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The God Who saved us, the Triune God, Who made us sharers of that love of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is not a stranger to human beings. He is the God of the Christian faith, Who revealed Himself in the Son, Who operates in the heart of human beings through the action of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is the fulness of life. This fulness of life is in all human beings, and is transmitted through love and in love. This fulness stimulates a sincere response, that exceeds all human limits, in total self-giving to the other. This total self-giving gives a personal experience of love in the Blessed Trinity.
This is case of St. Elizabeth if the Trinity, who placed the mystery of the Holy Trinity at the very centre of her spiritual life. This is verified in her spiritual journey, in the ordinary events of her brief existence on earth. It is important to note that this is not an intellectual speculation, but an infused power and wisdom and love attained by communication and participation.
The child with furious eyes, grew up to be the gentle Carmelite, who prayed that she become “another humanity” in which Christ may renew His whole mystery; that she may become for others a “Sacrament of Christ”. So radical was the transformation wrought in her by the grace of the in-dwelling Trinity! In this context, St. Elizabeth – the young cloistered nun, who died at the age of 26 – is truly a prophet for our times.
Though she lived at the end of the 19th century, Elizabeth was ahead of her times. She loved the life of Faith; living it with a total surrender and forgetfulness of self. That God may transform her soul, the total giving of herself to God required, she understood, a complete detachment from oneself. We see in her life that she ardently desired this transformation. As a consequence, we see the gifts of peace and joy radiating even from her once “furious” eyes! For, where God is present His gifts are also present.
This is how she speaks of her mission: “In Heaven my mission will be to help souls to go out of themselves and cling to God.” Her vocation, she described as being “the praise of (God’s) glory”. (Eph.1:11-12) This is the ultimate goal of every Christian! Not only of Christians, but of every human being, since God in His infinite wisdom, created every human being for nothing but to love, to serve and to praise Him, here and in Eternity! Therefore, to be “the praise of glory” (Laudem Gloriae) is the vocation of every human being.
In the solitude of Carmel, through the silencing of her internal faculties, Elizabeth joined the meaning of her name –“house of God” – to her Christian vocation, understood by the light of the Holy Spirit . The way to glorify God is to do His Will. She thus wrote, “If you attach yourself to the Will of this adorable Master, and look upon every suffering and joy as coming directly from Him then your life will be one of continuous communion with Him. Everything will be a Sacrament which gives you God. God can be found in all things.” That is the way to glorify Him in moments of weakness and sufferings that are so difficult to bear! “God is there with us in our moments of bitter suffering”, she assures us.
All that spoke of God gave Elisabeth delight! Being the dwelling of the Holy Trinity, every human body and soul is tuned to the musical notes that the whole creation sings night and day, to the glory of its Creator! This praising of God’s glory, that is the ordinary vocation of every created being, St. Elizabeth made into an extra-ordinary one, by giving it a new meaning, a new melody, a new rhythm, through her personal charisma. Having thus sung this unparalleled song here on earth, she now continues to do so from Heaven – to the PRAISE OF GOD’S GLORY!