SCRIPTURE READING
Colossians 1:9–14
The inheritance of the saints in light
We have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
MESSAGE
From the Reminiscences of Mother Germaine
I am going to light, to life, to love
We still heard her murmur in a kind of chant: “I am going to light, to life, to love!” These were her last intelligible words.
The night between November 8 and 9 was very bad, suffocation being added to her other sufferings. Towards morning, the acute pain died down. Serene and silent, this prudent virgin, surrounded by the community reciting the prayers for the dying, awaited in peace the coming of the divine bridegroom. The monastery bell rang the morning Angelus. Invisibly present, the Queen of Carmel was helping her beloved child and waiting until all was consummated on earth to lead her to the kingdom of heaven. Leaning on her right side, her head thrown back, her eyes—now wide open—fixed upon a point above our heads, Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity seemed in ecstasy rather in her death agony. The expression of her face was wonderfully beautiful so that we could not take our eyes off her as she seemed already gazing at the eternal hills.
In this radiant attitude, she left us, without our being able to say when she drew her last breath. All was finished indeed… our gentle Praise of Glory no longer sang on earth, and our hearts were seeking her in the great center of love, in the bosom of her ‘Three’, as she had said:
As soon as I reach the threshold of Paradise, I will rush like a little rocket into the bosom of ‘my Three’; a Praise of Glory can have no other place for eternity.
saint elizabeth of the trinity
NOVENA PRAYER
O Saint Elizabeth!
In your great love of God,
You were always so close
to your friends’ needs.
Now, in Heaven,
Face to face with the Lord,
Do intervene near Him
for the needs we recommend to you.
(Make your request)
Teach us how to abide,
in Love and Faith,
with the Holy Trinity
in the utmost of our hearts.
Teach us how to radiate God’s Love
amongst men, in our everyday life
just as you did yourself,
so that we may be a praise of God’s glory.
Our Father…
(pray slowly, “be aware that you are with Him”)
Glory be…
(three times, in praise of the indwelling Trinity)
Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
All scripture references in this novena are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.
Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Edith Stein.
Let us unite in prayer
Carmelite Quotes 