(Exercises with Elizabeth of the Trinity)
Fr. Conrad de Meester, OCD
Although several books about Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity have already been published in Czech,1 her own texts are only available to us in Czech in short, fragmented citations. Thanks to a new book from the Carmelite Publishing House, from which I will now quote and whose title and author's name I included in the title of this little article, we now finally have available one very important text of Elizabeth in its entirety.
Let us recall the basics of Elizabeth's life journey: Elizabeth was born in 1880 and from the age of fifteen desired to enter the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites. However, due to her mother's disapproval, she had to wait until she reached adulthood. At twenty-one, she entered the monastery, but just four years later, she fell ill with an incurable disease. A year later, in the spring of 1906, she received the "last rites" as it was thought she was dying. This occurred six months later, on November 9, 1906. Conrad de Meester explains:
In 1906, in the deepest physical suffering and with the awareness that she would soon see God, she asks to undertake her retreat, a time of clearer solitude lasting sixteen days. "I leave with the Holy Virgin on the evening of her Assumption (August 15), to prepare for eternal life," she writes2; this will be my "novitiate for Heaven." Her prioress asks her to "simply note down whatever good comes to her mind." Elizabeth agrees with a smile. So she will write in obedience for Mother Germaine, but undoubtedly with the premonition that this generous first reader will share it with others.
These were private "retreats" (we more commonly use the term "exercises", but the meaning is the same) that the Discalced Sisters performed then and still practice by not participating in the community program during those days but praying in solitude.
Because Elizabeth's notes from those days she spent with the Lord are at times too dense, Conrad de Meester added introductory notes for each day and highlighted several themes for subsequent prayer. His goal was to make Elizabeth's thoughts as accessible as possible to us. And at the same time, to present them in such a way that we could easily conduct exercises ourselves. In such an environment and in the extent and pace that suits us.
With gratitude for this opportunity to learn from Elizabeth, to be close to her, I now present to you as an excerpt from the book the eighth day of Elizabeth's spiritual exercises out of a total of sixteen days.
Fr. Gorazd, O.Carm
EIGHTH DAY
Learning to Bow
From the perspective of structure, today's text is particularly interesting. Between two banks representing the first and last day, this eighth day is positioned as a great pillar, supporting the entire bridge and clearly proclaiming (similarly to PU 1 and PU 42) the very goal that determines Elizabeth's editorial work as well as her entire ideal: "How to imitate in heaven my soul's unceasing activity like that of the blessed in heavenly glory?"
Today, two aspects of her desire emerge even more clearly: continuity of praise ("day and night without ceasing", "uninterrupted", "constant", "everlasting (hymn of) Sanctus") and her transparent purity. Elizabeth emphasizes once again the stepping out of oneself toward God: to pray requires "to leave oneself" and "to transition into Another." For the perfect fulfillment of this intention, which is "worthy" of God and deserving of Him, full loving attention will be necessary: "to take no account of oneself" and to look at God with great "purity of gaze".
However, there is our weakness. Elizabeth is aware of her "helplessness" (IP 15), and we experience more than she does the weakness and falls about which she tells us (PU 31). She knows that our praise cannot always be "conscious, for the weakness of our nature does not allow it to maintain its gaze fixed on God without any distraction." However, the transformed soul, the soul "as if entirely transformed into praise and love, into a passion for the glory of our God", will nevertheless and in everything she does, be "under the action of God, who does everything in her" (NvV 44).
Today, Elizabeth returns to the theme: "The Spirit of the Father" can "strengthen" our nature, which, although limited, can be completely yielded so that "Jesus Christ may dwell in us" and thus we may become "rooted and grounded in love."
The image of deep roots (those good foundations! foundations of a good "self"!), persistent, stable, and extensive, clearly appealed to Elizabeth. When love and faith are great, "the soul penetrates into the depths of God" and remains there; there then draws through the roots of love and faith the divine sap – the supernatural value of her deeds. Through the inspiration of faith and love, "in her everything gives honor to the God who is three times holy", whether she is aware of it (which Elizabeth greatly desires, for a conscious act is still more worthy of God) or not. Under these conditions, the foundations do not cease to grow: "such a soul, with every movement, every desire, and every act, however ordinary, 'roots' herself deeper in the Beloved."
It is evident how deeply Elizabeth's life is connected with prayer; and love is the fertile soil for both. She wrote to her young friend Germaine de Gemeaux: "Let us make our days a constant connection; let us awaken each morning in Love, let us spend the whole day for Love – which means that we will do God's will; under His gaze, with Him, in Him, and for Him alone. Let us surrender to Him all the time in the way He desires. (...) And then, when after this loving conversation, which does not cease in our hearts, evening comes, let us sleep in Love" (AD 172).
At the moment of her religious vows, Elizabeth expressed her desire "that it be the beginning of an act of adoration that will never end in my soul" (AD 150). However, she did not consider deep attention to God as the exclusive calling of those dedicated to a contemplative way of life. She herself lived this attitude of adoration very seriously already in the world, in the "cell of her heart" (Diary 140). "Even in the midst of the world, it is possible to listen to Him in the silence of the heart, which wishes to be only His" (AD 38). As she was departing for a "party", Elizabeth asked Christ "to be in me to such an extent that others will perceive Him when they meet me" (AD 54). And behold, an unexpected confession: "I send you my photograph – when it was taken, I thought of Him, it will therefore bring you to Him" (AD 62).
To her sister Guite, Elizabeth reminds her that it is possible "to find the mystery of growth in love everywhere, even in relationships with the world and amid life's concerns" (NvV 16). When Guite was invited to a party that Elizabeth did not like too much, she learned from her: "I am very happy that you will go to that celebration, because at least someone who loves the Lord God will be there and will be with Him. Moreover, you need to be very beautiful!”
Let us return to the eighth day: in order to bow to God like the blessed in Heaven and those depicted in the Book of Revelation of Saint John, one must first "lay down one's crown": our many and ultimately very silly crowns. Before God's face, one needs to step out of oneself, leave oneself behind: that is ex-stasis (the state in which we are outside ourselves), "the ecstasy of love", humble and true.
For Elizabeth, who is very sensitive to praise, it will be ecstasy "of love overwhelmed by the beauty, strength, and immense greatness of the beloved Object": "for Him alone"! God's prophets, who strongly remind us of the importance of the first commandment of love for God and at the same time live a concrete life full of vigilant attention toward the neighbor, are rare.
This adoration leads to a "complete, deep silence", a silence full of admiration and unconditional self-giving. (Such is the meaning of the aforementioned term "weakness", borrowed from the Psalms and from mystics; a term that should not be understood in the physical sense). This "complete silence" will be for Elizabeth also the silence of happiness: "in the midst of all sufferings and pains, she finds her bliss in the blessedness of the worshiped Being." "The abyss of our nothingness" becomes that "well" into which "living Water" flows "swiftly"!
Elizabeth wrote:
20 "Day and night without ceasing (those four living creatures) cried out: Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come. (...) They fell down and worshiped, laid their crown before the throne and cried out: Lord, our God, you are worthy to receive honor, glory, and power..." (Rev 4:8,10–11).
How to imitate in heaven my soul's unceasing activity like that of the blessed in heavenly glory? How to follow this praise and unceasing adoration? The explanation is given to me by Saint Paul when he writes: "The Father may grant you that you be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love" (cf. Eph 3:16–17).
It seems to me that being rooted and grounded in love is a condition for realizing the vocation of Laudem gloriae (Praise of Glory). The soul that penetrates and dwells in these "depths of God" (1 Cor 2:10), of which the king-prophet sings (cf. DP 36:10),3 and thus does everything "in Him, with Him, through Him, and for Him", with such purity of gaze that gives her a certain similarity to the simple Being, such a soul, with every movement, every desire, and every act, however ordinary, "roots" herself deeper in the Beloved. Everything in her honors the God who is three times holy: she is, so to speak, an ever-present Sanctus, a constant praise of glory!
21 "They fell on their faces and worshiped, laying down their crowns." The soul must first "fall on its face", plunge into the abyss of its nothingness, immerse itself in it so deeply that, according to the amazing expression of one mystic (Ruysbroeck), it finds "true peace, unchanging and perfect, which nothing disturbs, because it has descended to such depths that no one will search for her there." Then it will be able to "worship". Oh, adoration, that is a heavenly word! It seems to me that it can be described as ecstasy of love. It is love overwhelmed by the beauty, strength, and immense greatness of the beloved Object. And "falls into a kind of weakness" [Ruysbroeck], into complete, deep silence, into the silence that David spoke of when he wrote: "Silence is your praise" (Ps 65:2)!4 Truly, it is the most beautiful praise, for it eternally sings in the bosom of the tranquil Trinity. It is also "the final effort of a soul that overflows and cannot say more" [Lacordaire].
"Worship the Lord, for He is holy," it is said in one psalm (Ps 99:9). And again: "They will continue to bow down to Him" (Ps 72:15). The soul, which engages deeply with these thoughts and penetrates "the divine reasoning," of which Saint Paul speaks (cf. Rom 11:34; 1 Cor 2:16), is already living a foretaste of heaven, rising above all that passes, above the clouds, above herself! She knows that the one to whom she bows possesses in Himself all happiness and all glory. In His presence, following the example of the blessed, "she casts down her crown", despises herself, takes no account of herself, and in the midst of all sufferings and pains finds her happiness in the blessedness of the worshiped Being. For she has left herself and "passed over" into Another. It seems to me that the adoring soul is "like wells", of which Saint John of the Cross speaks (SP 3:7),5 receiving "the living water flowing from the mountains of Lebanon." Looking at her, one could say: "The streams of the river make glad the city of God" (Ps 46:5).
A Guide for Prayer
Have you noticed Elizabeth's formulation: doing everything "in Him, with Him, through Him, and for Him," which reminds you of the end of the Eucharistic canon? Behold, your everyday life becomes a Mass of thanksgiving and praise!
"Root" yourself today in the Lord present in your heart. Repeat to Him that the "ordinary" acts of your concrete life, your responsibilities and brotherly love, are all done for Him and for His praise. Everything can become a means of adoration. Our worship can have feet solidly anchored in concrete existence and fights every day in the world. Adoration should be the deepest attitude of the believer and the river flowing through all his creative activity.
You can often adore the Holy Trinity with the words of the Eucharistic doxology, as Jesus gives Himself at every moment for the life of the world: Through Him, with Him, and in Him, is all honor and glory, God the Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.
