I see what Elizabeth is saying in this way: To know about Jesus is to read and hear about Him. In order to truly know Jesus, you must see Him with the eyes of your soul - always before you, always with you in everything that you do ("Never leave your Creator alone!". In one of Luisa's letters she says, "Don't think about the past, this harms you a great deal, rather, even today, begin your life with Jesus and you will find out for yourself how all things change for you; you will feel like another man, born again in all that is holy." I leave you in the Divine Volition clasped within the arms of Jesus and under the Mantle of Mary.
DAY 2 Saint Elizabeth uses the image of an out-of-tune instrument to help us picture a disunified soul torn by conflicting desires, even if God be one among others. Prayer is the necessary path to unity and the tools of my prayer life, such as the Rosary or Lectio Divina, should open the doorway to self-possession and silence. Silence has a frightening aspect because it is a disposition where I let go of self-direction so that God alone directs. It is a learning process, but Elizabeth stresses that…for love of Him I have forfeited everything, even control. It is in this Fortress of Holy Recollection (silence) where a Divine impact occurs and one is captivated by the love of Christ. It sounds too much like theory, and too often I feel as though I have failed and that nothing happened. Have I ever really been in the Fortress? I would like to think so; for me it is more like a state of alert attentiveness, where the mind has been stilled and I peacefully await… But, that is not the goal, for the true desire is that the Lord will be present. If He chooses to make a change, heal a wound, or direct my path, wonderful, but let Him come! Song of Songs 1:7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest at midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions. If I subsequently experience the fruitfulness of love in my life, then I can know He had truly been present in the quiet, bringing unity and order to my heart. Lord make me an instrument of your peace. Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
Jesus to St. Elizabeth on "The Way to the Trinity" : "Remain in me. It is the Word of God who gives this order, expresses His wish. Remain in me, not for a few moments, a few hours, which must pass away, but remain permanent, habitually. Remain in me, pray in me, adore in me, love in me, suffer in me, work and act in me. Remain in me so that you may be able to encounter anyone or anything; penetrate further still into these depths. This is truly the solitude unto which God wants to allure the soul so that he may speak to it...". (Taken from the Spiritual Doctrine of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, Luigi Borriello, OVD - this is another great book about Elizabeth)
DAY 3 Saint Elizabeth shares that no conflict truly exists between contemplating God (the remaining above and the resting below) and being industrious for God. Rather, the second flows from the first. But we must be patiently persistent in prayer. Isaiah 58:10 ...then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noonday. 11 And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water whose waters shall not fail. God desires to contemplate in each of us the reflection of His Glory, the light of His perfections, just as He does in the saints of Heaven. St. Irenaeus states a similar thought: The glory of God is man fully alive and the life of man is the vision of God! When we bring everything into our time of prayer including our crosses and the wounds of sin, when we wait and gaze upon the Lord in silence: then His love will transform our darkness into habitual light and we will bear fruit. Safe under the Mantle of Mary!
"Let us therefore be renewed in the interior of our souls, stripping off our old self and putting on the new self in the image of its creator. All this should be done in sweetness and simplicity separating ourselves from everything that is not God. Then the soul has no more desires or fears; its will is lost entirely in God, and since this is what produces union, it can claim: I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me." (The Spiritual Doctrine of Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity)
DAY 4 http://www.discerninghearts.com/cat...zabeth-of-the-trinity-with-dr-anthony-lilles/ Elizabeth says: Here faith, the beautiful light of faith appears. It alone should light my way as I go to meet the Bridegroom. The psalmist sings that He “hides Himself in darkness,” 59 then in another place he seems to contradict himself by saying that “light surrounds Him like a cloak.” 60 What stands out for me in this apparent contradiction is that I must immerse myself in “the sacred darkness” 61 by putting all my powers in darkness and emptiness ; then I will meet my Master, and “the light that surrounds Him like a cloak ” will envelop me also, for He wants His bride to be luminous with His light, His light alone, “which is the glory of God.” The Rosary is a beautiful prayer that I recite virtually every day. Usually, I not only may ponder the mystery, I will attach a petition to each decade because I carry within me the needs of those I love. I remember a number of years ago, I was in the middle of the fourth decade, and the Lord interrupted me with a bucketful of His Love. I never did finish that Rosary. Did I fail the person who would have been attached to my 5th decade? Should I not feel that Irish guilt for not completing the Rosary, itself! Was that reasonable? No. Such temptations occur when I cement certain goals and expectations on my prayer time, when I've allowed myself to be in charge. Those goals and expectations, that Irish guilt, are the powers which Elizabeth instructs us to let go of, to put in darkness and emptiness. This choice to relinquish the desire to manage my prayer time paves the way to meet my Master, and “the light that surrounds Him like a cloak ” will envelop me also...His light alone, “which is the glory of God. I must at all times be ready to relinquish expectations when the Lord, in His love for me, redirects my path. St. Elizabeth cautions us that to stay the course on our original plan for prayer time and not follow His lead, demonstrates a lack of trust in God. Only His Light, His direction, should matter to us. In Rev 21, the Apostle John speaks of the Heavenly Jerusalem: 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. Elizabeth wants the soul of each one of us to be a foreshadowing of the Heavenly Jerusalem! Jesus, may I trust You and Your Will in my prayer and throughout each day. Lead me on, dear Lord, into Your marvelous Light! Safe under the Mantle of Mary!
DAY 5 http://www.discerninghearts.com/cat...zabeth-of-the-trinity-with-dr-anthony-lilles/ Worldwide events and catastrophes oftentimes grab my attention. Today, St. Elizabeth reminds me of the battles within my own life, of the crosses to be embraced! Remember the scene from The Passion of Christ when Jesus embraces His Cross for the first time and quotes the beginning of Ps 108: My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready! The struggles that arise at times in prayer, the crosses of worry for loved ones, my personal problems- to bring these distractions into the quiet, I must be ready to surrender all to God. We must be filled with a singular love for Jesus that goes beyond suffering and so find our rest. Elizabeth describes this love as one of complete trust, not watching where we walk or what we carry, but keeping our eyes only on Our suffering Lord as He trods the path to Calvary. The foundation of peace is not understanding, but trusting in the promise of God to be with us at all times, even when we do not tangibly experience our Beloved. This is the true battle! Then we shall be like the victorious in heaven: Rev 7: 14-15 …these are they who have come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple, and He who sits upon the throne will dwell with them. But to desire Jesus so much is akin to embracing the words of Consecration: Take this, all of you, and drink from it: for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me. Am I willing to pour out myself for the sake of the Lord and for the sake of His Will in my life? Not to be satisfied in going only halfway, but ready to go wherever He leads is the launchpad of prayer. Safe under the Mantle of Mary!
DAY 6 http://www.discerninghearts.com/cat...zabeth-of-the-trinity-with-dr-anthony-lilles/ Speaking of the victorious mentioned in the previous post, Elizabeth appears fixated on their union with Christ and His Sacrifice. This is a fixation in only a wholesome sense: she says that those of us on earth who pursue such union with the Lamb, must be ready to put to death all whims and agendas so as to be stripped of all but love. Their robes are stained with the blood of their constant sacrifice. Their hearts become pure. Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God. There will be times in our lives when God allows crosses and trials so that each of us is given better opportunity to strip ourselves of attachments. It is a death to self but God's work in me. As St. Paul says in Col 3: 3 For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. And similarly in Gal 2: 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me... Time for some honesty: I am reacting now very differently to Elizabeth's reflections than I did last year. It must be because of the circumstances in my life. Yesterday, I was present with my brother, Tim, as the medical staff worked with him to insert an IV in his left arm. Tim was not very cooperative in his confused state; his vein blew out and the nurse was frustrated. I felt helpless and was restless inside. Similarly, what I hear from Elizabeth, though sensible, makes me feel like contemplative prayer is hard work on the inside though I may be exteriorly quiet. In a certain sense, she is talking from the perspective of one who has arrived and is looking back. In contrast, I feel as though I'm barely out of the starting gate in regards to this constant sacrifice of whims and agendas. But that is where I am today. Better honest than spouting holy platitudes. Any one want to pick up where I'm leaving off? Into your hands, O Lord... Safe under the Mantle of Mary!
DAY 7 Part 1 http://www.discerninghearts.com/cat...zabeth-of-the-trinity-with-dr-anthony-lilles/ “Night to night announces it.” 106 How very consoling that is! My weaknesses, my dislikes, my mediocrity , my faults themselves tell the glory of the Eternal! My sufferings of soul or body also tell the glory of my Master! David sang: “How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me?” This: “I will take up the cup of salvation.” 107 If I take up this cup crimsoned with the Blood of my Master and, in wholly joyous thanksgiving, I mingle my blood with that of the holy Victim, it is in some way made infinite and can give magnificent praise to the Father. Then my suffering is “a message which passes on the glory” of the Eternal. How different today is from yesterday! This above passage from Elizabeth (which begins with a line from Ps 19) is so powerful and resonates so deeply in me; it would be worth the entire retreat if this section was all I remember! It speaks to my frustration I mentioned in yesterday's comments especially concerning my visit with Tim. When I felt helpless and was restless inside, I failed to do what Elizabeth mentioned today: mingle my blood with that of the holy Victim. In other words, I failed to offer up my internal suffering of the moment in union with those sufferings of Jesus! But in the eternal now, I can give that failure to Him today! Not only that, but I discovered today that a word of caution I had previously spoken to a brother in the Lord had somehow facilitated his repentance. So I can join to Christ and give to the Father both success and failure for His Glory! No credit to me, rather, all Glory to God. Both day to day and night to night give glory to God in such a way that JoeJerk loses his foothold in my life. For I have given all of my life, both good and ill, in wholly joyous thanksgiving unto God! The devil is left with nothing to accuse or hold onto! Alleluia! All Glory to God! In the Divine Will! Safe under the Mantle of Mary!
Day 7 Part 2 “There (in the soul that tells His glory) He has pitched a tent for the Sun.” 108 The sun is the Word, the “Bridegroom.” If He finds my soul empty of all that is not contained in these two words— His love, His glory, then He chooses it to be “His bridal chamber”; He “rushes” in “like a giant racing triumphantly on his course” and I cannot “escape His heat.” 109 He is this “consuming fire” 110 which will effect the blessed transformation of which St. John of the Cross speaks when he says: “Each seems to be the other and the two are but one”: 111 a “praise of glory” 112 of the Father! I have often asked myself, why I, as a male, feel so attracted to the Blessed Mother and to the Biblical book, the Song of Songs. It dawned on me as I was listening to this meditation, much credit must go to my beautiful wife, Geralyn. She is so generous, practical, and supportive; her beauty far more than skin deep! Now I realize that both Elizabeth and John were celibate contemplatives who experienced the consuming fire of Jesus' love in each of their souls, but for me, perhaps the growing realization of these beautiful realities could not take place apart from my marriage to Geralyn Jean Murray O'Loughlin. Praise God! Thank you, Jesus! May both Ger and myself, each of us, more fully experience this union with Jesus that will effect the blessed transformation, so as to become 111 a “praise of glory” 112 of the Father. May He who is a consuming fire enable all of us to bear more fruit and touch more lives with His love! Safe under the Mantle of Mary!
Thank you for the meditation, Terry. My birthday the 8th of November is the Feast Day of St Elizabeth of the Trinity. I am sorry I have not read more about her though I did read a book about her in the monastery one time. The Song of Songs along is the greatest treatise on the mystical life ever written. By far. All the saints knelt at the Feet of Mary. I think Marian Devotion is one of the Great Signs along with the Eucharist, the Sacraments and the Papacy that sets the Catholic Church apart as the one true and Apostolic Church. Church. Now that my mother is long dead it is only now I value what my own mother did for me. How much she gave. I think it is the same with Marian Devotion , it grows and grows as the years roll on. The fact that I have knelt at the Feet of Mary is a great consolation to me as I know my own time to appear at the Judgement Seat of God grows closer. For as I get older the knowledge of my own sinfulness grows and grows along with it.
"How are we to glorify Him? It is very simple. Our Lord revealed the secret to us when he said: 'My meat is to do the will of him who sent me.' If you attach yourself to the will of this adorable Master and look upon every suffering and every joy as coming directly from him, then your life will be one of continual communion with Him. Everything will be a sacrament which gives you God..." Spiritual Doctrine of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity
ELIZABETH OF THE TRINITY - FEAST DAY NOV. 8 From He Is My Heaven: The Life of Elizabeth of the Trinity Jennifer Moorcroft A Praise of Glory is a being who is ever in thanksgiving ... in the heaven of her soul the Praise of Glory already begins the office which will be hers in eternity ... ever singing, ever adoring. She has, so to speak, gone forth from herself and become absorbed in praise and love, in her passion for the Glory of her God. Let us draw courage from our union with Him. The soul that lives in the presence of God is clothed with His strength and is valiant under suffering. In the light of eternity, God is making me understand many things and I come to tell you, as from Him, not to fear sacrifice and struggle, but rather to rejoice in it. If your nature provides you with ... a battleground, do not be discouraged ... love your wretchedness, for it is upon that that God exercises His mercy! When the sight of it plunges you into sadness, or drives you in upon yourself, that is self-love. In your hours of weakness, go and take refuge in the prayer of the Divine Master. On the cross He saw you and He prayed for you and that prayer is eternally living and present to His Father, and it is that which will save you from your human miseries. The more you feel your weakness, the greater should be your trust, for it is upon Him alone that we are leaning. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new spirit within me (Ps. 51:10). God will take us at our word and place us in a crucible of testing, refining us as gold in the crucible of fire, the crucible of love. ‘Love has only one measure and that is to love without measure’ [wrote Elizabeth]. When the desert of one’s soul seems overwhelming, one may experience at the same time a deep sense of union with God: ‘the abyss of his love surrounds you as a garment’. The soul suffers yet it knows it is loved by God and this gives it immense joy even in the midst of misery. ‘Always believe in love [Elizabeth wrote to her younger sister]. If you have to suffer, it means that you are all the more loved’. Elizabeth, purged and renewed in a humble spirit of gratitude before God, was able to exclaim, ‘I ought to be an instrument from which the Divine Master can draw the melodies He prefers, effacing myself so as to give Him all the glory, only seconding His action by co-operating with His grace.
Thanks for the reminder, Lynn. I'll join Elizabeth before the Cross and Throne this evening at Holy Mass! Safe in the Flames of the Sacred Heart!
