BTP-L10 - Letter 214 pt. 1 - The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity - Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles

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Letter 214, Pt. 1 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles

Dr. Anthony Lilles and Kris McGregor discuss the letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, specifically focusing on a letter she wrote on November 29, 1904, to Father Chaveyard, who was preparing for his ordination. They reflect on Elizabeth’s deep contemplative prayer life and her message of entering into a profound intimacy with God. Elizabeth encourages Father Chaveyard to embrace humility and sacrifice, emphasizing the importance of love without measure. She views prayer as a means of deeper solidarity with loved ones and the broader church community.

Dr. Lilles explains that Elizabeth’s spirituality involves being completely surrendered to God’s will, which enables Christ’s mystery to be renewed in us. This renewal is characterized by adoration, healing, and salvation. The conversation highlights Elizabeth’s emphasis on living a life of love that mirrors Christ’s sacrificial love, and how this love leads to a transformative experience of God’s presence.

They also touch on the idea that Christian life involves a continuous process of dying to oneself to live in Christ. Despite human weaknesses and failures, Elizabeth’s writings convey a sense of peace and confidence in God’s power to work through these shortcomings.

Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions

The Gift of Contemplative Prayer: How can we integrate the contemplative prayer practiced by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity into our daily lives to deepen our intimacy with God?
Encouragement in Vocational Challenges: In what ways can we support and encourage those in our community who are preparing for or are currently in ministry, especially during times of turmoil?
Solidarity Through Prayer: How does St. Elizabeth’s understanding of prayer as a means of deeper solidarity with loved ones inspire us to pray more earnestly for our families and friends?
Love Without Measure: Reflect on how we can love others without measure, as Christ loved us, and identify any areas in our lives where we might be placing limits on our love.
Transformation Through Baptism: How does recognizing that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” influence our daily actions and decisions?
Christ’s Healing Work in Us: In what ways can we become more open and vulnerable to Christ’s healing work in our lives, especially in moments of weakness and failure?
Surrender to Divine Mystery: How can we grow in our ability to surrender to God’s will and trust in His plan for us, even when it involves suffering or sacrifice?
Role of Prayer in Overcoming Weakness: What steps can we take to maintain peace and confidence in God’s work within us, particularly when faced with our own shortcomings and failures?
Support in Spiritual Formation: How can we help others in their spiritual formation and journey towards deeper intimacy with Christ, drawing from St. Elizabeth’s teachings and example?
The Mystery of Christ in Us: Reflect on the significance of being called to participate in Christ’s saving mystery and how this calling can transform our understanding of our own life’s purpose and mission.

Letter 214

[November 29, 1904]

J. M. + J. T.

“Providebam Dominum in conspectu meo semper; quoniam a dextris est mihi, ne commovear.”

Monsieur l’Abbé,

I am very grateful to you for your feastday wishes, and I am very happy the Church has placed our saints so close to each other, because that gives me the chance to offer you my best wishes today. Saint Augustine says that “love, forgetful of its own dignity, is eager to raise and magnify the beloved: it has only one measure, which is to be without measure.” I am asking God to fill you with that measure without measure, which is to say, according to the “riches of His glory,” that the weight of His love may draw you to the point of happy loss the Apostle spoke of when he wrote “Vivo enim jam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus.” That is the dream of my Carmelite soul and, I believe, also the dream of your priestly soul. Above all it is the dream of Christ, and I ask Him to accomplish it fully in our souls. Let us be for Him, in a way, another humanity in which He may renew His whole Mystery. I have asked Him to make His home in me as Adorer, as Healer, and as Savior, 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 carry me farther into Himself, into the depths of that divine essence where we already live by grace and where I would like to bury myself so deeply that nothing could make me leave. My soul meets yours there and, in unison with yours, I keep silent to adore Him who has loved us so divinely.

I unite myself to you in the emotions and profound joys of your soul as you await ordination and beg you to let me share in this grace with you: each morning I am reciting the Hour of Terce for you so the Spirit of love and light may “come upon” you to bring about all His creative work in you. If you would like, when you recite the Divine Office we could unite in the same prayer during this Hour that I have a particular devotion to. We will breathe in love11a and draw it down on our souls and on the whole Church.

You tell me to pray that you may be granted humility and the spirit of sacrifice. In the evening, while making the Way of the Cross before Matins, at every outpouring of the Precious Blood I used to ask for this grace for my own soul; from now on it will also be for yours. Don’t you believe that, to achieve the annihilation, contempt of self, and love of suffering that were deep in the souls of the saints, we must gaze for a very long time at the God crucified by love, to receive an outflowing of His power through continual contact with Him? Père Vallée once said to us that “martyrdom was the response of any lofty soul to the Crucified.” It seems to me that this could also be said for immolation. So let us be sacrificial souls, which is to say, true in our love: “He loved me, He gave Himself up for me!” A Dieu, Monsieur l’Abbé. Let us live by love, by adoration, by self-forgetfulness, in wholly joyful and confident peace, for “we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s”! . . .

Sister M. Elizabeth of the Trinity r.c.i.

On the 8th, we are going to give our Immaculate Mother and Queen a beautiful feast day in our souls; I will meet you under her virginal mantle.”

Catez, Elizabeth of the Trinity. The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel (pp. 179-180). ICS Publications. Kindle Edition.

We would like to thank Miriam Gutierrez for providing “the voice” of St. Elizabeth for this series

For other episodes in the series visit the Discerning Hearts page for Dr. Anthony Lilles

Anthony Lilles, S.T.D., has served the Church and assisted in the formation of clergy and seminarians since 1994. Before coming to St. Patrick’s, he served at seminaries and houses of formation in the Archdiocese of Denver and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The son of a California farmer, married with young adult children, holds a B.A. in theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville with both the ecclesiastical licentiate and doctorate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome (the Angelicum). An expert in the writings of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity and the Carmelite Doctors of the Church, he co-founded the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation and the High Calling Program for priestly vocations. He also founded the John Paul II Center for Contemplative Culture, which hosts symposiums, retreats, and conferences. In addition to his publications, he blogs at www.beginningtopray.com .