-- Bl Elisabeth of the Trinity, ocd
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Depend on Him alone
"...in the light of eternity God makes me understand many things, and I come to tell you as if it were coming from Him not to be afraid of sacrifice, of struggle, bur rather to rejoice in it. If your nature is a subject of combat, a battlefield, oh, do not be discouraged, do not become sad. I would gladly say to you: love your misery, for that is where God exercises His mercy, and when the sight of it throws you into sadness that makes you withdraw into yourself, that is self-love! When you find yourself faltering, go take refuge in the prayer of your Master; yes, little sister, on His Cross He saw you and prayed for you, and that prayer is eternally living and present before His Father; that prayer will save you from your miseries. The more you feel your weakness, the more your confidence must grow, for you must depend on Him alone."
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2 comments:
Dear sister, Thank you for todays' reading. It echoes what I prayed for at mass this morning.To bring me to know my complete nothingness,He has taken all of my reliances from me and as I walked to mass, I said to Him," ok Lord , I give in, I abandon my life to You".I have come to know what spiritual misery means. I thank Him for this emerging grace. Please recommend a book on Bl Elisabeth of the Trinity's writings as she is unfamiliar to me in this area. pia49
Dear Pia,
You're in luck. There are a good number of books on Elizabeth/Elisabeth of the Trinity. I would start with Vol 2 of the complete works: Letters from Carmel; then Vol 1: I have found God. Those two volumes contain *most* of her writings. Her complete works are not yet available in English. He is my Heaven by J Moorcroft is also good. The Spiritual Doctrine by L Borriello, is *excellent*, as well as another book with essentially the same title by M M Philipn, OP, but I think they're out of print. These last two books are must reads to better understand her spirituality. Check places like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and ICS Publications (our Carmelite fathers' publishing house in DC). Reminiscences is a must read, as it is the first book on Elisabeth, and put out by her community just years after her death. There's also Let yourself be loved by E McCaffrey, ocd. Learning to Pray According to Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, by J Lafrance is also a very good read, but you need to know at least a general introduction about her before reading this book.
I'll see about putting out a list on books available some time this week or next. FYI: I haven't read the "complete works" in their entirety in English, yet. Nothing beats reading the originals, but the translation seems to be acceptable. (No offense to the hard work of the translators!)
I'm assuming the only language you read is English. If you read additional ones, please let me know so I can make additional suggestions.
Please pray for me.
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