Transformation into Jesus Crucified

The altar of sacrifice — Past and present — A touching interview — Letters — The glories of Carmel — A royal palace.

Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity was indeed a victim of Divine love. While we made our novenas, she remained bound upon the altar of sacrifice, fullyconvinced that our prayers would not wrest her from it. "' I rejoice in my sufferings,'" she said with St. Paul, " c and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh.'¹ Yes, I am glad to take part in the work of redemption ; I suffer, as it were, a continuation of the Passion — c That I may know Him . . . and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death,' "t she repeated incessantly, applying to herself the word of the great Apostle which had struck her so forcibly at the beginning of Lent.

We have watched her, since the impression made upon her by her first confession, in her persistent warfare against herself ; then, drawn by the Spouse of virgins, giving Him her heart at their first meeting ; again, after her vow at the age of fourteen, withdrawing into herself to realize the gift of God within her ; finally, establishing herself, by the light of faith, in union with the Three Divine Persons. Such shall we see her still, in this last phase, as, true to her guiding light, she gazes on the cross and completes her transformation into Jesus crucified.

"I have never been so happy as since God has deigned to let me share the pangs of the Divine Master," she wrote. In a letter to her mother she says : " You fear that I am destined to be a victim of suffering ; I beg you not to grieve over what would be so beautiful a lot. I feel unworthy of it ! Think what it would be to take part in the agony of my crucified Bridegroom ; to go to my passion with Him ; to share His work of redemption ! . . ."

The Mother Prioress, fearing that Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity would never be able to walk again, had her carried into the parlour to console her relatives. The meeting was very touching. Madame Catez could not take her eyes off the emaciated but radiant face of her dearly-loved daughter, who did not conceal her regret at having come back to life. She asked to see her mother and sister separately, urged them to sanctify their souls, and prepared them for the coming sacrifice by leading them to where she dwelt herself — beneath the divine Light which had been the joy, as well as the sanctity, of her career.

The letters, which were often obliged to supply the place of interviews behind the grille, allow us to read Sister Elizabeth's soul during the last stages of her illness.

" What a consolation it is to be able to open my soul to my mother, and to feel that hers is at one with mine I" she wrote, after seeing her in the parlour. " I feel as if my love for you were not only that of a child for the best of mothers, but that of a mother for a child as well. I am the little mother of your soul. You consent, do you not ? We are going into retreat for Pentecost — I into a more thorough retreat than the rest, alone as I am in my little cenacle. I am askings the Holy Spirit lo reveal to you the presence of"' God within you of which I spoke. You may believe what I said, for it is not my own idea. If you read the Gospel of St. John you will see that the Divine Master constantly insists upon this commandment: 'Abide in Me, and I in you.'² And again: c If anyone love Me . . . My Father will love him, and We will make Our abode with him.'t

" St. John, in his epistles, hopes that we shall have

' fellowship ' with the Blessed Trinity : what a sweet

, and simple term to use ! St. Paul says that to believe

\ is sufficient.³ ' God is a Spirit,' J and it is by faith w that we approach Him. Realize that ypuc soul is

Divine Persons dwell within it during every instant of the day and night/ You do not possess the Sacred

Humanity except when you receive Holy Communion, but the Divinity, the Essence which the blessed adore in heaven, resides within your soul. When once we realize this, a most delightful intimacy is established, and we are never again alone."

Madame Catez, who was going to Paris to be present at the ceremonies following the beatification of the sixteen Martyrs of Compiegne, received the following lines :

" Your Carmelite's soul will take part with your

I St. John iv. 24.

own in the triduum of our blessed Martyrs. What a joy it would be to your daughter if she too could offer God the witness of her blood ! Then it would be worth while to have stayed on earth and seen her dream of heaven fade away ! But what I want of Him above all things is the martyrdom of love which consumed my holy Mother Teresa, and since Truth Himself has declared that the greatest proof of love is to give our life for him we love, I give Him mine, which has long been His, that He may do as He wills with it. If I am not a martyr of blood, I wish to be a martyr of love. Dear mother, let us love God, and live with Him as with one we love, from whom we cannot be separated. Tell me if you are becoming more recollected, for I care immensely for your soul. Remember the words of the Gospel : ' The kingdom of God is within you.'* Enter this little kingdom to adore the Monarch Who resides in it as in His own palace. He has such love for us ! He has given you many a proof of it by asking you often, on your path of life, to help Him bear His cross.

" P.S. — Do not forget to pray while you are in the train on Thursday. I remember that it is a very good time for prayer."

" You must erase the word c discouragement ' from your dictionary of love," she wrote to her sister. I The greater your weakness and difficulty in recollecting yourself and the more our Lord seems hidden, the more joyful you ought to be, for then you are giving to Him, and when we love, is it not better to give than to receive ?

" God said to St. Paul : < My grace is sufficient * St. Luke xvii. 21.

for thee, for power is made perfect in infirmity/* The great Saint had mastered that truth, for he says: * Gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.'f

" What does it matter what we feel ? It is He Who is unchangeable ; He loves you to-day as He loved you yesterday and will love you to-morrow, even if you have grieved Him. Remember, 'deep calleth on deep! 'J The abyss of your misery attracts the abyss of His mercy. God has made me understand this truth, and we must share it between us. He has also drawn me strongly to suffering and to self-surrender : is not that the crowning-point of love ? Let us lose no sacrifice ; there are so many we can make in the day. You have many opportunities with the babies. Oh ! give them all to the good Master ! Do you not find that affliction binds us more closely to Him ? So, if He takes away your sister, it will be to give Himself more to you. Help me to prepare for eternity : I do not think my life will last much longer. You love me well enough to be glad that I am going to rest where I have lived so long. I like to tell you these things, * little echo of my soul.' I am selfish, for perhaps I shall grieve you, yet I want to lift you above all that can die . . . into the bosom of infinite Love. That is the fatherland of the two little sisters: there they will meet to part no more.

" Oh, Marguerite ! as I write to you this evening my heart is overflowing ; I feel the c exceeding charity ' of my Master, and I wish I could put my soul within your own, that you might always believe in this charity — above all, in your hours of deepest * 2 Cor. xii. 9. f Ibid. % Ps- *U« 8< trial. When you wake in the night, unite yourself to your Elizabeth. I should like to ask you to come to me here ; there is such silence and mystery about this little cell, with its white walls on which hangs the bare cross of black wood. It is mine, the cross on which I ought to immolate myself each moment so as to resemble my crucified Bridegroom! I am the good God's little recluse ; I love solitude with * the One/ and lead a delightful hermit's life. I, too, am often incapable of doing what I wish ; I need to seek my Master Who hides carefully from me. Then I arouse my faith, and am content to relinquish the joy of His presence to give Him the joy of my love.

" I have been thinking of the Feast of St. Margaret for a long while, and I shall try to do more for you than anyone does, for I shall give you nothing perishable, but what is Divine and eternal. I am preparing for the day by a great novena. Every morning I say Sext for you, which is the hour consecrated to the Word, in order that He may so stamp His likeness in your soul that you may be another Christ. Then I give you None, which I dedicate to the Father, that He may own you as His beloved daughter ; that with the 'might of His arm ' * He may lead you in all your ways, and may turn your steps more fully towards that abyss wherein He dwells, in which He wishes to be hidden with you.

" Farewell ! May the ' Three ' bless my three little offerings, and make their heaven and the place of their rest within each of them ! O Abyss ! O Love ! This is our chant on our lyres as being the praise of glory, and this shall finish my letter." * Ps. lxxxviii. 14.

"June, 1906.

" Our Mother gave me the great pleasure to-day of hearing Mass from the tribune and of spending a full hour afterwards before the Blessed Sacrament. I was nearly on a level with Him, like a queen at the right hand of her spouse.

" I spent a great part of yesterday on the terrace. As it is near the choir I could hear Benediction. Our Mother herself led me there. I tell her sometimes that she takes so much care of me that she stops my going to heaven.

" Your letter was very interesting. How beautiful the ceremonies of our blessed Martyrs must have been, and how thankful you ought to be to the good God for having led me to the Mountain of Carmel, an Order made illustrious by so many saints and martyrs !"

How she loved her Order ! She felt a holy pride in belonging to it, and was delighted when a vocation commended to her prayers was fulfilled, as the following letter to a Carmelite novice shows.

" I thank Him, Who has willed to unite us so closely in Himself, for having ' exalted you with His right hand,'⁴ and led you to Mount Carmel, which is lighted with the rays of the Sun of Justice. There, in the track of our holy Mother Teresa and all the * Ps. cxvii. 16.

saints of our Order, our two souls, called by the Master to Himself, ought to be transformed into the c praise of glory ' of which St. Paul speaks.

" i With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts!'⁵ This device of all our saints made our holy Mother a * victim of charity,' as we sing in her beautiful Office. It seems as if the good God were leaving me on earth that I, too, may be a victim of love, zealous for His honour. Will you obtain grace for your sister to fulfil this divine plan ; she, like you, longs to become a saint, that she may give glory to her adored Master.

" St. Paul, whose magnificent epistles I read constantly, says that God c chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in His sight in charity. 'f Has not Elias, who exclaimed in the fervour of his faith : c As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in Whose sight I stand !'J left this living in the Divine presence as the heritage of the children of Carmel ? If you are willing, our souls, traversing space, will meet together to sing this great war-cry of our Father's. We will ask him on his feast-day for the gift of prayer, which is the essence of the Carmelite life — the ' heart to heart ' which never ceases, because, when we love, we are no longer our own, but are given to the beloved, in whom we live more than in ourselves.

" Our holy Father, St. John of the Cross, has written divinely on this subject in his ' Spiritual Canticle' and 'Flame of Divine Love.' I delight in the solid teaching of his books.

u It is good news that you are to enter the novitiate, and I beg the Queen of Carmel to give you the | double spirit of our dear and holy Order : the -^ spirit of prayer and penance, for complete selfsacrifice and immolation are needed in order to live in continual -contact with God. Like the saints, let us long for suffering, and, above all, let us prove our love for God by our fidelity to our holy Rule, cherishing a sacred passion for it ; and if we keep it, we shall be kept by it, and it will make us saints — that is, such souls as our seraphic Mother desired — 1 who serve God and His Church.' "

Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity fed her faith continually on the writings of St. Paul, so that even during the doctor's visits, which were frequent towards the end of her life, she managed to introduce the subject of the great Apostle. The doctor, surprised at her remarks, used to ask as he entered the infirmary : " Well, Sister, what does St. Paul say to-day ?" " She is wonderful !" he said on leaving. "What intelligence and poetry!" His admiration was particularly excited by the heroic courage with which so young a nun bore sufferings whose intensity he realized better than anyone else. " I never saw such fortitude and serenity in suffering ; she is enduring a veritable martyrdom," he remarked later on.

Her ideal for which she had so generously striven sustained her in this martyrdom. " I want to reach heaven not only with the purity of an angel," she confided to the Mother Sub-Prioress, " but transformed into Jesus crucified. Suffering has a growing attraction for me; the desire of it almost overmastered the Lord of Heaven, strong as He is."

She wrote to one who could understand her feelings : " David said of Jesus, * His sorrow is \ \ immense.' I have made my home in this immensity — | the royal palace in which I dwell with my crucified » Spouse.⁶ I choose it for a trysting-place with you, who ' appreciate the happiness of suffering and know how to look on it as a revelation of 'exceeding charity.' Oh, how I love it ! It has become my peace, my repose. Pray God to increase my capacity for pain." She wrote to her mother : " The good God takes pleasure in immolating His little victim (hostie)^

" ' Where shall we find the Master ?' wrote a saint. * Where is His home, save in the midst of pain ?' There would I dwell, my Mother and my Priest, To magnify the cross where He was slain.

" But yet I need thee, 'neath thy sheltering wing To enter this fair palace of my Lord, This fortress, the strong citadel of God, Which to the soul doth changeless peace afford.

" David hath sung : * Christ's sorrow is immense !' In this immensity my home I make ; In sacred silence, self I immolate, Transformed into love's victim for His sake."

i7o THE "PRAISE OF GLORY"

but the Mass He is saying with me, of which His love is the priest, may last some time longer. The victim (ho s tie) does not find it long in the hands of Him Who sacrifices her. She can say that, though she treads the track of suffering, she is the more set upon the road of happiness, of truth, of Him Whom no one can take from her, dearest mother. Your motherly heart ought to leap for joy at the thought that the Master has deigned to choose your daughter, your own child, to aid Him in His great work of redemption ; that He has signed her with the seal of the cross, and suffers in her as an extension of His Passion. The bride belongs to the Bridegroom ; mine has taken me for His own. He wishes me to be a second humanity in which He can suffer still more for His Father's glory and to succour the needs of His Church. The thought consoles me greatly. Our Mother often speaks of it to me ; I shut my eyes and listen, and, forgetting that it is she, feel as though the Master were beside me, encouraging and teaching me how to bear His cross.

"This kind Mother, so eloquent about self-sacrifice, thinks of nothing but relieving my pain, as I often say to her ; however, I submit to it like a child. Our Lord told St. Teresa that He preferred her obedience to the penances of another saint, so I take Marguerite's little dainties when my stomach allows me, and they relieve it more than anything else.

" I kiss my Master's cross at each fresh pang, saying : c I thank Thee, but I am not worthy of it,' remembering that suffering was the comrade of His life, and that I do not deserve that His Father should treat me as He treated His Son.

" A saint, writing of Jesus, said : ■ Where did He⁷ dwell, save in anguish ?'⁸ Every soul that is bruised by affliction of whatever kind can exclaim to itself : c I dwell with Jesus ; we live in intimacy, sheltered within the same home/

" The saint of whom I speak teaches us that the sign which proves that God dwells in us and that we are possessed by His love is that we take what hurts us not only patiently, but gratefully. To reach this state we must long and lovingly contemplate Christ crucified ; this contemplation, if genuine, must infallibly lead us to a love of suffering.

" Dear mother,/view every trial and contradiction you meet with in the light that shines from the cross ; thus you will please God and grow in love. . Oh, thank Him for me ! I am so happy ! I wish Icould shed some of my happiness on those I love !

u Adieu ! I cannot hold my pencil any longer, but my heart remains with you. I appoint the shadow of the cross as our trysting-place, there to learn the science of suffering.

" Your happy daughter,

" Elizabeth of the Trinity."

Footnotes

1. Col. i. 24. t Phil. iii. 10. ↩

2. the temple of God,' as St. Paul teaches : the Three ↩

3. St. John xv. 4. f St. John xiv. 23. ↩

4. It is I, myself, who am telling my dearest mother that her little invalid still feels better. She has more strength for sitting up in bed, her head is fairly strong, but her legs will not support her, otherwise I think she would be able to do something for herself. Her infirmarians eagerly supply all her wants most charitably and affectionately. ↩

5. 3 Kings xix. 10. f Eph. i. 4. J 3 Kings xvii. I. ↩

6. One day Sister Elizabeth put in the Prioress' cell a little card with a picture of a fortress with a drawbridge. Near the closed door was pasted a print of our Lady of Lourdes as Janua cceli. We shall see later on the reason for this name. From one corner of the embattled tower floated a small flag with the device : " Fortress of pain and holy recollection, the dwelling of Laudem Gloria while awaiting her entrance into her Father's house." Beneath the drawbridge were written the following lines : ↩

7. Here, as elsewhere, the word " hostie " is used, which in French signifies the Sacred Host in the Mass as well as an ordinary victim. The word " victim " or " sacrifice " does not render the meaning of this passage in the original. — Translator. ↩

8. Sister Elizabeth's soul was wounded afresh with love by this saying of St. Angela of Foligno's. I never went near her without repeating it, knowing that it would delight her. Then she used to speak to me in feeling accents of the Saviour's Passion, and of her joy at dwelling with Him through suffering. — Note by Sister M . ↩