Heaven in Faith (Part 2)

Bl. Elizabeth of the Holy Trinity

Seventh day

“God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”¹ The Holy Trinity created us in its image, according to the eternal pattern it had in itself even before the foundation of the world, at this beginning of all beginnings, which Bossuet says after St. John: “In the beginning was the Word,”² and we can add: in the beginning was nothingness, because God in His eternal solitude already carried us in His thoughts. “The Father contemplates Himself in the depth of His fruitfulness, and thus, through this act of understanding Himself, He begins the second person, the Son, His Eternal Word. The pattern of all creations which had not yet come forth from nothingness dwelled in Him from eternity, and God saw and contemplated them in their pattern, in Himself. This eternal life, which our patterns had in God, is the cause of our creation.
Our created essence desires to unite with its substance.” “The Word, Father’s glory, is the eternal pattern, in which are inscribed creations on the day of their creation.” Therefore, God desires, that freed from ourselves, we stretch our hands to our pattern to possess it, ascending above things to our model.” This contemplation opens the soul to unimagined horizons, in a certain way already possessing the crown for which it strives. We can possess the immense riches of God’s nature through the virtue of love, His abiding in us, our abiding in Him. Through this virtue of great love, we are drawn into the depths of the “intimate sanctuary,” where God impresses a certain image of His majesty upon us. Thanks to love and through love, as the Apostle says,³ we may be blameless and holy in God’s presence and sing with David: “I will be blameless, and I will be freed from my iniquities.”⁴
“Be holy, for I am holy.”⁵ The Lord speaks thus. “Whatever the way of our life, whatever our clothing, each of us must be God’s holy one.” Who then is the holiest? “He who loves the most, who gazes at God the most, and who most fully satisfies the needs of His gaze.” How to satisfy the needs of God’s gaze, except by simply and lovingly turning to Him, so that He may reflect His own image, as the sun reflects through a clear crystal. “Let us make man in our image and according to our likeness,”⁶ such was the will of the Heart of our God. “Without this likeness, which comes from His grace, we would face eternal condemnation. As soon as God sees that we are capable of receiving His grace, His free goodness is ready to bestow upon us the gift of likeness to God. Our ability to accept His grace depends upon the inner unity with which we go to Him.” And when God brings us His gifts, He can give Himself to us, imprinting His likeness in us, forgiving us and freeing us.” When we read Elizabeth’s phrases in which she tries to express the great inner wealth of love to which we are invited and introduced by God, we are struck by the stark simplicity of Elizabeth’s cell and the room for the sick. In the absolute poverty of outer sensations on display there, her mind turned to God and to His presence and action, which are hidden beneath the visible surface of things and events that often captivate us so much...

When we read Elizabeth’s phrases in which she tries to express the great inner wealth of love to which we are invited and introduced by God, we are struck by the stark simplicity of Elizabeth’s cell and the room for the sick. In the absolute poverty of outer sensations on display there, her mind turned to God and to His presence and action, which are hidden beneath the visible surface of things and events that often captivate us so much...

The highest perfection in this life, says the pious author, lies in remaining so united with God, that the soul with all its abilities and powers is gathered in God, “so that its affections, united in the joy of love, find rest only in possessing the Creator. The image of God impressed upon the soul is actually formed by the intellect, memory, and will. As long as these faculties do not provide a perfect image of God, they do not resemble Him as on the day of creation. The shape of the soul is God, who must impress into it like a seal into wax, like a mark on a thing. This will be fully realized only when the intellect is entirely enlightened by the knowledge of God, when the will is bound to love for the highest good, when the memory is fully absorbed in contemplation and joy of eternal happiness.” And since the glory of the blessed is nothing other than perfect possession of this state, it is clear that the beginning of possessing these goods constitutes perfection in this life. To realize this ideal, it is necessary to be gathered in our inner self, to be silent in God’s presence, while the soul deepens, expands, ignites, and melts into Him, in fullness without borders.”

Eighth day

“For those whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren; moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”⁷
Such seems to the Apostle’s enlightened gaze the mystery of predestination, the mystery of God’s election. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined.” Are we not among them? Can God not say to our soul what He once said through the voice of His prophet: “I passed by you and saw you, and behold, the time was exactly right for you, the time of love. And I spread my cloak over you, and covered your nakedness. Then I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “and you became Mine.”⁸ Yes, we have become His through baptism, this is what St. Paul wants to say with these words: “He called them,” yes, He called them to receive the seal of the Holy Trinity, at the same time as we received the words of St. Peter “a partaker of the divine nature,”⁹ we received “the beginning of His existence…”¹⁰ Then He justified us through His sacraments, through His direct “touches” in the depths of our souls in times of recollection, He also justified us “through faith”¹¹ and according to the measure of our faith in the redemption given to us by Jesus Christ. And finally, He wants to “glorify” us, and therefore, St. Paul says, “He has prepared us for the inheritance of the saints in the light,”¹² but we will be glorified according to how much we conform to the image of His divine Son. Let us contemplate this venerable Image, let us always dwell in its brightness, that it may be imprinted into us, and then let us approach things in the attitude of the soul of our holy Master. Thus, we will fulfill the will by which God “decided within Himself” to “reconcile everything in Christ.”¹³
“But whatever was gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”¹⁴ This means: I no longer desire anything, except to be united with Him. “Mihi vivere Christus est,” my life is Christ…!¹⁵
In these lines, the zeal of Paul’s soul is fully manifested. During this renewal, whose goal is to make us become more like our venerable Master and even more, to dissolve in Him to such an extent that we could say: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me,”¹⁶ let us study this Divine Model; knowing Him, as the Apostle says, is completely “above all”!¹⁷
And what did He say first when He entered this world? “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.”¹⁸ During His thirty-three years, this will was (so much) His daily bread,¹⁹ that at the moment He gave up His soul to the Father, He could say: “It is finished;”²⁰ indeed, your entire will has been completed, fulfilled, and in that, I have “glorified you on the earth.”²¹ Jesus Christ told His apostles about this food they did not know, that (the food) is doing the will of Him who sent Him.²² And He could also say: “I am never alone,”²³ “He who sent Me is always with Me, because I always do those things that please Him.”²⁴ Let us lovingly partake in this Bread of God’s will. And if sometimes this will brings a cross, we can undoubtedly say with our beloved Master: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me,” but immediately we add: “Not as I will, but as You will,”²⁵ and in peace and strengthened with the Divine Crucified, we will scratch on our Calvary and while doing so we will sing in the depths of our soul the hymn of thanksgiving rising to the Father, for those who walk this painful path are those whom “He foreknew and also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,”²⁶ out of love for the crucified.

Ninth day

“God predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence…”²⁷ A soul that has truly become a daughter of God is led by the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul states: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”²⁸ And moreover: “For you did not receive a spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”²⁹ God created us in His image and likeness, so that we could reach this depth of glory. “See,” says St. John, “what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God, and such we are…” From this moment we are God’s children and we do not yet know what we will be. We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”³⁰
Such is the measure of holiness of God’s children: to be holy as God, to be holy by God’s holiness, and to live it in contact with God in the bottomless depths, within… “The soul seems in a certain way to be like God, who finds pleasure in everything but nowhere as much as in Himself, because it has the highest good in itself, before which everything else is as nothing. Thus, all joys that the soul experiences are reminders to enjoy the good in which it is possession, and with which nothing else can be compared.” “Our Father who art in heaven…”³¹ In this “little heaven,” He is at the center of our soul, and there we should seek Him and primarily remain there.
Christ once told the Samaritan woman that “the Father is seeking such to worship Him, who will worship Him in spirit and truth.”³² Let us bring joy to His heart and bow down to Him in this way. Let us worship Him “in Spirit,” meaning, let us have our hearts and minds directed to Him and a spirit full of the knowledge of God in the light of faith. Let us worship Him “in truth,” meaning, through our deeds, for through deeds, we become true; that is to say, to do always what pleases the Father, of whom we are children. And finally, “let us worship Him in Spirit and truth,” meaning, through Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ, for He Himself is the one who truly “worships in Spirit and truth.” Then we will be the children of God, “we shall experience on our own the truth of Isaiah’s words: ‘You shall be carried upon the hip, and be dandled upon the knees.’”³³ God fills every activity with tenderness and manifestations of love, like a mother who lifts her child to herself and feeds him with her milk. Let us be attentive to the mysterious voice of our Father!” He says: “My child, give Me your heart.”³⁴
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…”³⁵ “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.”³⁶
“Sin is such a terrible evil that whoever seeks any good or wishes to avoid evil must not sin.” “We have sinned greatly.” “How could we grow weary while adoring, when we are immersed in the abyss of mercy and when the eyes of our souls are fixed on the reality that God has forgiven our sins?” He said: “I will remember their sins no more.”³⁷
“The Lord in His forbearance wanted to turn our sins against themselves; He found a way to make them useful to us, to turn them into instruments of salvation. This does not lessen either our horror of sin or our sorrow for having sinned. But our sins have become a source of humility for us.”
When the soul looks within herself with eyes ablaze with love at the infinity of God, at His faithfulness, at evidence of His love, His good deeds that cannot add anything to His happiness, and then looks at herself, seeing her offenses against God’s greatness, she turns inward with such contempt for herself that she no longer knows how to stop being horrified. The best thing that the soul can do is to complain to God, her Friend, that she lacks the strength to despise herself as she deserves and wishes. She surrenders to God’s will, and in her inner renunciation of self finds a true, invincible, and perfect peace that nothing can disturb. For she has plunged into such a depth that no one will seek her there.”
“If someone told me that he has already reached the depth, that he has drowned in humility, I would not contradict him. Nevertheless, it seems to me that being immersed in humility is being immersed in God, for God is at the bottom of the soul. And therefore humility, just like love, can always grow more.” For on the humble bottom is the clay necessary for grace, and because God wants to cast the soul there, let us be humble. “A humble soul never sufficiently exalts God, nor sufficiently abases herself. But a miracle: her inability transforms into wisdom, and the imperfection of her act, always insufficient in her eyes, will add the greatest savor to her life. He who possesses the essence of humility does not need too many words for teaching; God tells him more than we can teach him; in such a position, they are truly God’s disciples.”

Tenth day

“Si scires donum Dei…” – If you knew the gift of God,³⁸ once said Christ to the Samaritan woman. But what then does God give, if not Himself? And the beloved disciple says: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”³⁹ St. John the Baptist could have this reproach for many souls: “There is One among you whom you do not know.”⁴⁰
“If you knew what God gives…” There is one creature that knew what God gives, one creature that did not lose a crumb (of that gift), a creature so pure, so shining, that it was like light itself. “Speculum justitiae,” the Mirror of Justice.⁴¹ A creature whose life was so simple, so lost in God, that almost nothing can be said about it.
“Virgo fidelis,” this is the Faithful Virgin,⁴² she who “kept all these things in her heart.”⁴³ She was so humble, so gathered before the face of God, in the hiddenness of the temple, that she attracted the delight of the Holy Trinity. “He has regarded the lowly estate of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed!”⁴⁴ The Father inclined to this beautiful creature who was unaware of her beauty and wished her to become in time the Mother of Him, of whom He is the Father for eternity. Then the Spirit of Love, who directs God’s activity, descended, and the Virgin said her fiat. “I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word,”⁴⁵ and the greatest of all mysteries occurred. Thus, Mary through the Incarnation of the Word became forever the possession of God.
It seems to me that the attitude of the Virgin Mary during the months between the Annunciation and the Nativity is an example for inner souls whom God has chosen to live in the depths, at the bottom of the bottomless abyss. In what peace, in what recollection did Mary do everything! How the most mundane was divinized by her posture! For in everything, Mary remained one who worships God’s gift. This did not prevent her from also going outward when it came to acts of charitable love; the Gospel tells us that Mary went with haste to the hill country of Judea to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Her ineffable contemplation never diminished her outward love. For, as a pious author says: “if contemplation tends toward the praise of God and eternity, it retains its own unity and does not lose it. When a command comes from heaven, it turns to people, sympathizes with all needs, bends down to their misery, weeps and enriches. It shines like fire, burns, consumes, and absorbs, elevates to heaven that which it has absorbed. And when it completes its task on earth, it rises and sets out again towards the heights, inflamed by its fire.”
“We were predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we should be to the praise of His glory.”⁴⁶
Thus teaches us St. Paul. How to fulfill this dream of God’s heart, this unchanging will for our souls? How – in brief – to respond to our calling and become the perfect Praise of Glory of the Holy Trinity?
“In heaven” every soul is the praise of the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit because every soul dwells in pure love and “no longer lives its own life, but the life of God.” Then it knows Him, St. Paul says, as it is known by Him,⁴⁷ in other words, its understanding is God’s understanding, its will is God’s will, its love is the very love of God. This spirit of love and fortitude indeed transforms its soul, for it has been given to replace what it lacks. “He performs this glorious transformation in it.” St. John of the Cross proclaims that “it is not important that the soul given to love through the Holy Spirit rises to the degree we have just mentioned,” even here on earth. I call this the perfect praise of glory!
The praise of glory is the soul that dwells in God, who loves Him with pure and selfless love and does not seek in the sweetness of this love for herself, but loves God above all His gifts, even if she receives nothing from Him, and desires only the good of this dearly loved object of her love. How else can we effectively desire God’s good than by doing His will, which arranges all things for His greater glory? Therefore, this soul must completely surrender to God’s will and lose itself in it, so that it will desire nothing other than what God wants.
The praise of glory is a subdued soul, lingering like a lyre under the mysterious touch of the Holy Spirit, which brings forth Divine chords. She knows that suffering is the string on which even more beautiful sounds can be played, and therefore she makes it her instrument, through which she delightfully moves the heart of her God.
The praise of glory is a soul that, in faith and simplicity, reaches out to God, is a mirror that reflects Him in everything He is, is like a bottomless abyss into which He can pour Himself and in which He can expand. She is also like a crystal through which He can shine and (in it) contemplate all His perfection and own brightness. A soul that thus allows God to quiet His (i.e., His) need to share “everything He is and everything He has,”⁴⁸ is truly the praise of glory of all His gifts.
The praise of glory is finally a being continuously immersed in thanksgiving. Every deed of hers, every movement, all her thoughts and desires root her ever deeper in love and become an echo of the eternal Sanctus.
In heaven filled with glory, the blessed do not cease to cry out: Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty... and they fall down and worship Him who lives forever.⁴⁹ The praise of glory today takes hold of her eternal task in the heavens of her soul. Her song is continuous, for she is under the influence of the Holy Spirit, who works everything in her. And although she is not always aware of it, for the imperfection of her nature does not allow her to be focused on God without distractions, she continuously sings and worships, completely transforming into praise and into love, in the desire for God’s glory. In the heaven of our souls, we want to be the praise of glory of the Holy Trinity, the praise of love of our Immaculate Mother. One day the veil will be lifted, and we will be brought into eternal abodes, where we will let our song resonate in the bosom of infinite Love. And God will then give us a new name, promised to those who overcome.⁵⁰ What name will it be? Laudem gloriae. (Praise of glory)⁵¹