Feast of St Elizabeth of the Trinity, Virgin

Elizabeth Catez of the Trinity was born in 1880 in the diocese of Bourges. In 1901 she entered the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Dijon. There she made her profession of vows in 1903 and from there she was called "to light, to love and to life" by the Divine Spouse in 1906.  Elizabeth wrote several works in Carmel, the best-known of which is her prayer “O My God, Trinity Whom I Adore.” Also particularly notable are her “Heaven in Faith,” a retreat she wrote three months before her death for her sister Guite; and the “Last Retreat,” her spiritual insights from the last annual retreat she was able to make. A faithful adorer in spirit and in truth, her life was a "praise of glory" of the Most Blessed Trinity present in her soul and loved amidst interior darkness and excruciating illness. In the mystery of divine inhabitation she found her "heaven on earth," her special charism and her mission for the church.

The first reading, the Canticle from Ephesians (Ephesians 1: 3-10, 13-14) is the passage from which she drew her name Laudem Gloriae – “the praise of glory”.She saw her life, her vocation, as living for the praise of the glory of God.The Gospel (John 14:23-27) reminds us of Jesus’ promise that “if anyone loves me...my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home in him.”For St Elizabeth this was a very personal text as she dwelt upon the presence of the Trinity within her and came to speak of her “Three”.