The significance of our profession

Blessed Elizabeth of the Holy Trinity

The text that we present to you here is a farewell letter that Elizabeth wrote to her little friend Françoise at the end of her earthly suffering (around September 9, 1906), whom she liked to call Framboise (i.e. raspberry) in playful wordplay.

So little Sabetka finally settles down with a pencil at her dear Framboise! I say with a pencil because my heart has been with you for a long time, and thus we are always connected. How I love our evening meetings; it is like a prelude to the communion that will exist between our souls in heaven and on earth. It seems to me that I lean over you like a mother over her child with great affection. I lift my eyes, look at God, then lower them to you, and I expose you to the rays of His love. Framboise, I tell Him no words about you, but He understands me much better; He likes my silence more. My dear child, I wish I could be holy so that I could help you here on earth while I wait to do it up there. What wouldn't I endure to win you the grace of the strength that you need so much?!
I want to respond to your questions. First, let’s talk about humility. I read a wonderful book on this topic, which I have already discussed with you. A pious author says that nothing can "disturb" the humble, as they possess an "invincible peace because they have thrown themselves into such an abyss where no one will go to look for them." He also says that the humble find the greatest joy of their lives in the feeling of their "powerlessness" "before God." Dear Framboise, pride is not something that can be eliminated with one well-aimed swing of a sword! Undoubtedly, some heroic acts of humility, as we can see in the lives of the saints, will deliver a blow, if not fatal, certainly weaken it significantly, but aside from that, it must be killed every day! "Quotidie morior, I die daily," exclaimed Saint Paul.¹
Framboise, this teaching about dying to self, which is the law for every Christian soul since Christ said: 'If anyone wishes to come after me, let him take up his cross and deny himself,'² this teaching, which seems so strict, has an amazing sweetness when we look at the goal of this death, which is the life of God in place of our poor and sinful life. That is what Saint Paul wanted to say when he wrote: 'Put off the old man and put on the new man, according to the image of Him who created him'³ This image is God Himself; do you remember His will, which He expressed so clearly at creation? 'Let us make man in our image and likeness.'⁴ You see, if we thought more about the origin of our soul, earthly things would seem so childish to us that we would only despise them… Saint Peter wrote in his letter that "we are partakers of the divine nature"⁵ and Saint Paul advises us to "hold fast to the beginning of our Being until the end, which He has given us." ⁶
It seems to me that the soul that is aware of its greatness enters into this "holy freedom of the children of God," of which the Apostle speaks,⁷ meaning that it transcends everything, even itself. It seems to me that the freest soul is the one that forgets itself the most. If I were asked what the secret of happiness is, I would say it lies in not paying attention to oneself, in forgetting oneself. This is a good way to eliminate pride: let it starve! You see, pride is self-love; it is necessary for love of God to be so strong that it extinguishes all love for ourselves. Saint Augustine says that there are two communities, the community of God and the community of ME. As the first grows, the second is defeated. The soul that would live in God's gaze, that would have this "pure, simple eye," which Christ speaks of in the Gospel,⁸ i.e., the purity of "intent aimed only at God," would also, in my opinion, live in humility, as it would be able to discern its gifts because "humility is truth." But it claims nothing for itself; it relates everything to God, just as the Holy Virgin did.
Framboise, all the movements of pride that you feel within yourself are not faults as long as they are not also joined by your will! Otherwise, you may suffer a lot, but you do not offend the good God. These faults that escape you, as you say, without reflection on them, undoubtedly point to self-love, but that is, my dear, somehow a part of us… God wants you never to linger over any proud thought voluntarily and never to perform any act from this pride because it is not good. And even if something like that happens to you, you must not lose courage because it is pride that is upset; you must "present your wretchedness" like Magdalene at the Master's feet and ask Him to save you. He is so happy to see that the soul acknowledges its incapacity; then, as one great saint said, "the abyss of God's greatness meets the abyss of the nothingness of creation, and God embraces this nothingness."
My dear child, it is not pride to think that you do not want a simple life. I truly believe that God wants your life to take place in divine spheres. You see, I have deep compassion for souls that do not live higher than on earth with its trivialities; I think they are slaves, and I would like to tell them: "Shake off the yoke that bears down on you! What good are those chains that bind you only to yourselves and to even smaller things?" It seems to me that in this world, those who despise themselves, forget themselves, and choose the Cross as their lot are the happy ones! When one is able to place one's joy in suffering, what amazing peace!
"In my body, I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for His body, which is the Church," that was the joy of apostle Paul!⁹ This thought haunts me, and I confess to you that I have profound inner joy when I realize that God has chosen me to join in the suffering of His Christ, and this daily journey to Calvary seems to me rather a path of beatitude! Have you ever seen that picture of how the grim reaper gathers with his scythe? Well, that is my state; I feel as if I were being destroyed this way… It is sometimes difficult for nature, and I assure you that if I stayed here, I would feel only fatigue in suffering… But that is only the human perspective, and so I quickly open the "eyes of the soul in the light of faith," and faith tells me that it is love that is destroying me this way, slowly consuming me. And my joy is immense, and I offer myself to Him like prey.
Framboise, for the soul to live an ideal life, I think it is necessary to live supernaturally, which means never to act "naturally." One must be aware that God is within us and approach everything with Him; one is never banal, even when doing completely ordinary things, because in these things we do not live but transcend them. A supernatural soul never acts with secondary things but with God Himself. Life is so simple; it draws so close to the life of the blessed; (the soul) is so freed from itself and from all things! Everything becomes a unity for it, the "one thing necessary" of which the Master speaks to Magdalene.¹⁰ Then it is truly great, truly free because "it has closed its will in the will of God."
My Framboise, when we observe our eternal predestination, visible things seem so contemptible… – listen to Saint Paul:¹¹ "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son." (That is not all, little one; you will see that you too belong to the number of the "foreknown"!) "And those whom He predestined, He also called;" the baptism made you God's adopted child, marked you with the seal of the Holy Trinity! "And those whom He called, He also justified;" how many times have you also been justified through the sacrament of reconciliation and all those divine touches of which you perhaps do not even know… "And those whom He justified, He also glorified." This awaits you for eternity! But realize that the degree of our glory will be the degree of grace in which God finds us at the moment of death; let Him complete His work of predestination in you, and therefore listen again to Saint Paul, who offers us a life program.
"Live in Christ Jesus, root yourselves in Him, lay the foundation on Him, hold firmly to the faith, and continually give thanks."¹² Yes, my little heart, my soul, live in Jesus Christ; you need this great journey; you are not made for the narrow paths of this earth! Take root in Him, and therefore do not have roots in yourself; that means that you will deny yourself every time you meet yourself. Build your foundations on Him, beautifully above all that passes, where everything is pure and radiant.
Hold firmly to the faith, which means to act only in the great light of God, never according to impressions or imagination. Believe that He loves you, that in the battles you must face, He wants to help you Himself. Believe in His love, His "too great love,"¹³ as Saint Paul says: live your soul with the great thoughts of our faith that reveal everything wealth and purpose for which God created us! When you live this way, your piety will not be an obsessive exaltation, as you fear, but it will be true. The truth is so beautiful, the truth of love. "He loved me and gave Himself for me," you see, little girl, this is true!
And then again and again give thanks. The last word of this program of mine is just its consequence: if you have rooted yourself in Him, holding firmly to the faith, you will live in thanksgiving. The love of the children of God! I ask, how could a soul that has penetrated the love that God’s heart has for it not be constantly joyful, even in suffering and every pain? Remember that He "chose you before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love," this is again what Saint Paul says;¹⁴ from this it follows that you should not be afraid of the battle, of temptation. "For when I am weak, I am strong," because the grace of Jesus Christ is in me.¹⁵
I just wonder what our venerable Mother will think when she sees this "journal";¹⁶ she no longer allows me to write because I am completely weakened; it seems to me that I must fall at any moment. This letter will probably be the last from your Sabetka; it took her several days to write it, which explains the disjointedness. This evening, I somehow cannot decide to leave you. I am here alone; it is half past seven; the community has recreation… and I am already somewhat like in heaven in this little cell of mine; I am alone with Him, carrying my cross with my Master. Framboise, my happiness grows as my suffering grows! If only you knew what joy one finds at the bottom of the cup prepared by the heavenly Father! God be with you, beloved Framboise; I cannot continue. And in our silent meeting, you can guess, understand what I do not tell you. I kiss you. I love you like a mother loves her child. Farewell, little one… "May He protect you in the shadow of His wings from all evil."¹⁷