BTP- L5 – Letter 165 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast

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Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, we discuss letter 165, with a special focus on the power of the Eucharist and meets us in our suffering:

[ June 14, 1903]
Dijon Carmel, June 14
J. M. + J. T.

“Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”2

Monsieur l’Abbé, It seems to me that nothing better expresses the love in God’s Heart than the Eucharist: it is union, consummation, He in us, we in Him, and isn’t that Heaven on earth? Heaven in faith while awaiting the face-to-face vision we so desire. Then “we will be satisfied when His glory appears,”3 when we see Him in His light. Don’t you find that the thought of this meeting refreshes the soul, this talk with Him whom it loves solely? Then everything disappears and it seems that one is already entering into the mystery of God! . . .

This whole mystery is so much “ours,” as you said to me in your letter. Oh! pray, won’t you, that I may live fully my bridal dowry. That I may be wholly available, wholly vigilant in faith, so the Master can bear me wherever He wishes. I wish to stay always close to Him who knows the whole mystery, to hear everything from Him. “The language of the Word is the infusion of the gift,”4 oh yes, it is really so, isn’t it, that He speaks to our soul in silence. I find this dear silence a blessing. From Ascension to Pentecost, we were in retreat in the Cenacle, waiting for the Holy Spirit, and it was so good.5 During that whole Octave6 we have the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the oratory; those are divine hours spent in this little corner of Heaven where we possess the vision in substance under the humble Host. Yes, He whom the blessed contemplate in light and we adore in faith is really the same One. The other day someone wrote me such a beautiful thought, I send it on to you: “Faith is the face-to-face in darkness.”7 Why wouldn’t it be so for us, since God is in us and since He asks only to take possession of us as He took possession of the saints? Only, they were always attentive, as Père Vallée says: “They are silent, recollected, and their only activity is to be the being who receives.”8 Let us unite ourselves, therefore, Father, in making happy Him who “has loved us exceedingly,”9 as Saint Paul says. Let us make a dwelling for Him in our soul that is wholly at peace,10 in which the canticle of love, of thanksgiving, is always being sung; and then that great silence, the echo of the silence that is in God! . . . Then, as you said, let us approach the all-pure, all-luminous Virgin, that she may present us to Him whom she has penetrated so profoundly, and may our life be a continual communion, a wholly simple movement toward God. Pray to the Queen of Carmel for me; I, for my part, pray fervently for you, I assure you, and I remain with you in adoration and love! . . .

Sister Marie Elizabeth of the Trinity, r.c.i.

Catez, Elizabeth of the Trinity. The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel (pp. 105-106). ICS Publications. Kindle Edition.

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

BTP- L3 – Letter 158 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast

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Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, we discuss letter 158, with a special focus on the nature of mystical and contemplative prayer as described below:

[February 24, 1903]

Dijon Carmel, February
Amo Christum

J. M. + J. T.

Monsieur l’Abbé,

Before entering into the great silence of Lent, I want to answer your kind letter. And my soul needs to tell you that it is wholly in communion with yours, letting itself be caught, carried away, invaded by Him whose charity envelops us and who wishes to consummate us into “one” with Him. I thought of you when I read these words of Père Vallée on contemplation: “The contemplative is a being who lives in the radiance of the Face of Christ, who enters into the mystery of God, not in the light that flows from human thought, but in that created by the word of the Incarnate Word.”3 Don’t you have this passion to listen to Him?3a Sometimes it is so strong, this need to be silent, that one would like to know how to do nothing but remain like Magdalene, that beautiful model for the contemplative soul, at the feet of the Master, eager to hear everything, to penetrate ever deeper into this mystery of Charity that He came to reveal to us. Don’t you find that in action, when we are in Martha’s role,4 the soul can still remain wholly adoring, buried like Magdalene in her contemplation, staying by this source like someone who is starving; and this is how I understand the Carmelite’s apostolate as well as the priest’s. Then both can radiate God, give Him to souls, if they constantly stay close to this divine source. It seems to me that we should draw so close to the Master, in such communion with His soul, to identify ourselves with all its movements, and then go out as He did, according to the will of His Father. Then it does not matter what happens to the soul, since it has faith in the One it loves who dwells within it. During this Lent I would like, as Saint Paul says, “to be buried in God with Christ,”5 to be lost in this Trinity who will one day be our vision, and in this divine light penetrate into the depth of the Mystery. Would you pray that I may be wholly surrendered and that my Beloved Bridegroom may carry me away wherever He wishes. A Dieu, Monsieur l’Abbé, let us remain in His love;6 is He not that infinity for which our souls so thirst?

Sr. M. Elizabeth of the Trinity, r.c.i.

Our Reverend Mother asks me to express her gratitude for the canticle; how good she is and how she gives God (to others), don’t you agree? On Monday7 I will offer Holy Communion for you; don’t forget me either.

Catez, Elizabeth of the Trinity. The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel (pp. 95-96). ICS Publications. Kindle Edition.

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

BTP- L1 – Letter 111 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles

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Dr. Lilles begins the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode we discuss letter 111 as described below:

[April 7, 1902]1

Dijon Carmel, April 7

J. M. + J. T.

Dear Monsieur le Chanoine,

If you only knew how good it is to spend Lent, Holy Week, and Easter in Carmel—it is something unique! With what joy I sang Alleluia, wrapped in the white mantle, clothed in the dear habit that I have so longed to wear. It was quite wonderful, I assure you, to spend Holy Thursday close to Him, and I would have spent the night as well, but the Master wanted me to rest. But that does not matter, does it? We find Him in our sleep just as we do in prayer, since He is in everything, everywhere, and always! At 2 o’clock I went down to choir; you can guess what a glorious time I had, and also what I said on your behalf! More and more I love the dear grilles that make me His prisoner of love. It is so good to think that we are prisoners, in chains for each other; more than that, that we are but one victim, offered to the Father for souls, so that they may be wholly consummated in Unity.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

When you think of your little Carmelite, thank Him who has given her so beautiful a part. Sometimes I think that it is an anticipated Heaven: the horizon is so beautiful, it is He! Oh! what will it be like above since here below He already makes our union so intimate? You know my homesickness for Heaven, it does not diminish, for I already live in that Heaven, since I carry it within me; in Carmel it seems that we are already so near. Won’t you come to see me some day and continue through the grille the fine conversations you used to have with your little Elizabeth? Do you remember the first time I confided my secret to you in the cloister of Saint-Hilaire? I spent some happy moments with you and I am asking God to reward you for the good you have done me. I still remember my joy when I was able to have a little conference with you and entrust my great secret to you. I was only a child, but you never doubted the divine call!

I have not seen my dear Mama yet; I am expecting her at the first opportunity. My little Guite came last week. It had been nearly two months since we had seen each other, so you can guess what a meeting it was! I am overjoyed to see all the good God is doing in the souls of my darlings. He has taken me in order to give Himself more, and I can see I am doing them much more good in my dear Carmel than when I was near them; oh, how good God is! I am leaving you to go to prayer where we have the Blessed Sacrament exposed every Sunday. I only have time to ask your blessing; I know it is a fatherly one for your little Carmelite.

M. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Thank you very much for your pretty holy card. Please give my greetings to my dear Marie-Louise. Tell her she has certainly not been forgotten!

Catez, Elizabeth of the Trinity. The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel (pp. 42-43). ICS Publications. Kindle Edition.

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

BTP-LR1 The “Last Retreat” Day 1 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity- Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles

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Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 1 “Nescivi. I no longer knew anything.”

From “Last Retreat Day 1” found in The Complete Works vol 1:

1. “Nescivi.” 1 “I no longer knew anything.” This is what the “bride of the Canticles ” sings after having been brought into the “inner cellar.” 2 It seems to me that this must also be the refrain of a praise of glory on this first day of retreat in which the Master makes her penetrate the depths of the bottomless abyss so that He may teach her to fulfill the work which will be hers for eternity and which she must already perform in time, which is eternity begun and still in progress. 3 “Nescivi”! I no longer know anything, I do not want to know anything except “to

know Him, to share in His sufferings, to become like Him in His death.” 4 “Those whom God has foreknown He has also predestined to become confirmed to the image of His divine Son,” 5 the One crucified by love. When I am wholly identified with this divine Exemplar, 6 when I have wholly passed into Him and He into me, then I will fulfill my eternal vocation: the one for which God has “chosen me in Him ” 7 “in principio,” the one I will continue “in aeternum” when, immersed in the bosom of my Trinity, I will be the unceasing praise of His glory, Laudem gloriae ejus.

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

This the text we are using to discuss “Heaven in Faith” you can find it here and order from the Carmelite Sisters

We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to
Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series

Anthony Lilles, S.T.D. is an associate professor and the academic dean of Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo as well as the academic advisor for Juan Diego House of Priestly Formation for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. For over twenty years he served the Church in Northern Colorado where he joined and eventually served as dean of the founding faculty of Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. Through the years, clergy, seminarians, religious and lay faithful have benefitted from his lectures and retreat conferences on the Carmelite Doctors of the Church and the writings of Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity. After graduating from Franciscan University of Steubenville, he completed licentiate and doctoral studies in spiritual theology at the Angelicum in Rome. In 2012, he published Hidden Mountain, Secret Garden: a theological contemplation of prayer by Discerning Hearts. Married with two young adult children pursuing their careers and a teenager still at home, he has settled in family in Oxnard, California. For other episodes in the series visit the Discerning Hearts page for Dr. Anthony Lilles

BTP-LR2 The “Last Retreat” Day 2 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity- Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles

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Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 2 ” The “fortress of holy recollection”

From “Last Retreat Day 2” found in The Complete Works vol 1:

5. It is the same for the soul that has entered into the “fortress of holy recollection”: the eye of its soul, opened in the light of faith, discovers its God present, living within it; in turn it remains so present to Him, in beautiful simplicity, that He guards it with a jealous care. Then disturbances from without and tempests from within may arise; its self-esteem may be wounded: “Nescivi”! God may hide Himself, withdraw His sensible grace: “Nescivi .” Or, as St. Paul writes: “For love of Him I have forfeited everything.” Then the Master is free, free to flow into the soul, to give Himself “according to His measure.” And the soul thus simplified, unified, becomes the throne of the Unchanging One, since “unity is the throne of the Holy Trinity.”

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

This the text we are using to discuss “Heaven in Faith” you can find it here and order from the Carmelite Sisters

We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to
Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series

BTP-LR3 The “Last Retreat” Day 3 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles

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Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 3 ” The “simplicity of the gaze”

From “Last Retreat Day 3” found in The Complete Works vol 1:

The soul, by the simplicity of the gaze which it fixes on its divine object, finds itself set apart from all that surrounds it, set apart also and above all from itself. Then it is resplendent with this “knowledge of the glory of God,” of which the Apostle speaks, because it permits the divine Being to be reflected in it, “and all His attributes are communicated to it.” Truly this soul is the praise of glory of all His gifts; through everything, even the most commonplace acts, it sings the canticum magnum, the canticum novum . . . , and this canticle thrills God to His very depths.

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

This the text we are using to discuss “Heaven in Faith” you can find it here and order from the Carmelite Sisters

We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to
Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series

BTP-LR4 The “Last Retreat” Day 4 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:59 — 25.6MB) | Embed

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 4 ” The “simplicity of the gaze”

From “Last Retreat Day 4” found in The Complete Works vol 1:

10. 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.”

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

This the text we are using to discuss “Heaven in Faith” you can find it here and order from the Carmelite Sisters

We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to
Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series

BTP-LR5 The “Last Retreat” Day 5 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles

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Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 5 ” – “I saw a great multitude which no man could number. . . ”

From “Last Retreat Day 5” found in The Complete Works vol 1:

12. “I saw a great multitude which no man could number. . . . 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. They shall neither hunger nor thirst anymore, neither shall the sun strike them nor any heat. For the Lamb will be their shepherd, and He will lead them to the fountains of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. . . .”

All these elect who have palms in their hands, 69 and who are wholly bathed in the great light 70 of God, have had first to pass through the “great tribulation,” to know this sorrow “immense as the sea,” 71 of which the psalmist sang. Before contemplating “with uncovered face the glory of the Lord,” 72 they have shared in the annihilation of His Christ; before being “transformed from brightness to brightness in the image of the divine Being,” 73 they have been conformed to the image of the Word Incarnate, the One crucified by love.

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

This the text we are using to discuss “Heaven in Faith” you can find it here and order from the Carmelite Sisters

We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to
Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series

BTP-LR6 The “Last Retreat” Day 6 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:05 — 23.0MB) | Embed

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 6 ” – “That is the condition: we must be dead! ”

From “Last Retreat Day 6” found in The Complete Works vol 1:

16. What a going out from self that implies! What a death! Let us say with St. Paul, “Quotidie morior.” 95 The great saint wrote to the Colossians, “You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” 96

That is the condition: we must be dead! Without that we may be hidden in God at certain moments; but we do not LIVE habitually in this divine Being because all our emotions, self-seekings and the rest, come to draw us out of Him.

The soul that gazes steadfastly on its Master with this “single eye which fills the whole body with light” 97 is kept “from the depths of iniquity within it 98 of which the prophet complains. “The Lord has brought it into “this spacious place” 99 which is nothing else than Himself; there everything is pure, everything is holy! O blessed death in God! O sweet and gentle loss of self in the beloved Being which permits the creature to cry out: “I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in this body of death, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” 100

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

This the text we are using to discuss “Heaven in Faith” you can find it here and order from the Carmelite Sisters

We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to
Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series

BTP-LR7 The “Last Retreat” Day 7 pt. 1 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:59 — 25.6MB) | Embed

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 7 pt 1 ” – “That is the condition: we must be dead! ”

From “Last Retreat Day 7 pt 1” found in The Complete Works vol 1:

17. “Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei.” 101 This is what the heavens are telling: the glory of God.

Since my soul is a heaven in which I live while awaiting the “heavenly Jerusalem,” 102 this heaven too must sing the glory of the Eternal, nothing but the glory of the Eternal.

“Day to day passes on this message.” 103 All God’s lights, all His communications to my soul are this “day which passes on to day the message of His glory.” “The command of the Lord is clear,” sings the psalmist, “enlightening the eye. . . .” 104 Consequently, my fidelity in corresponding with each of His decrees, with each of His interior commands, makes me live in His light; it too is a “message which passes on His glory.” But this is the sweet wonder: “Yahweh, he who looks at you is radiant!” 105 the prophet exclaims . The soul that by the depth of its interior gaze contemplates its God through everything in that simplicity which sets it apart from all else is a “ radiant” soul: it is “a day that passes on to day the message of His glory.”

18. “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.

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

This the text we are using to discuss “Heaven in Faith” you can find it here and order from the Carmelite Sisters

We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to
Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 1 “Nescivi. I no longer knew anything.”

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 2 ” The “fortress of holy recollection”

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 3 ” The “simplicity of the gaze”

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 4 ” The “simplicity of the gaze”

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 5 ” – “I saw a great multitude which no man could number. . . ”

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 6 ” – “That is the condition: we must be dead! ”

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 7 pt 1 ” – “That is the condition: we must be dead! ”

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’