St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Carmelite Religious
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, O.C.D., was a French Discalced Carmelite in addition to being a mystic and spiritual writer. Her spiritual mastery came by way of the Carmelite vocation, whose mysteries she penetrated deeply. Like St. Mother Teresa, she too experienced spiritual dryness and desolation. St. Elizabeth's devotion to the charism of the Carmelites proved dear to the Heart of Jesus Christ, who blessed her with spiritual liberation and utimate graces.
St. Elizabeth was born on July 18, 1880 as Élisabeth Catez, in the military base at Avord in Cher, France. She was the first child of Captain Joseph Catez and Marie Rolland. Her father passed away unexpectedly on October 2, 1887 and the family moved to Dijon as a result.
St. Elizabeth's affections for the Carmelite vocation were shared in her letters. "I can't find words to express my happiness" she wrote. "Here there is no longer anything but God. He is All; He suffices and we live by Him alone" (Letter 91).
St. Elizabeth passed away at twenty six years old from Addison's disease, which was uncurable in the early twentieth century. She gratefully accepted the pain from her affliction as if it were a gift. Her last words were, "I am going to Light, to Love, to Life!"
At the end of her life, St. Elizabeth began calling herself Laudem Gloriae, which means, "praise of glory." She said: "I think that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them to go out of themselves in order to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within which will allow God to communicate Himself to them and to transform them into Himsef."
"I love to penetrate beyond the veil of the soul to this inner sanctuary where we live alone with God. He wants us entirely to himself, and is making there within us a cherished solitude. Listen to everything that is being sung ... in his heart. It is Love, the infinite love that envelops us and desires to give us a share ... in all His blessedness. The whole Blessed Trinity Dwells in us, the whole of that mystery which will be our vision in heaven. I am 'Elizabeth of the Trinity' - Elizabeth disappearing, losing herself, allowing herself to be invaded by the Three ... All day long let us surrender ourselves to Love, by doing the will of God, under his gaze, with him, in him, for him alone. ... And then, when evening comes, after a dialogue of love that has never stopped in our hearts, let us go to sleep still in love."