Quote of the day, 3 December: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

The holy time of Advent is here; it seems to me that it is very especially the season of interior souls, those who live unceasingly and through everything wholly “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3) at the center of themselves.

Let us empty our soul so He can come forth in it and communicate the eternal life (cf. Jn. 17:2) that is its own; the Father has given Him “power over all flesh” (Jn. 17:2) for that purpose, as we are told in the Gospel.

And then, in the silence of prayer, let us listen to Him, for He is the “Source” (Jn. 8:25) who speaks within us and who has said: “He who sent me is true, and I tell all I have heard from Him” (Jn. 8:26).

Let us ask Him to make us true in our love, to make us sacrificial beings, for it seems to me that sacrifice is only love put into action: “He loved me, He gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 250 to Abbé Chevignard (Advent,1905)

In the year 1905, Advent began on the 3rd of December. Saint Elizabeth’s biographer and editor of her letters, Father Conrad de Meester, O.C.D. indicates that Letter 250 would have been written shortly before the beginning of Advent — probably 29 November — in order to arrive in time for Abbé André Chevignard’s feast day on 30 November, the Feast of Saint Andrew.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, translated from the French by Nash, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.