impenetrable, profound, and deep, but not a wonder of nature.[49] She had written, "je me perds" which gives an insight into her understanding of 'lose': for example, she did not use, 'bury myself' or 'immerse myself'. Now in 'Heaven in Faith' she wrote, "So should we descend daily by this path into the abyss... . It is there, sunk to into its lowest depths ... " [50]; and "God is there at the bottom of the Abyss." [51]. Surely, a first instinct is to think of a natural wonder, rather than an impenetrable mystery: a double usage to ponder. On occasion, Sr Elizabeth associated the verb 'to plunge' with 'abyss' [52] and with God, "The Unchanging One, ... who will satisfy our hunger during eternity and who, already here below, wants to plunge us ever deeper into the infinite depths, into the “great vision!”[53] Fr De Meester notes the influence of Ruysbroec. [54]

In some 36 references, Sr Elizabeth applied the word 'abyss' both to God and the soul: God as the abyss of mercy and unfathomable Love [55]:"The abyss of His Love surrounds (the soul) like a garment" [56] ; the soul as the abyss of humility and nothingness. [57]:"The soul should plunge into the abyss of its own nothingness". [58] As noted above, we are introduced to the idea of a double abyss [59]: "Let us hide ourselves at the bottom of the double abyss."[60] Yet this is only another approach to the fundamental tenet of "God in me and I in Him": there is but one abyss. "I have only one (desire for your soul), that you move in Love ... that He might hollow out His abyss in your soul and that you might be always present to Him there." [61] In Baptism, God chose to live in the bottomless depths of the soul: bottomless, that is, for God; but not so for the soul still seeking Christian Perfection. Because of this demarcation, the concept of a double abyss is helpful. In the 'Living Flame', St John of the Cross refers to God hollowing out voids in the soul which He then fills. One could say with him, that one goes deeper into the soul: that the bottom of the abyss of our nothingness is closer to the Absolute.

No matter what the degree of purification, the soul is still present to God: "the abyss of our nothingness encounters the abyss of God" [62], resulting in the hollowing out of the soul. Although the soul cannot attain the 'bottom" of the 'bottomless' abyss in this life, "the Master makes her sound the depths of the bottomless abyss, that she may learn to fulfill the office which will be hers in eternity." [63] A double abyss of Love, 'bridged' by Our Divine Saviour, to make the ' intimate friendship' of prayer a reality. "I apply all this to the beautiful virtue of simplicity concerning which a pious author has written: 'It gives the soul the repose of the abyss,'[64] that is, rest in God, the unfathomable Abyss, prelude to and echo of the eternal. Glorified souls have this rest in the abyss because they contemplate God in the simplicity of His essence" [65] "What things Thou hast prepared for them that wait for Thee."(Is.64:4): the abyss' of Love, of Glory [66], that God is inviting us to share for all eternity; because, as we go deeper, we become more like Him, being transformed in Him through living in Him [67]. "This is how I understand "belong to the house of God" it is living in the bosom of the tranquil Trinity" [68], in my interior abyss, in this "invincible fortress of Holy Recollection"[69] of which St John of the Cross speaks![70] There, we lose ourselves in peace, silence, and tranquility: like a drop of water in the ocean – the ocean of Love.

In conclusion, we should remember that God requires our participation. We have the invitation of the Holy Spirit, we must accept it with the grace of deep humility and "plunge into the abyss" [71] of the Holy Trinity: the heart of the silent desert, our Thebaid. There, with the bride of the Canticle and Sr Elizabeth, we 'know nothing' "Nescivi" [72], we are unable 'to express the inexpressible', for in those bottomless depths, "there is no name, no image, no activity, but only stillness and oneness" [73] for God is a "mystery beyond names, forms or distinctions, a silent desert."[74] Yet in that 'stillness and oneness' we "remain in silence, so His Divine touch may form (us) in the image of the Lord." [75]



THE SOUL: A HOUSE OF PRAYER

Introduction
Just weeks before the death of Sr Elizabeth, she was asked by Mother Germaine about 'her plans' for eternity. Her immediate answer was 'instinctive': "I will rush like a little rocket to the bosom of my Three". [76] Isn't that how she began her magnificent prayer: almost 2 years earlier; substituting her 'heaven in faith' for Heaven itself: "plunged in the bosom of her Trinity" [77]? Mother Germaine would not have been surprised by the answer to her question, nor, by the opening lines of her 'prayer' had she known about it.[78] How well, Mother Germaine knew her daughter, "No one will ever know how deep was the spirituality of this angelic young nun, who uttered the most sublime speeches with the frankness of a child, as though they were the most natural remarks to make". [79]

In her name 'Elizabeth' and in her degree of 'union', Sr Elizabeth's soul was a 'House of God': a dwelling place of the Most Holy Trinity; and a Temple of the Holy Spirit. The words of Lacordaire 'addressed' to Mary Magdalene, "No longer ask anyone on earth or anyone in Heaven for (Jesus) for He is your soul; and your soul is He!" [80], could well be applied to Sr Elizabeth. In prayer, she entered her soul, a House of God, a place of tranquillity, an abyss of peace and Love. "I had never understood so well the mystery in my name." [81] She was guided into the depths of the abyss by the Spirit of Love, following the example of our Holy Mother, "It is most necessary that I should ... commend myself to the Holy Spirit, and ... beg Him to speak for me" [82]. In these first few lines of her Prayer, Sr Elizabeth is unwittingly showing us how we should 'approach' prayer: as a visit to the home of a 'special' friend. "Our Father's house, which we should never leave." [83] She invites us to exclaim with her, "Oh, this is my life!"[84]; to "walk the magnificent road of the presence of God on which the soul journeys 'alone with the Alone'." [85] A life so real to her, that she said to a Sister, "O, do you not feel the 'Three'?" [86] She was, of course, referring to that presence of God within each of us,[87] or, quite simply, close to us. [88]

"He wants to be the friend we can always find."[89] It is quite unbelievable that God should refer to us as His friends (Jn 15:13-15), yet all may partake of that friendship and are made welcome. Reading those opening lines of her Prayer again, there is a new awakening as we sense the awe, the wonder, and the excitement of being drawn deeper into our own soul: the anticipation expressed by that opening 'O my God'. In the 'Living Flame of Love', we read how 'O' is "the cry of strong desire, and earnest supplication". [90] As we abandon ourselves to Him, as we look at Him, peace and calm pervade our soul; we invite "Christ to put us in chains and invade us, that we may be lost in Him like a drop of water in the ocean." [91] and so "never leave Him". Oh let us "keep His Commandments and abide in His Love." (Jn 15:10) It really is just like visiting a friend, we go to have an intimate conversation with our host: talking with. and listening to, Him; and to have refreshment: the manna of the desert (Deut.8:3,16) and the water from the rock. (Ex.17:6)

Yet there is something more, overwhelmingly more. "There is a Being who is Love and who wishes us to live in communion with Him." [92] Jesus wishes us to abide in His Love, to stay with Him, "not for a few moments, a few passing hours, but abide permanently, habitually. Abide in Him, pray in Him, adore in Him, love in Him, suffer in Him, work in Him, act in Him." [93]. Since we are made in His image, we have an insatiable need to become more like Him, to be conformed with Him and to be transformed in Him: through gifts of His Love; "that there shall be one Christ loving Himself".[94] 'Daily', then, we descend into the abyss of Love: God Himself [95]; that, in our abyss of nothingness, we may "seek ourselves in Him". Words spoken by Jesus to our Holy Mother, St Teresa. [96] In his commentary on these words, St John of the Cross made the fundamental point that man truly finds himself only when he finds himself in God – echoing St Augustine: "Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart has no rest 'til it comes to Thee". When we begin to abide in His Love, when "our soul rests in this Immensity" [97], we begin to find ourselves in Him, and "possess to some degree the substance of eternal beatitude." [98] in our 'Heaven in faith' ici-bas. "He wills that where He is, we too may be, not only through all eternity but even in time, which is eternity begun and ever in progress." [99]

Sr Elizabeth was very aware that Satan is ever-ready to disturb the calm and peaceful soul, though at "rest in God, the unfathomable abyss" [100], and she calls on God for help. "May nothing distract me from You, neither noises nor distractions, nothing." [101], that she can "listen to Him in the silence of a heart that wants only to belong to Him." [102] She begins with the 'self', not only must it be 'entirely, wholly' removed; every vestige must go: that Satan cannot get a 'foothold'. Impossible for us, though not for God: as St Francis of Sales said, the self only dies shortly after we do! Then, in her 'heaven in faith' she can 'bury' herself in Him. [103] The translation in 'CW1': "established"; is better, for the reflexive verb 's'établir' means 'to settle' or to take up one's residence: that feeling of, 'there will be work to do in His peace'. "that I might always remain beneath the great vision." [104] "My Christ is always there praying in me, and I pray with Him" [105] "It is through Him, by His radiance, that I must do everything. That is my life." [106] 'Bury' does not convey such feeling. It is but a short step to realize that to encourage 'peace of mind', we must learn from our past life, but not live in it; and as we cannot foretell the future with a sure certainty, we should leave it to God. "My Master is asking me to live in an eternal present, with no past, no future, but wholly in the unity of my being, in an eternal present. What is this present? David tells me: "For Him they shall always adore." (Ps. 71:15) That is the eternal present in which a "praise of Glory should abide".[107]

The nature of the work to be done, with God's help, is now revealed: that she may descend even further into the abyss of Love. Only by being docile to the Holy Spirit, by attention to the beatitudes and prayer, can we, along with Sr Elizabeth, love God more completely with His own Love, in Him, and through Him; so as to be carried further into the depths of Trinitarian Love. At the time her Prayer was written, Sr Elizabeth had expressed the ideas of the sentence: "May nothing disturb ... depth of Thy Mystery"; in her poem, "You radiate the unique Good", with: 'You are my immutable Jesus, the Prince of Peace, carrying me, and consuming me, in You' [108] i.e., the consuming, purifying, fire of Love. Ever conscious, that 'God is in me, and I am in God', immediately prior to the retreat preceding the writing of her Prayer, Sr Elizabeth had proposed asking "the incarnate Word to establish His dwelling in our souls through Love and that 'they' might never leave Him again." [109] Surely, that is a pre-requisite for our prayer, that we invite Jesus to make our soul an ever better place for Him to dwell in; and that He teach us to dwell in Him: i.e., 'in living faith' "wholly yielded up to His creative action". "O soul, my adopted daughter, look at Me and you will forget yourself; flow entirely into My Being, come die in Me that I may live in you." [110] Then, is our 'intimate conversation' grounded in "true, invincible, and perfect peace." [111]; and, lest we forget, in the language of Love: silence, "loving each other." [112]

The Divine Guest
Advent is a time of preparation for the 'coming of Christ' in the Nativity: our anticipation, and awareness, of the forthcoming celebration are heightened and we participate more meaningfully and joyfully in it. So it is with prayer: we need to prepare for that "intimate sharing with our Friend", so that we come to it with joyful anticipation. In Update 17, two important pre-requisites to prayer were noted: God must be consciously present to us in our soul, and we must be recollected in Him. Each, in intention and act, is part of our on-going prayer. It is an over-simplification to think that nothing else is necessary, for while 'The Presence of God' and 'Recollection' could be considered all embracing, a better coverage of Sr Elizabeth's 'preparation for prayer' : as culled from her letters, poems, personal notes, and spiritual treatises; is realised by also treating such topics as 'inner silence', 'distractions', living faith', 'Heaven on earth', ... , separately.

The Presence of God
“Never will I be able to express what I saw there..... No longer a human glance, but something angelic. Her eyes were luminous, transparent: shining with a heavenly light... The impression will always remain with me”.[113] This was how Mme Vathaire described Elizabeth's face as she turned just before entering Carmel. Many of us have had the experience of 'feeling' the Presence of God on entering a church, or on meeting someone: that ineffable something about an experience, which could not be ascribed to Satan and his works. "How good it is in our dear cell! When I return to it how I feel that I'm there all alone with my Bridegroom in whom I have everything". [114] "Our cell is filled with silence, filled above all with the Presence of God." [115] Holy Mother Church affirms that the Presence of God is of faith: present by His Essence everywhere and in all things; and substantially present in an especial manner in the souls of the just.[116] "I feel Him so alive in my soul" [117] It has been stressed earlier in the notes, that one must live in the consciousness of an ever-present God. More precisely: conscious that God 'is', where He acts. "I leave you my faith in the Presence of God, of the God who is all Love dwelling in our souls." [118] The Divine Indwelling, then, is a matter of faith: all three Persons of the Holy Trinity dwell secretly in our soul, hidden from the senses, yet speaking in silence interiorly. "I feel my Three so close to me, I am more overwhelmed by happiness than by pain: my Master has reminded me that it is my dwelling place" [119] We acknowledge that Divine Indwelling, that Presence of God', by a lively faith: God is near us, God is within us, we are in God, "To live in the Presence of God is a heritage St Elijah bequeathed to the children of Carmel, he who, in the ardour of his faith, cried out, "He lives, the Lord God, ... in whose presence I am" (3 Kg.17:1, 4 Kg.3:14)". [120]

How awesome, the 'simple' can be made to sound: God is simple in His Love for us, and we must be simple in our response to His love. "It's so simple, this intimacy with God; it gives rest rather than tires – like a child rests beneath the watchful eyes of its Mother." [121] "I think we must be so simple with God." [122] How, then, do we become conscious of the 'Presence of God' when, for example, we are about to begin silent prayer? It begs the question to suggest that we should always live in the 'Presence of God': however true that may be. Although consciousness of His Presence is a gift, and we needs must wait on Him for that gift; nevertheless, we must play our part. Surprisingly, perhaps, the mere fact that we are looking for God, means that we have already found Him.[123] Many books on prayer suggest that before starting to pray, we should take time to look around, to settle down. In other words, we imbibe the glories of God all around us: making an act of faith in His Presence. Yes, He is present, but He is a 'hidden God', "I, too, need to seek my Master who hides Himself well; but then I stir up my faith, and I am happier at not enjoying His Presence so I can make Him enjoy my love." [124] There are no 'signs and wonders': "What use are consolations, we seek Him." [125] "To find you, I must leave myself." [126] "Leave everything, especially ourselves." [127]

If we have once been really conscious of "The sweetness of His Presence" [128] in our lives, we know that we are enveloped in His Love, "I thank Him, who has so sustained and enveloped us." [129] "I feel wholly enveloped in the charity of Christ."[130] "The love of God enveloped her completely." [131] If we are enveloped in Love, we are enveloped in a 'consuming Fire'. Hence the 'Presence of God' is not something 'static': it is linked to our on-going quest for Christian Perfection; seeking to become as nothing, "that our Christ may keep us "holy and spotless in his Presence in Love." (Eph.1:4)"[132] We advance more deeply into His Presence, or are more deeply conscious of His Presence, the more we are docile to the Spirit of Love, "I am asking the Holy Spirit to show you this Presence of God within you ... if you read the Gospel of John you will see over and over again that the Master insists on this." [133] Sr Elizabeth's enthusiasm is unbridled, "It is so good this Presence of God. It is there deep in the Heaven of my soul, that I love to find Him since He never leaves me." [134]; and again, "I didn't go into ecstasy ... but I believed in the Presence of the Master who was in the midst of us, and my soul, at its centre, adored Him." [135] We advance more deeply into His Presence, also, or He advances more deeply into us, in prayer, "When I feel my God invade my whole soul, as I pray to Him for you, it seems to me that it is a prayer He cannot resist, and I want Him to make me all powerful." [136]

To end this section, we note that Divine Indwelling in its fullness, "He in me and I in Him", is of faith. "We cannot leave Him, but alas!, sometimes we forget His holy Presence and leave Him all alone to occupy ourselves with things that are not He." [137] How true this is for most of us, due principally to the fact that reflecting periodically on the Presence of God, is not an inborn habit; and we do not realize the wealth we possess. "I feel so much love over my soul, it is like an ocean I immerse and lose myself in." [138] "May we be submerged, invaded by the great river of life, may we feel the springs of living water well up from the deepest part of our soul, so that God may be our All." [139]

Recollection
"If you have Him only in mind, then you can listen to Him in the silence of your Heart." [140] "I have only to recollect myself to find Him within me and that is the source of my joy." [141] The dictionary definition of 'recollection' is a recalling to mind; while a recollected person is one who is calm, composed and given to contemplation. In the present context, 'recollection' means attention to the Presence of God in the soul: a turning towards Him, a withdrawal of the mind from everyday thoughts. The soul enjoys being 'alone with the Alone' in interior solitude, "I find this dear silence a blessing." [142] In her 'Last Retreat' she summed up her thoughts in 3 basic requirements for 'recollection: to keep one's strength for the Lord (Ps.58:10); to bring one's whole being into unity by inner silence; and to gather one's powers to occupy them in the work of Love alone. [143] These quotations illustrate 'recollection'; yet taken out of context, the importance of Love is almost lost sight of. Recollection is a 'gift': God seeks us first in His great Love for us; we respond (or not!). Should we not cry out with joy when this happens, and like Sr Elizabeth speed like a rocket into the arms of the One we love, Who is waiting for us in that inner cell? [144] If we do not descend into the abyss daily, or if we are never there, how, asks Sr Elizabeth, can He infuse His gifts.[145]

Recollection can be both 'passive' and 'active'. In passive recollection, infused contemplation, God manifests His Presence and His Perfections to the soul: a gift beyond the power of the soul to acquire. Whereas, active recollection can be acquired, if we have both desire and intent, and are docile to the Holy Spirit: nevertheless the gift of His grace is still necessary. A gift, against which every worldly attraction palls: so 'rich' that, if fully appreciated, "nothing could ever make us leave Him there alone.": "never can we leave Him or be distracted from Him." [146] Sr Elizabeth links recollection with Psalm 23 (Hebrew version) for He is the Good Shepherd [147] and we know tranquility, peace, safety, in the sweet embrace of Love as we rest in his arms.

He took me on His shoulder, And tenderly He kissed me; He bade my love be bolder. And said how He had missed me.

She returns to this theme towards the end of her Last Retreat. [148]

Our holy Mother gave her nun's 2 essential 'aids' to the regular practice of recollection: receiving the Blessed Sacrament or, if this were not possible, frequent acts of 'Spiritual Holy Communion' [149]; and 'gazing on Jesus', on the Cross, in a holy picture, in Holy Scripture, or as a statue.[150] Sr Elizabeth referred to 'gazing on the Crucified', where this is 'deeper' than just 'looking at', as "recollecting (oneself) in this great vision of the charity of Christ."[151] This is 'withdrawal of the mind from everyday thoughts': a giving up of everything that is not 'God'; but not everyday activities in which our 'seeing' the Glory of God should be heightened: "with Jesus I tackle everything." [152] Elizabeth lived this before, as well as in, Carmel: when playing the piano, she imagined that she was playing for Jesus [153]; she found Him in the 'wash' [154]; she was with Him when sweeping [155]; and when she did the cooking in Carmel [156]: "the prayer of grace-filled activity". [157]

In some 24 letters from Carmel, Sr Elizabeth refers to 'recollection' by name. She draws our attention to the very special recollection of Our Blessed Mother in the very depths of her soul, and recommends that we ask "the Queen of Carmel, our Mother to teach (us) to adore Jesus in profound recollection." [158]. In pursuance of her 'union of souls' she suggests to several correspondents that they recollect themselves in Jesus, usually at the foot of the Cross, and then imagine that she is there with them. [159] One of Sr Elizabeth's richest remarks was: "When I am close to God, recollect yourself in prayer and we will meet each other in an even deeper way." [160] The penultimate sentence from her last letter on earth, and an invitation open to everyone from Blessed Elizabeth.

At the same time, it would appear that she was actually thinking more deeply about 'being recollected'. The first suggestion of this occurs in a letter written just before her Profession in January 1903.[161] We know of her dark night during this time, her strong faith, and her distress [162]; we also know, from her own hand, in a letter written 6 months later to the same recipient, something of her thought during her Profession vigil. In 6 letters up to her 'Last Retreat' she refers to 'entering into profound recollection with Jesus or with the Holy Spirit'[163]: "He in me, and I in Him". Then in her 'Last Retreat', recollection is given nothing short of a masterly treatment. [164]

Although she quoted extensively from Ruysbroec in 'Heaven in Faith', she made the material 'her own' in the sense that her spirituality deepened, not least in regard to 'recollection'. The idea of the abyss of Love was central to her thought. God was there; and it was God, in the form of Jesus, who was inviting her: standing at the door of her heart; who was waiting for an answer.[165] She referred to a pathway into the abyss [166]: the means of descent, of deepening recollection; and to her guide, the Holy Spirit, lighting the way with the torch of faith.[167] God appears to be doing all the work: of course He does, for that is the measure of His great Love for us. However, making the descent into the abyss, symbolizes our desire to return His Love. Our deepening recollection is accompanied by an on-going purification: the stripping out of self [168]; together with an increasing thirst for holiness [169], to repay Love with Love [170], and for God Himself; for it is "a thirst which He alone can satisfy".[171] Ruysbroec tells us how He does this: "coming with His treasures, but such is the mystery of the divine swiftness that He is continually coming, always for the first time as if He had never come; for His coming, independent of time, consists of an eternal now".[172]. These treasures continue the deepening recollection, and the on-going purification, as God fills more and more of the voids which He is creating in the soul.[173] Meanwhile, "the soul immerses itself, expands, becomes enkindled and melts in Him, with an unlimited fullness." [174] It is little wonder, then, that Sr Elizabeth referred to 'recollection' as an invincible fortress. The soul is 'hidden' in God and becomes progressively more so. It is with this meaning in mind, that she wrote: "(the soul) has plunged into such a deep abyss that no one will seek it there." [175]

'Fortress of recollection' admits of a double meaning in the same way as 'abyss'. Impregnable fortress of recollection up to this point has been assumed to mean that 'recollection' was an impregnable defence: "For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe" [176]; but it might mean that the soul could become an impregnable fortress in which to pursue recollection. Considering the alternative, the title of Luther's great hymn [176,bis]:"A mighty fortress is our God", is sufficiently well known as to be an idiom. Since God dwells in our soul, our on-going purification progressively limits the activities of the 'ancient foe'; but no-one is secure in this life, apart from those in the highest degree of spiritual marriage. The alternative is not considered further in these notes.

We must avoid thinking of 'recollection' in terms that, we are either recollected or we are not: a sort of on/off. The act of giving our attention to God, in His Presence, has to be 'alive': we don't simply open the door of our heart and let God in, we go on opening it wider and wider so that He can bring us more 'treasures'; we go on 'sliding down the pathway of the abyss [177] as the Holy Spirit lights our way; and, referring to Sr Elizabeth's other metaphor, we are not content with just an outer wall for the 'fortress' but desire to make it impregnable. "The eye of its soul, opened in the light of faith, discovers its God present, living with it, in turn it remains so present to Him" [178] It is a measure of the richness of Sr Elizabeth's spirituality that she could hark back to the distress she experienced in the dark night prior to Profession and, towards the end of her short life, write, "What does it matter to the soul that retires within itself, enlightened by this word, whether it feels or does not feel, whether it is in light or darkness ... It is struck by a kind of shame at making any distinction between such things and, despising itself utterly for such want of love, it turns at once to its Master." [179] How well this illustrates St Paul's advice "to be strengthened in faith" (Rom.4:20), "in that faith which never lets the soul doze but keeps it wholly vigilant beneath its Master's gaze, wholly absorbed in recollection of His creating Word" [180] All that does matter, is that the soul is descending deeper and deeper into an abyss of Love.

"The Lord brought me into a large place ... he was well pleased with me" (Ps.17:20). Sr Elizabeth dwelt on these words: the spacious place is the abyss: the abyss of Love; and the Holy Spirit was lighting her way. Sr Elizabeth 'slid' her way into her desert: the solitude of God, then; and in her Heavenly mission promised to do the same for us, asking God to "lead her (the soul) into solitude and speak to her heart" (Hos.2:14). " This is Christ's work in every soul of goodwill and it is the work that His immense love ... is eager to do in me. He wants to be my peace so that nothing can distract me or draw me out of the invincible fortress of holy recollection." [181]



THE SOUL: PREPARATION FOR PRAYER

Introduction
The remaining sections of this Update are based more-or-less entirely on the opening section of Sr Elizabeth's magnificent Prayer to The Trinity, in which she addresses herself to the Most Holy Trinity.

O my God, Trinity Whom I adore! Help me to become utterly forgetful of self, that I may establish myself in Thee, as changeless and as calm as though my soul were already in eternity.
May nothing disturb my peace nor make me leave Thee, O my immutable Lord!, but may I at every moment be carried further into the depth of Thy Mystery.
Pacify my soul: make it Thy heaven, Thy cherished dwelling-place, Thy home of rest.
Let me never leave Thee there alone, but keep me there, all absorbed in Thee, in living faith, adoring Thee, and wholly yielded up to Thy creative action!


The keystones of Sr Elizabeth's prayer and of our prayer, in general, are almost all contained therein. This is not unexpected: Jennifer Moorcroft refers to the prayer as a "self-portrait" and a "prayer for the gift of prayer." [182]. In her understanding of the 'Presence of God', Sr Elizabeth is continuously conscious that she is in His Presence. Nevertheless, she places herself in the Presence of 'her Three', and only then does she address the Three Persons separately. Please be advised that these notes are not a discussion of the theology of this most Sacred Mystery of our Faith. It would be nearer the mark to suggest that the focus is on 'placing oneself in the Presence of God' and 'recollection', made possible by participating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The premise is supported by 4 central 'planks' of Sr Elizabeth's spirituality:

a) The Divine Indwelling: the Holy Trinity present in the soul;
b) Her 'motto: "God in me and I in Him" [183];
c) "Prayer is the union of her who is not, with Him Who Is". [183,bis];
d) All things in our lives are gifts of God, but we have to
   'unwrap' each gift so as to benefit from it. [184].

The very idea of prayer being an 'intimate sharing' means that everyone has their own approach, guided by the Holy Spirit; and so there may be differences of opinion about the order in which topics highlighted by the quotation of the part of Sr Elizabeth's prayer given above, are treated. The order to be adopted in these notes is as follows, but note, not every topic is treated.

The soul is the 'House of God' [185] , God is our 'Friend'; Who we wish to visit: prompted by the Holy Spirit. O my God triggers a need to realize the Presence of God in our soul, and to recollect ourselves in that Presence, before we repeat the salutation of love. For this we need help: Help me. Help to be always in a state of preparedness, seeking to become utterly forgetful of self. Help to develop inner silence, that we may know peace. Pacify my soul, let it be changeless (simple, still, quiet) and calm, so that nothing may disturb my peace; or make me leave Thee. So far we have been busy under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our preparations, ideally, would only be complete if we were in eternity. We ask God to look upon our humble dwelling with favour as His Heaven, His cherished dwelling place, His home of rest. This does not overlook the fact that God is ever-present in the soul.

The 'House of God' is 'prepared' and we seek our Friend. Although we pray ceaselessly and should be ever recollected in our soul, we set aside special times just to be with our Friend. If we were to imitate Sr Elizabeth at these times, we would 'speed like a rocket' into the inner recesses of our soul into the bosom of the indwelling Holy Trinity: burying/establishing ourselves in God, being carried further into the depth of His Mystery. There, we are 'oned' with God, all absorbed in Him, adoring Him, in living faith, wholly yielded up to Love: His creative action; and longing to continue loving Him with His own Love, in Him, and with Him forever: never let me leave You in my soul alone, keep me there!

O my God
In his commentary on the opening words of the 'Living Flame of Love', St John of the Cross explains that 'O' (or 'Oh') "signifies affectionate exultation": it enables the user "to extol fervour and delight". No one can doubt that Sr Elizabeth's heart overflowed into her 'Prayer to the Trinity: not once, but 8 times did she address 'her Three with 'O'. It signifies the honour due to 'majesty' as well as our affection.

As a teenager, Elizabeth had known sad times as well as good ones, and this is reflected in her poems. In the 72 poems (extant) prior to Carmel, about half either begin with 'O' or include it in stanzas. Its use was not reserved for God: e.g.,"O Jesus of the Eucharist"[186];"O heavenly Friend" [187]; or our Blessed Mother: e.g., "O tender Mother"[187]; "O mighty Queen of Heaven"[188]; for she uses it to highlight her soulful longing for Carmel: e.g., "O dear robe of drugget","O dear plank of wood"[189]; "O sweet carillons of Carmel" [190]. She wrote from the heart, and 'O' came naturally into her verse. During the great mission, she was unrestrained. Her appellations form a most beautiful litany.

O my God [191]
O all powerful God [192]
O all powerful Father [193]
O Celestial Father [194]
O Our Heavenly Father [195]
O my King [196]
O Jesus – [197]
   - Lord, my Love, my Life, my Bridegroom forgiveness, come with Your Cross.
O Jesus who reposes in my soul [198]
O my Jesus [199]
O Good Jesus [200]
O Master – [201]
  - O You that I adore, O You that I love.
O my Master [202]
O Beloved Master [203]
O Good Master [204]
O Divine Spouse [205]
O my Strength, O my Life [206]
O Beloved [207]
O Divine Love [208]
O Supreme Love [209]
O Miracle of Love [210]
O my Crucifix [211]
O Marie [212]
O Mother of Perpetual Help [213]

In Carmel Sr Elizabeth's use of 'O' in her poems became less frequent as the nature of her poems changed. Yet, there is an unrestrained joy in so many of her phrases: "O grace, O wonder, O miracle, O Lamb so pure and so sweet". [214]; "O Trinity, O God, our Immutable".[215]. In 2 of her last poems she addressed Mother Germaine, whom she regarded as her 'High-Priest': "O my Mother, it is you, the High-Priest at the altar". [216]; "O my beloved High-Priest, so much your little victim" [217].

'O my God': this is the friend that we have been preparing ourselves for; of whom Sr Elizabeth told her Mother, "There is a Being who is Love and who wishes us to live in 'fellowship' with Him".[218] Do we have any choice but to reciprocate that Love, to go to Him with joy in our hearts, as sinners, knowing that Love is waiting for us. Yes, let us nail our cares to the Foot of the Cross, and then use the wood of the Cross to light those fires of love in our souls [219].

Help me
There is a saying, that when you are in trouble, you know who your friends are! As Christians, we have one sure friend.

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

J.Scrivener, 1855

Aged 13, in her first recorded prayer (extant), Elizabeth addressed her patron saint: "help me in this desert land, and uphold me in my weakness. Give me ... thy gentle humility."[220]. While she was still a teenager, she wrote, " O Mary, help me, hear me, save these beloved souls" [221]; "O Jesus, my Life, my Love, my Bridegroom, help me" [222]. Supplication before God, Our Blessed Mother, and the Blessed of Heaven, the hallmark of true humility; the realization that by ourselves we are powerless (Jn 15:50), but that in God, with God, and through God, the 'one thing necessary' can be realized by everyone. On Holy Thursday 1901, Elizabeth concluded a personal note: "Help me, I can do nothing without You. Be my Support and my Strength, O my God ".[223] She was referring, in particular, to her forthcoming entry into Carmel, " If His love had not sustained me, if He had not held me very tight in His arms, ah! I really feel I could not have done it." [224]. In humility, after a life of sanctity in Carmel, she wrote: "I see my nothingness ... I see the multitude of my shortcomings, my defects; I fall down in my misery, and I display it before the mercy of my Master." [225].

In our divine office, we begin by identifying with the psalmist's cry for help, and of praise: "O God, come to our aid; O Lord, make haste to help us." (Ps.69:2) Words that are, "a bright mirror in which we become more deeply conscious of what is happening to us: the soul pours out its prayer to God with unspeakable groaning(s) (Rom.8:26)." [226] Words that stand repeating: to put distractions out of focus, and the devil to flight. Yet, one word would suffice: "If the battle is fierce, say, "Help!" He knows what is suitable for you and He will take pity on you." [227] Yet again, with faith even that one word is unnecessary: "Think of Me, and I will think of you"; the words of Jesus to Catherine of Siena [228]. Sr Elizabeth advised: "Be strengthened in faith, that is never act except in the great light of God, never according to your impressions or your imagination. Believe that He loves you, that He wants to help you in the struggles you have to undergo." [229]; "And if I fall at every moment, in a wholly confident faith I will be helped up by Him." [230]; "quite gently, with patience and God's help, we get there in the end." [231]

"Help me". The awakening to our need for help, results from the activity of the Holy Spirit. A gift, to be either accepted or refused. If accepted, if 'unwrapped', then more gifts follow, enabling us to work with God towards a realization of the 'one thing necessary': "I wish to be as He wants me to be." [232] Are we so different from Sr Elizabeth wanting to be perfect in His Perfection? Are we not often making, and re-making, resolutions aimed at Christian Perfection? Paraphrasing Elizabeth's Diary entries: "May we be given help to see our sinfulness" [233]; "help to remove all spite from our heart towards our neighbour"[234]; "help to know holiness in His Holiness" [235] and "humility in His Humility" [236]; and when "our whole being rises in revolt" at some trifle [237], help to act 'agendo contra' [238] "ready to bear anything for Him" [239] knowing that "Jesus is with us" [240] and that to whatever we attempt with Him, He will contribute 'a hundredfold' (Matt.13:23,19:29). Sr Elizabeth puts these petitions so succinctly in her Prayer to the Trinity: "Help me to become utterly forgetful of self".

Self
"No man can serve two masters ... you cannot serve God and mammon."(Matt.6:24). In the present context, 'mammon' is the ego-self, which should be the subject of our 'hate': not as a part of our being, but in its activities when these relegate God to second place. St Paul refers to "stripping the old man ... and putting on the new." (Col.3:9,10)[241] However, it would be quite wrong to think of this as the 'annihilation' of the 'self', which has been given to us by God, but it is rather the annihilation of the 'love of self': "that mystical death by which the soul annihilates itself and forgets itself so completely that it goes to die in God in order to be transformed in Him (2Cor.5:15)."[242] The Holy Spirit invites us to 're-align' the self so that in all our actions, God takes priority and is served by the self (Ez.33:11). Progressively, it is subsumed in Him like the drop of water in the ocean and the soul, invaded by God, knows His peace [243]. This re-alignment of self is painful, the changed aspect of its activities creating voids in the soul. Voids, which when re-filled by God take on the 'unusuaI brightness' referred to by St John of the Cross in the 'Living Flame'. [244] Using Sr Elizabeth's favourite metaphor, the soul has slid even lower into the abyss of Love and 'grace has wrought its perfect work'. "Love took up the harp of life, and smote on all chords with might. Smote the chord of self, that, trembling passed in music out of sight." [245]

Humility is the silence of self, and silence is the language of Love. The language in which those intimate conversations with our Friend are carried on. If the self obtrudes, then silence is lacking and we are unable to listen to God. He continues to talk to us, because He loves us; but we do not hear Him. Will we ever be able to hear Him in this life? Sr Elizabeth lets us share another of her 'secrets', to "root us deeper in God" (Eph.3:17): "Forget self, give up self, ignore self, look at the Master, look only at Him, accept as coming directly from His Love both joy and suffering; this places the soul on such serene heights. ... Will you let me help you, scold you even, if I see you are not giving everything to the Master?" [246] "How many acts of self-denial can be offered to Him, known to Him alone. Let us not waste them. It seems to me that the saints are souls completely oblivious of self, lost in Him whom they love with never a thought of self or of creatures so that they are able to say with St Paul, "I live, yet not I, but Jesus Christ liveth in me"(Gal.2:20)." [247]

Elizabeth learned her first lesson in the conquest of self at her Mother's knee. Not 2 years old, she was deprived of her Mother's good-night kiss for being unruly. A painful lesson for a child, a lesson in love, which led her, later, to adopt St Ignatius, maxim: "Renounce and oppose self-will in all things" [248]. "Dying to self is the law for every Christian, ever since Christ said: "If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross."(Matt.16:24)"[249] Prior to Carmel she would have read in Histoire d'une Ame: "I realized that in order to become a saint one much suffer much, always seek the most perfect path, and forget oneself." [250] "It may perhaps seem difficult to forget yourself. Do not worry about it; if you knew how simple it is.... I am going to give you my 'secret': think about this God who dwells within you, whose temple you are. The act of forgetting self and throwing oneself into the arms of God glorifies Him.” [251] She was at pains though, to warn the chronic sufferer, "Forgetting yourself with respect to your health does not mean neglecting to take care of yourself, for that is your duty, ... but do it with great abandonment." [251,bis] "I would even say, love your own misery, for it is the subject of God's mercy. When the sight of it saddens you or throws you back on self, the cause is self-love." [252] "Self-love is at the bottom of those faults which (we) commit without thinking, but that is, in a way, part of us.... What God asks of you is never to entertain deliberately any thought of pride, pay no attention whatever to self, deny self all the time. A good way to kill pride (is to) let it starve to death! Pride is love of our¬selves; well, love of God must be so strong that it extinguishes all our self-love." [253]

This was not 'idle' talk, she had lived her 'secret' for many years, and continued to do so in Carmel. "She had practiced virtue for so long that she seemed to require no effort to conquer self." [254] Sr Therese would surely have influenced her, as evidenced by her answers to the 'questionnaire completed shortly after her entry into Carmel.

Q. What do you consider the ideal of sanctity? A. To live by love. Q. What is the quickest way to attain it? A. To become little. and to give oneself wholly and irrevocably. Q. What fault do you most dislike? A. Egoism in general................. [255]

Towards the end of her life in her Propositions for a 'Praise of glory', she wrote: "The Praise of Glory is a soul ... which does not seek self in the sweetness of His Love."[256]; and "Finally, the Praise of Glory ... has, so to speak, gone out from self and become absorbed in praise and love, in her passion for the glory of her God." [257] She had, indeed 'become absorbed in praise and love' for when a contrary decision regarding the treatment of her illness was made, "she accepted it with simplicity. Having, as it were, passed from self into God, her peace was truly heavenly." [258] A few days before her death with her dear community around her, she said, "We must do all for love, and unceasingly forget self; the good God is so pleased when we are self regardless ... Ah! if I had always done so!" [259] Her Prioress added so poignantly, to that last remark, "Holy little one! It was your own special grace you were revealing to us, and the secret of your rapid attainment of perfection!"[259,bis] Ten days later Janua Caeli led her by the hand into Heaven – that realm of dazzling brightness [260] – that realm of ineffable peace.

Inner Peace or 'The Path to Paradise' [261] In everyday usage the word 'peace' loosely means the absence of personal worry or strife. For example, for some 4 years before she entered Carmel, Elizabeth was not at peace: for one reason and another there was always doubt in her mind whether she would ever become a nun. Then on entry into Carmel she was at pains to allay the fears of immediate family and friends about her health [262]; and after the downturn in health, it became 'obvious' she wished to put 'minds at rest'. [263] In those letters a typical phrase was 'so be at peace'. We might say, 'let your mind be at peace'. In effect that was what Jesus said, as a pre-requisite to prayer, "Enter into thy chamber and, having shut the door, pray ... ".(Matt.6:6) and the psalmist, "Be still and see that I am God" (Ps. 45:11). As a teenager, Elizabeth spent many hours in prayer, some of which were in her room in the early hours of the morning. [264]

She recalled this at the end of her life, when she declared her heavenly mission: "to draw souls out by helping them go out of themselves to cling to God by a simple loving movement and to keep them in this great silence within, that will allow God to communicate Himself to them..." [265] There we have all of the elements of silent prayer. The soul must 'go out of itself': it must forget itself. Seeking the "secret of happiness" i.e., true peace [266] it must acquire simplicity, it must court solitude, it must silence all its 'powers'. [267] Yes, "Be still" (Ps. 45:11) so that we can "Listen to Him ... My Son, the Beloved". (Matt. 17:5)

Prior to Carmel, and later in the Novitiate, Elizabeth would undoubtedly have thought about the references to peace in Histoire d'une Ame, linking some of these with her own early life. A first sight of the sea caused Therese to resolve "never to withdraw from the sight of Jesus, so that she might go peacefully and quickly towards the Heavenly Shore." [268] When writing her autobiography she saw fit to refer to life as 'like a ship' (Wis. 5:11) and to recall a line from a poem, "life is thy barque and not thy dwelling place" [269], while noting that these words gave her peace when she felt lonely and sad. Her soul was sad, even bitter, as a result of difficulties over entry into Carmel, "but I felt deep down in my heart a wondrous peace, because ... I was seeking the will of my Lord".[270] She tells us that as she pronounced her vows, "a wave of peace flooded her soul" [271]; she had with her a letter detailing the graces she desired for herself on that glorious day – the second paragraph begins: "O Jesus, I ask but Peace .... Peace, and above all, Love."[272]. Our Holy Mother was greatly impressed by the "Those words of David": "I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me: for He will speak peace unto His people". (Ps. 54:9) [273]

Again, prior to Carmel and as an extra-muros, Elizabeth came under the influence of Mother Marie. We know from Elizabeth's letters of this period that her words made a profound impression, and 'peace' "was one of her greatest words".[274] "One does not realise how much strength of soul and true virtue is implied in the ability to keep oneself in peace, and to give peace to those around us".[275] "The Kingdom of God ... which is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit".(Rom. 14:15) "God's peace whose strength lies in silence and love: the silence of charity, the real home of peace; love, the source of peace".[276]

Achieving outward peace: through the practice of the Beatitudes; helps us to achieve 'interior peace', without which there can be little progress in our spiritual life. Nevertheless, the focus in our spiritual life must be to love God, not to achieve 'interior peace'. Fr DeMeester mentions several sources in which Sr Elizabeth found exterior peace; these included joys realized by her family and friends, and joys of retreats in Carmel. [277] Advanced souls have the facility to 'be at 'interior' peace" in spite of any hurly-burly going on around them, but even they prefer outward peace when given the choice. We can recall the incident of the nun who approached Sr Elizabeth when she was sweeping, and decided to leave her in peace. [278] Interior peace is a gift of God and He requires our participation in developing our prayer life. Prayer is using a gift of God for His greater glory. To pray without ceasing is to use every gift of God for His greater glory; and God shows His pleasure by letting the soul know 'peace' in abundance. Sr Elizabeth used the phrase "If only you knew" (cf Jn 4:10) countless times in her letters, but quite specifically on 4 occasions she completed it: "If only you knew the gift of God". For that is what it is, God Himself, no matter whether we call it 'peace': for He is our peace, He is our sanctity.[279] Sr Elizabeth had this ability to use every gift of God, par excellence: reflect on her ascesis of silence; [280] and to be able to differentiate between the 'gift of God', and the false 'peace' of pride and complacency: the 'gift of Satan'.

From time to time we may expect God to test our progress in prayer: to send us trials; for our greater perfection and sanctification; "He only wounds because He Loves" [281]. Offering our confusion, temptations, and disturbances as a sacrifice to God, is most pleasing to Him: as long as it is God who imposes the sacrifice; and He rewards us with a strengthening of our spiritual peace – our peace of conscience. "In the beginning you feel only the sacrifice, but after that ... you experience a delightful peace" and "I cannot tell you what peace it gives my soul to think that He makes up for my weaknesses and, if I fall at every passing moment, He is there to help me up again and to carry me farther into Himself". [282] The importance that Sr Elizabeth attached to 'peace' is made clear in her Prayer to the Trinity: mentioning it 3 times in the first 2 sentences.

There are some 60 direct references to peace in Sr Elizabeth's letters from Carmel and her spiritual treatises, omitting references of the type mentioned in previous paragraphs. All but 5 of these use 'peace' as a translation of 'la paix', treating peace as a noun, as one would expect. Before giving an overview of these references; attention is drawn to the difficulty, to be discussed shortly, of whether a given context requires a noun: e.g., peace; or a verb: e.g., to pacify.

In one of her most 'up-beat' letters, Sr Elizabeth wrote to Guite, "The grandeur of this Mystery: to be children of God, doesn't that thrill you?" [283] She goes on to quote St Paul: at length, but selectively; e.g., "You belong to the city of saints and the House of God". (Eph. 2:19) We belong, here and now, but are we taking full advantage of the "grandeur of this Mystery"? In the 6 other references to the 'children of God' in her letters from Carmel, Sr Elizabeth refers to the peace known by the 'children of God' in 5 letters. A peace which sustains courage in difficulties [284]; promotes confidence [285] , abandonment [286] and rest [287]; strengthens faith [288]; opens us to His Redeeming Love [289]: in which we must do everything [290]; and enables us to "make the glory of His grace blaze forth" [291] in the heavenly Jerusalem, that "blest vision of peace. May the prayers and entreaties of your suppliants find their answer in graces from our Home above" [292].

How Sr Elizabeth extols the joy and peace to be found in sacrifice which strengthens our prayer life [293]. "What delightful peace we experience when we place our joy in suffering." [294] She remarks that both joy and suffering are sourced in Love [295]; a Love in which we can know the peace accruing from transformation in God [296] and calmly waiting on God [297]. He is our strength in suffering: if we would but lean on Him [298]. If we would but mix our tears with His [299]; then those tears would become, "a shower of blessings, a sweet outpouring of His peace and His Love" [300].

Faith is a central plank of prayer. Faith is inextricably mixed with peace [301]. The soul in prayer loses itself in God, in a Peace revealed to it in silence and simplicity, described so well and at length in 'Heaven in Faith' [302]. The soul loses itself in Love, knowing "that anything that troubles it or throws it into fear does not come from God, for He is the Prince of Peace, and He promises that Peace to those of good will." [303] In the same way that our love for Him must increase or die, so the same may be said for peace and for faith. Else why speak of a 'living faith'? [304] Faith and prayer are gifts, both must be nurtured: enlivened by Love; prayer without faith is hollow: faith without prayer quickly dies.

Reading Sr Elizabeth's many references to the need for, and the desirability of, peace to enrich our prayer life simply confirms a longing to 'be in the world, but not of the world': to be able, at will, to get away 'from it all'; to be recollected in God. Sr Elizabeth used the idea of 'building a little cell' in one's soul to which one could slip away to be with God. [305] "Little by little, the soul gets used to living in His sweet company, it understands that it is carrying with it a little Heaven."[306] She refers to Jesus' thirst for love, and notes that the 'little cell' is a place "where we can be His Paradise" [307] and where He is "our unchanging dwelling place, our cell, our cloister in the midst of the world" [308]. This is a beautiful link to, and paraphrase of, 'He in me, I in Him' – 'peace' indeed. Sr Elizabeth links the 'unchanging dwelling place' where we find God, firstly to the deepest centre of our souls [308,bis], then to "such a deep abyss that no one will seek it there" [309] : an "invincible fortress of holy recollection" [310]. An abyss of Peace and of ineffable Love, expressed by St Paul in "the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:10). Clearly linking peace with prayer. In 'Heaven in Faith' Sr Elizabeth describes how we must descend daily this abyss [311] which is God, Himself, assisted by God; there to be purified in the Furnace of Love and transformed in Him. For, "it is there, sunk to its lowest depths, that the abyss of our nothingness will find itself face to face with the abyss of the mercy, with the immensity of the All of God".[312]

In concluding this section of the notes on the desirability of 'our interior peace' in the life of prayer; that 'peace' is a gift must be emphasized. In Jesus' last discourse prior to His Passion, He said to His disciples, "Peace I leave with you: My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you." (Jn 14:27) In this context, 'peace', spiritual tranquillity of order, and salvation: i.e., communion with God; are more-or-less synonymous. [313] "He asks us to live in communion with Him, to receive every joy, like every suffering,... that raises the soul ... , and gives it rest in the peace, the preferential love of the children of God".[314] Are we not His disciples in today's world. God may give us 'of this gift', or not, according to His Will. Accepting whatever that Will may be in this life, with love; He will subsume us in Love, "He will hear our prayer and save us" (Ps, 144:19); and will reward us, in the Heavenly Jerusalem, with the ineffable sublime 'peace of God'. "On November 9, 1906, Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, a professed nun of our Carmel, aged twenty-six, was called by God to the eternal 'Vision of Peace'.": 'the Heavenly Jerusalem, vision of peace'.(Ezekiel 13:16) These were the opening words of Mother Germaine, in her introduction to 'Souvenirs'.

'Pacify My Soul'
In The 'Prayer to the Trinity', "pacifiez mon âme" is usually translated as "give peace to my soul"; whereas in the Elevations of Dom Vandeur [315] it is interpreted as "Pacify my soul" [316]. Similarly in a recent translation by Fr J McCaffrey it is interpreted as "Establish my soul in peace". [317] A soul striving for 'peace' is at the heart of prayer: an essential element. 'Striving for peace', because, as with Christian Perfection of which it is a synonym, interior peace is never fully acquired in this life, except by Divine intervention. "This ineffable peace is founded on our detachment from self and our union with God. Indeed, the last degree of detachment is peace". [318] "Give peace to my soul" emphasizes that interior peace is a gift of God; but it is an 'on-going' gift, which requires our participation through prayer.

The idea of an 'on-going' gift is synonymous with the 'doctrine of the economy of grace' [319] which is really just 'good housekeeping'. We are given grace according to what we can use, and in accord with the divine plan for our soul: in other words, our purification proceeds at a pace determined by God and by ourselves, and our 'interior peace' develops gradually, except when there is divine intervention. "God will not enter with His gifts into a soul that is not void, tranquil and pacified", [320] for He is the 'Prince of Peace'. [321] "God waits first until our dwelling is peaceful. But then how royally He pours Himself out upon us. There is not a single soul in true peace to whom the Holy Trinity does not come. Peace is the unfailing precursor of divine visits. Peace puts us above all passing things, and makes us see God everywhere". [322] Sr Elizabeth summarizes these requirements for union with God in her Last Retreat, where we have her only use of 'appeasement' – the bringing to a state of peace, rather than "There must be peace" which is confirmed by her quotation: "Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people". (Ps. 44:11) [323] 'To appease' is synonymous with 'to pacify'.

Writing about the soul, Sr Elizabeth paraphrases St John of the Cross, "Assuming charge of its interior direction Himself, He reigns in it through the abundance of tranquility and peace that He bestows within it." [324] "Be Thou my peace". [325] "This true peace cannot be obtained without, on the one hand, self-denial, filial abandonment, and prayer – and on the other, by purifying trials and grace: grace especially, for this is a matter for two – the work of the soul and the work of God." [326] In a word, "appeasement": only God can 'make peace happen' : "It is by the Blood of His Cross that He will make peace in my little heaven" [327]. He will 'pacify' our souls; but we must cooperate. Sr Elizabeth tells us how: "If my gaze remains always fixed on Him, then all the rest disappears, and I lose myself in Him like a drop of water in the ocean. It is all calm, all peaceful, and the peace of God is so good." [328] "Much peace have they that love Thy Law, Oh God!" (Ps.118:165)

In a letter written nearly 18 months before she composed her Prayer to The Trinity, we have the only occasion, in her letters, in which she used 'pacifiée' instead of 'paix', "Let us make a dwelling for Him which is wholly at peace" [329]. Thus emphasizing our part in the 'peace process': Fr DeMeester links this to the last line of St.1 and 2 of the Poem in the Ascent.[330] Sr Elizabeth may well have read this poem; but in her 'Last Retreat', she uses Pacifique when referring to God as the 'Peaceful One [331]; and again, she uses 'pacifiera' when referring to God as a peacemaker [328,bis], 'Pacifier' occurs only 4 times in her letters from Carmel and the spiritual treatises: there is an implied intimacy in the Heaven of her soul with God: a 'working together' to bring peace to the soul. The 3 examples given, surely justify its use in the most intimate example of all: her 'Prayer to The Trinity'.

Some effects of peace in the soul
There is little warmth to be gained from a warming fire, if one stands in front of it in hat, coat and gloves! So it is with peace in the soul. We long to acquire it, and then we believe that we have received the gift of peace. What is our response: do we make use of it, that it may multiply; or bury it like the possessor of the 'one talent'? (Matt.25:14) Although we are unable to describe that "peace which surpasseth understanding (Phil.4:7), nevertheless we "seek after that peace and pursue it".(1P.3:11) In her Prayer to the Trinity, Sr Elizabeth relates her feeling, when possessing peace of soul, to that described in the Apocalypse: as though my soul were already in eternity. She experienced a foretaste of the peace of God which left her soul "immobile et paisible".

Although the accepted translation of 'Immobile' in her prayer is 'changeless' or 'unchanging', it is noticeable that in the Catechism the translation is 'unmovable' [332]. 'Changeless' would be correct when referred to the soul at peace: in the sense that the soul wishes to remain in the peace of God and not to forfeit it; but precludes the gradual increase in the peace of the soul brought about by on-going purification, as it descends deeper into the abyss of Love. Whereas 'unmovable' places the soul firmly in the abyss of Love with the intention of staying there: or in 'Elizabethan' terms, of remaining 'in the bosom of the Trinity'. The difficulty is highlighted by the following quotation:"If you knew how unchanged my heart is: how it expands, enlarges in its contact with the God Who is all Love."[333] God is the only truly 'Changeless' Being and Sr Elizabeth addresses Him as O my Immutable Lord: the translation actually meaning 'changeless':" Don't be afraid that my happiness will pass, for God is its sole object, and 'He never changes'. " [334] In her letters, whenever Sr Elizabeth refers to God as 'Unchanging' she uses 'Immuable': the "Unchanging One" [335], "Unchanging Beauty"[336], "Unchanging Love"[337],"Unchanging Will"[338],"Unchanging dwelling place". [339]

In the same way, while the accepted translation of 'paisible' is 'calm', the Catechism uses 'peaceable' with its synonyms of 'still' and 'quiet'. In her letters the word 'calm' appears some 17 times: a translation of 'calme' in 15 letters [340]. Interestingly, when referring to the ocean, Sr Elizabeth wrote, 'tout calme, tout apaisé' (all calm and peaceful), highlighting a difference in that usage, while the reflexive 's'apaiser' (to get calm) was used in a reported conversation about her intense suffering. [341] Strictly, when 'calm' is used as an adverb, there is little difference between the meanings. In the present context, however, one is reminded of the Scripture account of Elijah: the Lord was not to be found in strong wind, earthquake or fire, but in a gentle wind (3Kg.19:12). The soul is seeking the Lord as it moves deeper into the 'stillness and quiet' of the abyss of Love. In His great Love for us, the Lord is also seeking us. Are we ready to receive Him, are we still and quiet? If we have known His peace, but all too often despoil it by things not of God: activities, desires, thoughts; can we wonder that our Friend is missing. How can He repose in a heart that is not peaceable? For He is the Peaceful One [331,bis].

Peace is vital to our prayer life; it enhances it with joy and enthusiasm, with an intoxication, with an insatiable desire to move deeper into the abyss of Love, where "Jesus is waiting for (us) in the depths of (our) heart and wants to establish a wonderful communion with (us)."[342] A 'union' which is prayer itself. Fr De Meester suggests that Sr Elizabeth may have been influenced in her thinking by St John of the Cross' commentary on St36.1 of the Spiritual Canticle [343], or by Pere Vallee's 1900 retreat in which he quoted "union is the work of love".[344] and also "Love establishes a mutual compenetration between two souls": 'compenetration' meaning to penetrate in every part, to prevade. Sr Elizabeth used 'establish' in 10 letters from Carmel, all in connection with the communion of love; while Fr DeMeester gave as synonyms: "to make one's home; establish oneself; overwhelm; invade; possess".[345] Yet again, we have an example of 'He in me and I in Him' , and 'the drop of water in the ocean'. At the invitation of the Holy Spirit, we seek to become utterly forgetful of self that the communion may be established: "Let us ask the Incarnate Word to establish His dwelling in our souls through Love and that they might never leave Him again."[346]; "He establishes so sweet an intimacy" [347]; "A divine intimacy so familiar to Sr Elizabeth that it seemed to her as though God were going to appear to her as she passed through the cloisters. "God in me and I in Him! Oh, that is my life!" [348].

In the present context, are 'bury' or 'lose' synonyms of 'establish'? When composing her Prayer, Sr Elizabeth surely had 'establish' in mind: if she intended 'bury' in the opening lines of her Prayer, she would have written 'bury', as, indeed she did, in the closing lines: "Bury Thyself in me that I may be buried in Thee". The translation of 's'etablir' as 'establish', has been mentioned previously [349]. Interestingly, in one source, 'bury' appears in the complete prayer, and 'establish' is used in the discussion [350]. 'Establish' conveys that feeling of being transformed and conformed in Jesus through docility to the Holy Spirit in prayer and good works; with it never being quite complete in this life of Heaven in faith. Sr Elizabeth, as 'Laudem Gloriae' appeared to be 'established', and there is almost a 'holy daring' about this, reminiscent of Sr Therese: "I will be "Laudem Gloriae" before the throne of the Lamb." [351] On the other hand, 'bury' would be more in keeping with her declared intention to "rush like a little rocket into the bosom of my Three" [352] at her death and then "plunge even deeper into it" [ibid]. It is also a familiar image of cloistered and hidden life, "You are dead: and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with Him in glory." (Col.3:3,4) [353] The final word must surely rest with Sr Elizabeth.

'Lose' is not an alternative to 'establish', with the meaning usually attached to it by Sr Elizabeth: "Let us lose ourselves in Him." [354] and she gave that meaning in, "Saints are souls who forget themselves all the time, who so lose themselves in Him whom they love, without looking at self." [355] She referred to losing herself in 'The Trinity' [356],'Those who are there'[355,bis], 'His Infinity'[357]; and at the end of her life to lose herself in the Vision of the Lamb (Apoc.7:9,15) [358] and "in the Immense Furnace, free to burn there for all eternity." [359] Interestingly, Sr Elizabeth did not associate 'bury' with her favourite analogies: "lose myself in Him like a drop of water in the ocean."[360], "the abyss of Love (interior abyss) in which I lose myself"[361]. She qualified her usage in, "Ask Him that I might lose myself in order to bury myself in Him" [362], but also note the 'He in me, I in Him' parallel, "burying myself ... in the depths of my soul to lose myself in the Trinity who dwells there."[363] Strangely, 'bury' appears in only 2 letters written before her Prayer to the Trinity, but in 8 letters afterwards. She buried herself in her soul [364], and in the solitude of the desert, when on retreat [365].

In all but one of these letters, 'bury' is a translation of 'ensevelir': to bury, swallow up, ingulf; but when referring specifically to her 'Thebaid' [366] it is a translation of s'enfoncer': to bury, plunge. Note that she used 's'enfoncer' ('plunge like a rocket') when asked by Mother Germaine about her heavenly mission [367]. In one letter, she referred to Jesus 'burying' Mother Germaine: "the 'holy fortress of recollection' where His Love jealously wishes to bury her (l'ensevelir) so He can fill her with His infinite riches."[368]

"Let nothing trouble thee, nothing disturb thee, God alone suffices." [369]
"There is only One; it is He, the Only Truth! ... He fascinates, He sweeps you away; under His gaze the horizon becomes so beautiful, so vast, so luminous.... You see, I love Him passionately, and in Him I have everything! It is through Him, by His radiance, that I must view and do everything!" [370] "Don’t ever leave Him, do everything beneath His divine gaze, and remain wholly joyful in His peace and love, making those around you happy!" [371] “Nothing can prevent the one who seeks and tastes God in everything from being solitary in the midst of a whole multitude; he is invincible to things that change the simple gaze and unalterable in the face of changing images; for he transcends them, seeking God alone.”[372] In prayer, the eyes of our soul must ever remain on the Master; even then, being human, we echo Sr Elizabeth, "May nothing disturb my peace or make me leave Thee".[faire sortir]

Interior peace is ever the target of Satan, when our purification is incomplete, as it is in this life: "If my desires, my fears, my joys, or my sorrows, if all the impulses coming from these 'four passions' are not perfectly subjected to God, I will not be solitary: there will be turmoil within me." [373]. Until we abandon ourselves to God that turmoil will persist. We may live a good life, but until humility and simplicity become second nature, our good life will be a torment and source of ill-content. Satan is more than happy to play with our convoluted mind; but soon takes flight, in the simplicity and peace which accompanies abandonment: "keeping our hearts and minds in God"(Phil.4:7). We will know failure, perhaps unexpected; torment in our lack of decision and weakness; discouragement; just as Sr Elizabeth did, "My helplessness, my repugnances, my ignorance, my very faults themselves declare the glory of the Eternal!" [374] In those bleak times of trial, we should follow Sr Elizabeth's advice to Guite, " You must cross out the word 'discouragement' from your dictionary of Love; the more you feel your weakness ... the more you must rejoice, for then you are giving to Him."[375]

Crossing out 'discouragement', abandonment to the Will of God, humility, simplicity, etc., form the shell surrounding the "one thing that matters" (Lk.10:41,42): Love. Our love for God must increase of die; our experience of the peace of God must increase or be lost; our recollection in God must be deepened or be eroded by the wiles of Satan. In other words, 'He must increase, we must decrease', (Jn 3:30) as we are carried further into the depth of His Mystery, at every moment. We slide down the path of the abyss illuminated by the light of faith, that is all that we know! Everywhere is 'blackness' beyond the light. While several French verbs permit the translation 'carried' Sr Elizabeth uses 'emporter' in only 8 letters [376]: the sense being 'carried or taken away' into His Mystery. "He so loves to forgive us, to pick us up, then to carry us away in Him, in His purity, in His Infinite Holiness; that is how He will purify us, through His continual contact with us, through divine touches." [377] Sr Elizabeth also reveals specifically the 'Mystery': "My soul is carried away in the great vision of the Mystery of mysteries, in the Trinity." [378] There is no suggestion that the Mystery is revealed to souls that are 'carried away', the soul is enveloped by His Charity and "consummated into 'one' with Him [379] through Love, not knowledge: unless God wishes otherwise. "Infinite Love, at each moment which passes, carries and consumes (the soul) in Him." [380]

'Elizabeth' – 'House of God'
With the foregoing preparations, our souls should 'be ready' to permit that loving encounter with God to take place. It is a 'House of God'. One may point out that it always has been. Yes, God is close, but are we close to Him? The preparations are designed to make the soul fit to be 'His Heaven': we tend to limit our thinking to, 'I in Him' and 'where He is, there is Heaven'. Sr Elizabeth is completing the couplet, 'He in me', He in my soul, my Heaven in faith, my Heaven on earth. "Heaven is quite close ... since He dwells in our souls."[381]. That is not enough for Sr Elizabeth, she wishes her soul to be His 'beloved' dwelling place: a place where He is doubly welcome: "May your soul be another Bethany where Jesus may come to rest, where you serve Him a banquet of Love, as Magdalene loved."[382]. May I never leave Thee there alone. This is indeed, the expression of a loving encounter in our souls. We will use Jesus' own Love, to love Him, to adore Him, and we wish to spend all our time, here on earth, with Him. Care must be taken not to 'push' the meaning of some words in the Prayer to the Trinity. For example: it can be argued that God, as Love, can never be 'at rest'; and that God as a 'Trinity of Persons' can neither be alone nor 'The Alone'. Sr Elizabeth used 'alone with The Alone' in 3 places [383], and elsewhere referred to 'Dieu seul'.[384] By inference from L109N5, 'God alone' is assumed to mean 'the Alone'.[385]



THE SOUL: IN PRAYER

Introduction - "total forgetfulness of oneself" [386]
[A list of references either relevant to or near to relevant text on, 'Prayer' in previous Updates is given in refn [387] of this Update.]
Sr Elizabeth concluded the opening 'bracket' [388] of her Prayer to the Trinity with what can be regarded as a splendid, all embracing, definition of prayer. "All absorbed in Thee, in living faith, adoring Thee, and wholly yielded up to Thy creative action!" Fr DeMeester notes the influence of Pere Vallee, in parts of this 'definition'.[389] Yet it is more than just a definition: it is how 'one, who is nothing,' should conduct themselves in the presence of 'One, Who is All,' [questionnaire answer] – a Rule of Life for everyone. This is, perhaps, brought out more clearly in an alternative translation: 'completely present (to God in our soul), completely enlivened in our faith, all adoring (God), and wholly present to the creative action (of the Holy Trinity).' The key words are 'all, completely', and wholly: translations of 'tout(e)' with slightly differing shades of meaning.

It is convenient to repeat some relevant material from Update 17. "Holy Mother Church used to define prayer as: "the raising up of the mind and heart to God" [390]; noting from Holy Scripture: with joy (Is.56:7); at all times (Lk 18:1; 1Thess 5:17); with a clean heart (Ps.65:18); through Jesus (Eph 2:18); in praise (Heb 2:12); in thanksgiving (Apoc.7:12); for all men (1 Tim 2:1-3); and for those who abuse us (Matt 5:44)." One may also note from Holy Scripture that some personal requirements of prayer are a pure heart (Psalm 66:18), belief in Christ (John 14:13), and that the prayer be according to God's will (1 John 5:13). We can pray standing (Neh. 9:5), kneeling (Ezra 9:5), sitting (1 Chron. 17:16-27), bowing (Exodus 34:8), and with lifted hands (1 Tim. 2:8). " HMC has now added: 'or the requesting of good things from God" [390,bis]; again noting from Holy Scripture: petitions (Phil 4:6; 1 Jn 5:15); intercessions (Jas 5:15); and desires (Mk 11:24)'. HMC draws our attention to God longing for this reciprocal 'encounter' between Himself and man [391]. Some writers on prayer suggest that it can be helpful to think in terms of raising 'the heart through the mind' to God; while others add that we must actively 'turn towards God' for prayer to have meaning: "an attitude of heart by which all (our) actions and sufferings become living prayers"[392]. "

We are indebted to our holy Mother for the statement: "... prayer in my opinion is nothing else than intimate sharing with friends; it means taking time to be alone with Him who we know loves us." [393]; to St Therese for, “with me prayer is an uplifting of the heart; a glance towards heaven; a cry of gratitude and love, uttered equally in sorrow and in joy”[394]; and to Mother Marie of Jesus for, "prayer is "close intimacy with our Lord".[395], a prayer which never ceases: of loving and watching."[396] The continual act of looking at God: "They that eat me shall yet hunger, and they that drink me shall yet thirst." (Ecclus,24:29) "Since He is always with me, prayer, the heart-to-heart, must never end! He has placed in my heart a thirst for the infinite and such a great need for love that He alone can satisfy it."[397]

When Elizabeth was an extra-muros, Mother Marie realized that she was already very gifted in prayer [398]. " Prayer was becoming habitual to her, as natural and necessary as breathing."[399]. Shortly after her entry into Carmel in the famous 'questionnaire' (9th August 1901), when asked for a definition of prayer, Sr Elizabeth wrote, “the Union of her who is not with Him Who Is” [400]. In the 3 years which elapsed up to the composition of the 'Prayer to the Trinity', although Sr Elizabeth's prayer life became richer and deeper, her original definition was still valid: she was defining the soul's response to the invitation of the Holy Spirit to 'Union', which was becoming more intimate, more personal. A 'living' response to Christ's own words: "I am come that (all) may have life and may have it more abundantly."(Jn 10:10)[401] and "No man cometh to the Father, but by me"(Jn 14:6). The means whereby we can be transformed in Him, if we are docile to the movements of the Holy Spirit.

Statements such as, "Let no one say that he cannot pray. It is as natural to pray as to breathe". [402]; and " We pray because we are made that way"[403]; are unfortunate, because the great mystery of prayer is debased by being removed from the supernatural to the natural level. "Without me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5) Again, not to qualify the statement that, "prayer is a gift of God", is to undervalue the enormity of the gift: prayer is the gift of God Himself in our soul, praying ceaselessly to His Father: "When I feel my God invade my whole soul, as I pray to Him for you, it seems to me that it is a prayer that He cannot resist." [404] Our soul is both spiritual and outside of the natural realm . Anyone can pray, yes, but the 'encounter' has to be established through the action of the Holy Spirit.

"Each person is bound to pray, because it is his duty to procure for himself spiritual goods, which are given only from on high, and can therefore be obtained in no other way than by asking them from God".[405] This then must be our principal aim: to be more deeply rooted in Love. [406] We should not neglect to invoke the Holy Spirit in our prayers. Although "We know not what we should pray for as we ought", "the Spirit Himself asketh for us".(Rom.8:26). The Council of Trent states, "If anyone shall assert that without the preventing inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and His assistance, man can believe, hope, love, or repent as he ought in order to obtain the grace of justification, let him be anathema." [407] "My prayer is quite powerless, but I possess within me the Holy One of God, the Great Supplicant, and that is the prayer I am offering."[408]

The Holy One of God guides us down the pathway of the abyss: 'more deeply rooting us in Love'. "To be holy as God is Holy (Lev.19:2), to be holy with the Holiness of God by living in communion with Him in the depths of the bottomless abyss within (ourselves)".[409] Nevertheless, at times the going can be anything but smooth. Perseverance is necessary then: perseverance in prayer: "we ought always to pray"(Lk.18:1). "May my life be a continual prayer, one long act of love"[410]; "the prayer of the Carmelite is without interruption".[411]; "for perseverance wounds the Heart of God" [412] and from those wounds is an outpouring of Love. To illustrate the need for perseverance, Jesus recounted the parable of the unjust judge (Lk.18:2-8) with its lessons: that prayer is always heard; that perseverance in prayer is rewarded; that our faith may be quite severely tested; and that the ultimate significance of prayer is the coming of full justice for the Elect [413] We should also note: "Remember, dear Madame, that beautiful passage of the Gospel where a woman pursued Our Lord in the ar¬dor of her prayer. He who is so good seemed to become unfeeling and pushed her away, but in the end, in the face of her faith and trust, He could no longer resist her, and He says to her: 'O woman, your faith is great!'(Matt 15:28)".[414] Sr Elizabeth was well aware that, from time-to-time, we all fall. We must get up, "I pursue my course"(Phil.3:12)[415]: "everything lies in the intention."[416] She was also aware that we can help others by "enveloping" them in prayer: "Wouldn’t you like me to envelop you in my prayer, or rather in that of my Christ who lives in me!" [417] In Carmel, "to pray is to breathe"[418] - do it deeply and you will be filled with Life. "To be the bride of Christ is ... to love while adoring, to love while praying. It is ... to have one's heart full with His Heart, full with His prayer."[419]

Even before Elizabeth entered Carmel, she became aware that her prayer life was changing. She realized. more-and-more that she was 'doing nothing' and Jesus 'was doing everything'. [420] St Antony said that the best method of prayer was, "when, in praying, you do not think that you pray". In fact, she was not 'doing nothing', she was dying to self, and becoming more docile to the Holy Spirit, and her prayer was becoming simplified. "It is so simple."[421]: although it is 'so simple' under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to assume this supports the premise that, 'It is as natural to pray as it is to breathe', is a non sequitur. "I leave you with these words of Saint Augustine: “He is there when we think we are alone. He listens when nothing answers us, He loves us when everything abandons us.”[422].

completely present to God in our soul
We have been at pain's to ensure that God is completely present to us: recollected in God; and, of course, God knows everything about us. Yet something more is necessary: our active participation. Else, why should Jesus say, "Ask ...: seek ...: knock" (Matt. 7:7)? We must be completely present to God. Sr Elizabeth is asking us to complete the couplet, "He in me, and I in Him". It is 'fine tuning' for the intimate personal encounter. "I am asking Him to take hold of you as He takes hold of me." [423] "Let us live like Mary Madalene through everything ... always beneath the eyes of unchanging beauty that wishes ... to deify us!" [424], "and if you would like, I will keep a rendezvous with you in Him who is All, asking Him to make you feel the sweetness of His presence and His divine intimacy!"[425]

We have made a 'Sign of the Cross', we have sought the Presence of God, recollected ourselves in Him, and told Him why we are seeking communion with Him. Have we told Him everything? What do we see when we look in our spiritual mirror? Is it an image of Him, albeit imperfect; or an image of self? Keeping the 'examen' brief, is not a license for concealment. The weight of the Cross was considerably increased by those 'sins' which we choose to conceal. Hence 'being completely present to God' means 'warts and all'! [426]; for only then can we begin "to be servants of Love". [427] He wants us to discuss 'our true selves' with Him: our love for Him, our prayer life, our love for our neighbour, our work, our play.[428] This intimacy, this enthusiastic heart-to-heart sharing, is enhanced when we set aside specific times each day just to be with God: a time to which we look forward to joyfully: "Always love prayer." [429]; and, when necessary, a balm for the weary. "As the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, ... so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy on us."(Ps.122:2)

Setting aside time for God, in no way obviates "the prayer which never ceases": "never let me leave You in my soul alone, keep me there!" To do so, is to "open the door to every kind of relaxation and backsliding ... for (the soul) has then cut itself off from the source, and squandered the 'gift of God'." [430] " If you got to know Him a little, prayer wouldn’t bore you any more; to me it seems to be rest, relaxation. We come quite simply to the One we love, stay close to Him like a little child in the arms of its mother, and we let our heart go." [431] "Taking time frequently to be alone with Him",[432] who we feel is ever near to us, who knows our needs before we ever ask. What joy to be with the One who loves us better than we love ourselves, who has adopted us as His children, and who makes all things work together for our good. Sr Elizabeth's use of the abyss of Love is an ideal backcloth for these ideas: at the start of our descent into the abyss, our ambition was to bend the Divine Will to our own; but as we experience His Love, His Peace, His Happiness, so we seek more-and-more to subordinate our wishes and desires to the Will of the One Who Is. "Prayer was the best remedy for my ills." [433] Sr Elizabeth in the midst of suffering was an exemplar, as evidenced by the most precious of her letters written at '11 o'clock' from 'the palace of beatitude and suffering' to her 'high-priest'[434]; and by a sentence in the Circular Letter, written by the 'high-priest' and quoting Sr Elizabeth's words: "I feel Love beside me like a living being who says to me: "I want to live in your company ..." ..." [435].

The alternative translation for 'completely present': 'Absorbed in Thee'; widens the perspective. "As for us, let us disappear, let us forget ourselves"[436]: to give attention to the thought of our own nothingness, "Behold, we come, Father, to do Your Will" [437]; and "to make us simple by putting a stop to all reflections about ourselves."[438]. "Stripped and set free of self and all else, (the soul) can follow the Master to the mountain to pray there with Him, "a prayer of God"(Lk6:12)[439], attentive to the voice of Our Father, "My son/ daughter, give Me your heart."(Prov.23:26)[440] Both Sr Elizabeth and Sr Therese, used the analogy of a drop of water in an ocean of Love, to represent this absorption; especially associating the phrase with the reception of the Blessed Sacrament; and with Sr Elizabeth's motto, "He in me, and I in Him". "The soul flows into God and God flows into the soul, to transform it into Himself."[441] "Let us go to the One who wants us to be all His, and Who envelopes us"[442] In the same way that the ocean of Love is continually on the move, so the drop can become increasingly enriched. Prayer does just this by transforming us more in Him, "since it is the beginning of our eternity here below." [443]

enlivened in our faith
[note that some aspects of 'faith' have been discussed in Update 13]
Prayer means seeking God and letting God seek us: opening the door of our heart to Him. "You would not be seeking Me if you had not already found me", words Pascal heard in his restless search for God. The seeds of faith had been planted and Pascal was a thoughtful husbandman; his dying words were, "May God never leave me". Faith is about God: God sensible to the heart, not to the reason. Sr Elizabeth was aware that faith, being a gift, must be nurtured and fed and there are some 14 direct references in her works to the phrase, "rooted and founded in charity" (Eph.3:17) [444]: charity itself being a gift of God, whereby we love Him above all [445]. Our faith, then is rooted in the rich soil of Love, and like the stones of the temple is built upon the same Love.[446]. God fills the soul "with His fullness"(Eph.3.19) [447]: His Love; according to our capacity to receive it: our degree of perfection, "Be ye perfect, as Your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt.5:48)

"The object of Faith is to show forth God through the plan of salvation." [448] Faith is defined in Holy Scripture as: " the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."(Heb11.1):"the foretaste of that knowledge which hereafter will make us happy". [449] In her Prayer to the Trinity, Sr Elizabeth wrote: "keep me there in living faith". Enlarging on this: first, she refers to the soul as a 'dwelling place'; and second, she qualifies her faith as a living faith: "let us live with God as with a friend, let us make our faith a living faith in order to be in communion with Him through everything, for that is what makes saints."[450]. Philipon notes: "To rest in 'living faith' is to go beyond the formulae which express to our mind the truths to be believed; it is rather, to dwell in God." [451]. "Faith is 'face-to-face in darkness' with God" [452], or "Heaven in darkness" [453] : inaccessible darkness. Faith, then, is 'face-to-face in darkness' with Love.

Jesus emphasized His role as the Good Shepherd: as His sheep, we follow Him in faith united with Him in the bond of Love. He said, "I know mine and mine know me" (Jn10:14)[454]: we descend into the abyss of Love in light(Jn12:35) with the Spirit as our guide (Jn 12:12-15); we abide in Him (Jn15:4)[455]: "believing that a Being called Love dwells in us at every moment of the day and night, and that He asks us to live in communion with Him."[456]. ;"Didn't He say: 'I have come not to judge but to save'(Jn12:47), Nothing should keep you from going to Him".[457];and " the Being Who is the fullness of Love visits her .. makes her enter into communion with Him."[458] Faith is to accept in Love, the Love God has for us; because "nothing, but the Love of God, can make us believe in Him or obey Him – we believe because we love."[459] Always "believe in Love" (1Jn.4:16)[460]: "Let us tell Him of our love, and He will not leave us alone, but will remain at the centre of our soul to be Himself our fidelity."[461]; and then, "By faith our heart can reach Him, rest in Him, touch Him, clasp Him."[462] or as St John of the Cross expresses it, Faith serves as feet to take us to God. [463] The word 'love' is not found in the bracket paragraphs of Sr Elizabeth's Prayer, as she reserves its use for the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity.

"The life of faith does not earn eternal life; it is eternal life. And Christ is its vehicle." [464] "Thus it is with the soul dwelling in the fortress of holy recollection. "By the light of faith it sees its God present, dwelling within it, while, in turn, the soul is so present to Him in its beautiful simplicity that He guards it with jealous care." [465] " Only in God is everything pure, beautiful, and holy; fortunately we can dwell in Him even in our exile!"[466]. "It seems to me that to this soul, unshakable in its faith in the God of Love, may be addressed these words of the Prince of Apostles, 'Because you believe you will be filled with an unshakable and glorified joy.'(1P.1:8)" [467]

The testing, the strengthening of our Faith, is part of the creative action of God. “He works all things according to the counsel of His will,” thus we must receive everything as coming directly from that divine hand of our Father who loves us and who, through all trials, pursues His goal, “to unite us more closely to Himself."[468] "He may escape from the soul who seeks Him in consolations; He cannot escape from the soul who seeks Him in faith."[469] "Sow in tears here, reap in joy hereafter" (Ps.125:5) The Holy Spirit is continually asking us to "Launch out into the deep" (Lk.5:4) as Jesus asked Simon Peter. "The more (the soul) is tried, the more its faith increases because it passes over all obstacles, as it were, to go rest in the heart of infinite Love who can perform only works of love."[470] Reason is not a safeguard of Faith but a right state of heart. " When your soul is burdened and fatigued by the weight of your body, do not be discouraged, rather go by faith and love to Him who said: “Come to me and I will re¬fresh you.”(Matt11:28)."[471]

"(Souls) don’t know how to wait: if God does not give Himself in some perceptible way, they leave His holy presence, and when He comes to them laden with all His gifts, He finds no one there, the soul is outside in external things, it is not living in its depths!"[472] "We must wait on God knowing that He refuses nothing to faith” [473] "God makes us wait sometimes"[474], to test our faith. [475] "While waiting I live in the heaven in faith in the centre of my soul."[476] If Jesus seems to be asleep, oh, let us rest near Him;’ let us be very calm and silent; let us not wake Him but wait in faith."[477] "God’s thoughts are deep and are not our thoughts; may we know how to wait for His hour and may our faith grow, if this were possible, to the height of His love."[478]

" Heaven is the Father’s House, where He waits for us as for beloved children returning home after a time of exile, and that He makes Himself our travelling companion to lead us there! Live with Him in your soul,"[479] "It is Christ who will lead us to the Father, to Him who has loved us, sufficiently "to give His only begotten Son"(Jn 3:16)"[480] – "will we ever understand how much we are loved?"[481] "Death is such an unfathomable mystery and, at the same time, such a simple act for the soul that has lived by faith, for those who, according to Saint Paul’s words, 'have not sought what is visible, for it is passing, but what is invisible, which is eternal'(2Cor.4:18)."[482] "Let us ( reside) by faith in those regions of peace and love. Sursum corda, everything must end in God; one day He will say "Come” to us too; then, like a little baby on the heart of its mother, we will fall asleep in Him" [483].

all adoring  O my God, Trinity whom I adore.
[A list of references either relevant to or near to relevant text on, 'Prayer' in previous Updates is given in refn [484] of this Update.]
Holy Mother Church defines adoration as the acknowledgement by the creature that 'God is All, we are none'; through prayer, sacrifice and penance. [485]. In Holy Scripture we read: "Him shall they always adore" (Ps.71:15); "come let us adore and fall down" (Ps.94:6); and "adore the Lord thy God" (Lk.4:8; Matt.4:10). "The soul can adore Him always because of Himself."(Ps.71:15) Sr Elizabeth repeats this quotation from Psalm 71, 4 times in her 'Last Retreat [486], dwelling on the word 'always': 'through everything and despite everything' [487] and in an eternal 'now' or eternal 'present'[488].

"Adoration, ah! That is a word from Heaven! It seems to me it can be defined as the ecstasy of love; love crushed [489] by the beauty, the strength, the immense grandeur of the object loved".[490] Adoration is "silent prostration before the marvels of God." [491]: "my vocation as a Carmelite moves me to adoration, to thanksgiving."[492];"I wish to be wholly silent, wholly adoring so I may enter into Him ever more deeply and be so filled with Him that I can give Him through prayer to those poor souls who are unaware of the gift of God".[493].

Jesus, gentlest Saviour,Thou art in us now, Fill us with Thy goodness, Till our hearts o’erflow.

Adoration is, " the last effort of the soul which overflows with love and can ‘say’ no more.” [494]: "Think that you are with Him ... with someone you love; there is no need for beautiful thoughts, only an outpouring of the heart."[495]. Yes, 'with someone', how often we forget as we 'gaze' on Him, that He is gazing on us. "He Who looks at (us) is radiant!" [496], and our soul is radiant in His splendour.

"Adore the Lord, for He is holy."(Ps.98:9). To Adore Him, is a gift of God. It is love unfettered: "(The) sole occupation of your heart (should) be to love Him and to think of Him."[497]; "spending the day at His feet becoming wholly praying, wholly adoring."[498] It is a silent prayer, our whole being is reduced to silence: becomes 'silent'; before the increasingly awesome realization of the Majesty of God, as the Spirit of Love guides us further into the abyss of Love. "With you, I am singing the hymn of thanksgiving and keeping silent to adore the Mystery that is enveloping your whole being: the entire Trinity is leaning down and bending over you to make the “glory of His grace” blaze forth."[499]. Even "when we are in Martha’s role, the soul can still remain wholly adoring, buried like Magdalene in her contemplation, staying by this source like some¬one who is starving."[500]

"This is My beloved Son"(Matt.3:17,17:5; Mark 9:6; Luke 9:35). "Let us adore in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23), that is by Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ, for He alone truly adores in spirit and truth."[501] There is no alternative: we cannot profess our nothingness, "falling down" and admitting that "of ourselves we can do nothing" (Jn 15:5); and then unaided 'approach' the One Who is All. "Still through the divine Adorer, He who is the great praise of glory to the Father, (in her soul), she will "ceaselessly offer a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips praising His name" (Heb.13:15). And, as the psalmist sings, she will praise Him "in the expansion of His power, and for the immensity of His grandeur." (Ps.150:1,2 Eyragues)[502] "What a sublime mission the Carmelite has; she is to be mediatrix with Jesus Christ, to be another humanity for Him in which He can perpetuate His life of reparation, sacrifice, praise, and adoration."[503] .Did we but realize, Jesus longs for us to participate in His Love and Adoration of the Father. "I see a divine pur¬suit of my soul; oh! what love, as if I were crushed beneath its weight, then I am silent and adore!"[504] "Adore with Him the Will of Him who wounds only be¬cause He loves."[505]

“The kingdom of God is within you.” (Lk17:21) "The Divinity, that Essence the blessed adore in Heaven, is in your soul; there is a wholly adorable intimacy when you realize that: you are never alone again."[506] "We have His prayer; let us offer it, let us share in it, let us pray with His Soul!"[507]

A core theme of this Update has been the unchanging Presence of God in the soul, and the joy occasioned by the Divine Visitor in the Eucharist: "He whom the blessed contemplate in light and we adore in faith is really the same One."[508] "The One I adore in faith is the same One the glorified contemplate face to face!"[509] Writing about the Abyss of Love: "May Christ bring us into those depths, those abysses where one lives only by Him. ... wholly loving, wholly listening, wholly ador¬ing."[510] She echoed St John of the Cross in her references to the 'deepest centre of the soul' "He dwells in the deepest center of your soul as if in a sanctuary where He wants always to be loved to the point of adoration."[511] " Enter into this little Kingdom to adore the Sovereign who resides there as in His own palace."[512]

At the time of her Profession, in a letter to Pere Vallee, Sr Elizabeth wrote, "I would like this to be the beginning of an endless act of adoration in my soul. You do want your little one to be His adorer, don’t you, like that Magdalene who was also quiet enough to hear the word that the Master was saying?"[513]. Then after an all too short life as a Professed nun, Laudem Gloriae concluded her 'Last Retreat', "It is also without leaving (the holy fortress of recollection) that the soul will live, like the immutable Trinity, in an eternal present," "adoring Him always because of Himself," and becoming by an always more simple, more unitive gaze, 'the splendour of His glory,' that is, the unceasing Praise of Glory of His adorable perfections."[514]

completely present to His creative action
"Send forth Your spirit and they shall be created".[515]  God created the world, He sources all 'creative action'. In principle, we exist because the on-going 'creative activity' of God keeps us in existence. This, however, goes beyond the scope envisaged by Sr Elizabeth in her Prayer. Our souls were created in His image, but perhaps it would be difficult to see that image as we look now in our spiritual mirror: clouded as it is by 'self'. Only by His creative action can our soul be restored to its former beauty: " a beautiful image of God where God dwells."[516] Holy Scripture often refers to this concept, as the 'putting on' of a garment: "He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness." (Is.61:10): of beauty and strength. The parable of the Wedding Guest leaves us in no doubt that our "wedding garment" should be newly washed, and should be put on, so that we are always ready: for we know not when our 'invitation' may arrive. "One must be so pure to appear before God. Yet even here below, He lets us live in His intimacy."[517] Jesus offers us a wedding garment of forgiveness and justice, but are we ready to wear it: are we at that stage of purification, "converted and as little children."(Matt.18:3)? In this connection, to be "like a child" means to become little again and to cultivate simplicity: ideals very dear to Sr Elizabeth -

Q. What do you consider the ideal of sanctity? A. To live by love. Q. What is the quickest way to attain it? A. To become little. and to give oneself wholly and irrevocably. [518]

It is to learn to call Our Father 'Abba' (Rom.8:15): "Rejoice in the thought that from all eternity we have been known to the Father, as Saint Paul says, and that He wishes to find once again in us the image of His crucified Son." (cf Rom.8:29)[519] "He bends over us with all His charity, day and night, wanting to communicate with us, to infuse us with His divine life, so as to make us deified beings who radiate Him every¬where. let us be flooded with His divine essence, that He may be the Life of our life, the Soul of our soul, and we may consciously remain night and day under His divine action."[520] "It is to bring us to this abyss of Glory": "lost in His boundless Love" that God has created us in His image and likeness." [521]: created by Love for Love.

The Most Holy Trinity symbolizes that true perfection, towards which docility to the Holy Spirit guides us. "Each Person of the Trinity knows Himself completely, and completely reveals Himself to the other Persons; each accepts, and is accepted, with complete Love, in complete knowledge and Love; all 3 Beings share their Being completely."[522] Love compels God to pour Himself into His creation: "He is completely in all things, and these things are in a way nothing but an emanation of His Love."[523] "God has not created man because He has need of Him, but He needs a being on which He can pour His benefits."[524] Adam was created in an atmosphere of glory and joy, but Adam fell as a result of misusing his freewill. The Second Adam was more perfect, more Divine, 'O happy fault': "Only in God is everything pure, beautiful and holy; fortunately we can dwell in Him even in our exile." [525]. "He is rich to all who call upon Him"(Rom.10:12).

Love is like a magnet attracting us to itself: inviting us to become more like the Beloved. He knows what we desire, but He waits for us to tell Him in prayer. "Oh! look at Him atten¬tively, lean on Him, and then bring your soul to Him, tell Him that you want only to love Him, that you want Him to do everything in you because you are too little."[526]: "God answers the desires of little ones."[527] "Let us prepare for our eternity, let us live with Him, for He alone can accompany and help us on this great journey."[528] We must be open to Him by seeking to imitate Him from our reading of Holy Scripture and the lives of the Saints. We must regard Spiritual reading as being to prayer what oil is to the lamp [529].

Completely present. God never asks more of us than we can give. In all sincerity, we do give of ourselves completely, in so far as God has revealed 'our self' to us. He may then choose to reveal more of 'our self' and invite our further participation: each person is treated differently. The same has been said about becoming 'as nothing'. If we are 'as nothing', so far as we are truly aware, then we are completely present to God: all our being is silent.

'Completely present' implies surrender: "All day let us surrender ourselves to Love by doing the Will of God, in His presence, with Him, in Him, for Him alone. Let us give ourselves all the time in the way He wishes."[530] We are not our own, we are Yours alone: that is, "surrender without reserve to the action of the Holy spirit, convinced that spiritual life consists less in multiplying personal efforts than in letting oneself be possessed by God." [531]: "with abandonment and confidence."[532]. "Let us redouble our prayers in the peace and abandonment of the children of God."[533]; "Abandonment is what allows us to surrender to God." [534] "How good it is to surrender everything to Him." [535]

We are wholly surrendered to His Creative Action, when we receive Him in Holy Communion and are wholly contained in Him .[536] Can any 'conversation' be more intimate, than Divine intimacy? Can any 'friend' be closer to us, or have our interests more to heart? As Sr Elizabeth witnessed, there were no sorrows, no pains, which could not be calmed by a visit to the Blessed Sacrament: Lord, "Make the way known to me, wherein I should walk." (Ps.142:8). There is not one blessing of true Friendship unavailable to the soul open to His Creative Action: "Nothing is greater than Love ... – nothing better on earth or in Heaven." [537]

We are solely surrendered to his creative action in illness, when we offer our suffering to God in prayer. "We will be purified, not by looking at (our) wretchedness, but by looking at Him who is all purity and holiness."[538] "All of us who are human beings are in the image of God. But to be in His likeness belongs only to those who by great love have attached their freedom to God."[539] Do we ask to share His Cross? "He is standing at the door of (our) heart.... He is waiting.... Open to Him."[540] "That is what He asks of us: Love that no longer looks at self, but leaves itself and ascends higher than its own feelings, its own impressions; Love that gives itself, surrenders itself, Love “that establishes Unity."[541] " In the saddest times, think that the divine artist is using a chisel to make His work (our soul) more beautiful, and remain at peace be¬neath the hand that is working on (us)."[542]



CONCLUSION

How wonderful, how beautiful,the sight of Thee must be; Thy endless wisdom, boundless power,and glorious purity! Yet, I may love Thee, too, O Lord, almighty as Thou art; For Thou hast stooped to ask of me the love of my poor heart!

[543]

"Prayer" said St Augustine, "is better than reading; by reading we learn what we ought to do, by prayer we receive what we ask".[544] "The Prayer of the just man is the key of Heaven; his petition ascends, and God's mercy descends". [545]

In her first 'Proposition' for a 'Praise of Glory', Sr Elizabeth wrote of the 'sweetness of Love': a phrase borrowed from St John of the Cross [546]. Referring to the allegory of the Vine, He suggested that the Vine feeding the branch in a virtuous soul supplied it with a sweet tasting wine [547]; and when lasting union is achieved, the soul experiences God “with such great sweetness” [548]. St John uses the difference between the ‘feelings’ and the ‘will’ of the soul; to point out that the soul would feel quite happy to stay where it was in delectable sweetness, but the operation of the will causes the soul to seek God, and God alone. The love of the soul is undefiled, since ‘the soul does not seek self in the sweetness of its love'. In prayer, the soul is imbibing the nectar of God – Love.

"The soul which is truly nothing, spends itself completely: its whole oblation rests on an act of faith which an act of love completes. It believes in its God, the Holy Trinity which it adores and which it loves." [549] Our aim should be," to hold (ourselves) by faith and love beneath the "anointing of the Holy One" of whom St John speaks, since He is the only one who "penetrates the depths of God".[550]

The only sure way of learning to pray is to allow the Holy Spirit to take us by the hand, and then to pray – there is no substitute. We should leave all thoughts of not seeming to 'achieve', and of losing our way, with the Holy Spirit; while we keep close to the Cross, because like a compass, it always points to Jesus. Although we pray both when alone and in community, our prayer is nevertheless an intimate conversation with a friend. God knows each one of us by name and each of us is a jewel in the crown of His Creation – simply being with Him, is prayer.

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, Unuttered or expressed; The motion of a hidden fire That trembles in the breast. Prayer is the burden of a sigh, The falling of a tear The upward glancing of an eye, When none but God is near. Prayer is the simplest form of speech That infant lips can try; Prayer, the sublimest strains That reach The Majesty on high. Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, The Christian’s native air, His watchword at the gates of death; He enters Heav’n with prayer. Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice, Returning from his ways, While angels in their songs rejoice And cry, “Behold, he prays!” The saints in prayer appear as one In word, in deed, and mind, While with the Father and the Son Sweet fellowship they find. No prayer is made by man alone The Holy Spirit pleads, And Jesus, on th’eternal throne, For sinners intercedes. O Thou by Whom we come to God, The Life, the Truth, the Way, The path of prayer Thyself hast trod: Lord, teach us how to pray.

(James Montgomery 1818)

This web site is dedicated to Sabeth by the owner for favours received. The aim is to share information about her life and times; to be aware of her Centenary; and to pray in support of the Cause for her Canonization.

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Next Update: Nov. 9th 2006