St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Novena 2022, Day 8: My mission

SCRIPTURE READING
Romans 15:14–21

I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news

I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written,

“Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand.”

MEDITATION
Letter 335 to Sr. Marie-Odile, 28 October 1906

My mission will be to draw souls

In heaven, it seems to me, my mission will be to draw souls into interior recollection, by helping them to go out from themselves in order to adhere to God by a very simple, wholly loving movement; and to maintain them in that great inner silence which allows God to imprint Himself on them and to transform them into Himself.

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 that we recommend to you.

(Mention these here)

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, offering Him “the cell of your heart”)

Glory be…

(three times, in praise of the indwelling Trinity)

---

Carmelite Quotes welcomes Father Quang D. Tran, S.J., who prayerfully composed our 2022 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Novena. Father Tran is a Jesuit priest of the Central Southern Province. He is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, and is currently a doctoral candidate in counseling psychology at Boston College. His profound devotion to St. Elizabeth and his rigorous training—not only in theology but also in the interior life of the human person—enable him to share great insights for our Novena. You can follow Father Tran on Instagram at @lemetellusumtin.

All scripture references 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.

Amabel du Coeur de Jésus, M. 1949, A Soul of Silence: Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, Newman Press, Westminster MD.

The portrait of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity in our featured image for this novena is used through the kind permission of the artist, Belita William (© Belita William, all rights reserved). You can view more of Belita’s artworks at belitawilliamart.com.

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