189- Prayer To The Blessed Trinity by St. Elisabeth of the Trinity

Prayer To The Blessed Trinity

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity.

May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my Unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into the depths of Your Mystery.

Give peace to my soul; make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling and Your resting place.

May I never leave You there alone but be wholly present, my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to Your creative Action.

O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I wish to be a bride for Your Heart; I wish to cover You with glory; I wish to love You… even unto death!

But I feel my weakness, and I ask You to “clothe me with Yourself,” to identify my soul with all the movements of Your Soul, to overwhelm me, to possess me, to substitute Yourself for me that my life may be but a radiance of Your Life.

Come into me as Adorer, as Restorer, as Saviour.  O Eternal Word, Word of my God, I want to spend my life in listening to You, to become wholly teachable that I may learn all from You.

Then, through all nights, all voids, all helplessness, I want to gaze on You always and remain in Your great light.

O my beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may not withdraw from Your radiance.

O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, “come upon me,” and create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humanity for Him in which He can renew His whole Mystery.

And You, O Father, bend lovingly over  Your poor little creature; “cover her with Your shadow,” seeing in her only the “Beloved in whom You are well pleased.”

O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself to You as Your prey.

Bury Yourself in me that I may bury myself in You until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness. AMEN.

St Elisabeth of the Trinity OCD

St Elisabeth of the Trinity

Prayer

O Lord, the desire to listen to Your divine Word , the need to be silent is sometimes so strong that I wish not to know how to do anything else save to remain at Your feet like the Magdalen, in order to penetrate ever more deeply into that mystery of love which You came to reveal to us.

O Lord, what does it matter, when I can retire within myself, enlightened by faith, whether I feel or don’t feel, whether I am in light or darkness, enjoy or do not enjoy?  I am struck by a kind of shame at making any distinction between such things and, despising myself utterly for such want of love, I turn at once to You …above the sweetness and consolations which flow from You, because I have resolved to pass by all else in order to be united with You.

O Jesus, even though I fall at every moment, in trustful faith I shall pray to You to raise me up, and I know that You will forgive me, and will blot out everything with care. More than that: You will deliver me from my miseries, from everything that is an obstacle to Your divine action; and will draw all my powers to Yourself, and make them Your captive…Then I shall have passed completely into You and shall be able to say: It is no longer I that live ; my Master lives in me.

Lord, how I long to labour for Your glory! I long to give myself entirely to You, to be pervaded by Your divine life; be the life of my life, the soul of my soul, and grant that I may always remain under the influence of Your divine action.

O, Jesus…I no longer wish to live by my own life, but be transformed in You, so that my life may be more divine than human, and that, inclining unto me, the Father may recognize Your image, the image of His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased.

I am praying fervently for you, that God may invade all the powers of your soul, that He may make you live in communion with His whole mystery, that everything in you may be divine and marked with His seal, so that you may be another Christ working for the glory of the Father! …I want to work for the glory of God, and for that I must be wholly filled with Him; then I will be all-powerful: one look, one desire [will] become an irresistible prayer than can obtain everything, since it is, so to speak, God whom we are offering to God.  May our souls be one in Him, and while you bring Him to souls, I will remain like Mary Magdalene, silent and adoring, close to the Master, asking Him to make your word fruitful in souls.

O faithful Virgin, when you uttered your “fiat”, the greatest of all mysteries was accomplished in you.  In what peace and recollection did you live and act! Teach me to sanctify my most trivial actions and to spend myself for others when charity requires it, yet all the while to remain like you the constant adorer of God within me.

O my Guiding Star, the fair light of faith enlightens me to see You.  What does it matter if I feel or do not feel, if I am in the light or darkness, if I enjoy or do not enjoy.  Only let me so fix my gaze on You, that I may never wander from Your light…

O my God, I ask You to make us genuine in our love, that is, men and women of sacrifice.  It is our mission to prepare the way of the Lord by our union with Him.  In contact with Him our soul will become like a flame of love, spreading through all the members of the body of Christ which is the Church.

More texts from Elisabeth of the Trinity click here.

A Day With Elisabeth of the Trinity (5 Videos):

57: Prayer of the Heart #5: Mind, Heart, and God in the Prayer of the heart

Mind and heart in the Prayer of the heart

The mind

Thoughts

Distractions in the Mind

"Mind", "Heart" and "God" in the "Prayer of the Heart"

We are supposed to enter in God who is in the Center of our Heart

How to enter in God

Protection from "distractions"

56: Prayer of the Heart #4: What depends on us

Still studying the "Prayer of the Heart". In order for the "Prayer of the Heart" to succeed, two acts should be fulfilled: one depends on us, and the second depends on God. Fulfilling our part brings us to the meeting point (or the Sacred Threshold) between our freedom and God's one (see previous posts). If we do not do our part, we don't reach that point, and Prayer doesn't work: we do not enter in God, and therefore God doesn't pour Himself in us, he can't transform us in Him. Therefore, "what depends on us" is of the utmost importance. We need to understand it, learn it and, mainly, learn to practice it.

In the 3 following slides we go through "what depends on us":

55: Prayer of the Heart #3: St Thomas Aquinas' explanation

Here is the whole article of saint Thomas Aquinas where he explains the difference between the “general help of the Grace of God” and the “particular help of the Grace of God” (see previous post, on saint Theresa of Avila) followed by a short comment that explains the practical point of it, in continuity with the previous posts.
Remember that we are addressing a very specific issue in the theology of the Prayer of the heart, in order to understand theologically what is the exact difference between the two types of graces: the one that allows us to offer ourselves to God ("Prayer of Recollection" according to Theresa of Avila) and the one that takes us and put us in God Himself ("Prayer of Quiet").
Here, in green, is Saint Thomas' Article taken from the Summa Teologica I-IIae Q. 109, A.6:

Can a man prepare himself for Grace
by himself and without the external aid of grace?

Saint Thomas gives first a series of 4 false objections. They seem right and convincing, but only apparently. They all have a flaw that he will show subsequently:

Objections

1: It would seem that man, by himself and without the external help of grace, can prepare himself for grace. For nothing impossible is laid upon man, as stated above (A[4], ad 1). But it is written (Zech. 1:3): “Turn ye to Me . . . and I will turn to you”; Now to prepare for grace is nothing more than to turn to God. Therefore it seems that man of himself, and without the external help of grace, can prepare himself for grace.

2: Further, man prepares himself for grace by doing what is in him to do, since if man does what is in him to do, God will not deny him grace, for it is written (Mat. 7:11) that God gives His good Spirit “to them that ask Him.” But what is in our power is in us to do. Therefore it seems to be in our power to prepare ourselves for grace.

3: Further, if a man needs grace in order to prepare for grace, with equal reason will he need grace to prepare himself for the first grace; and thus to infinity, which is impossible. Hence it seems that we must not go beyond what was said first, viz. that man, of himself and without grace, can prepare himself for grace.

4: Further, it is written (Prov. 16:1) that “it is the part of man to prepare the soul.” Now an action is said to be part of a man, when he can do it by himself. Hence it seems that man by himself can prepare himself for grace.

Then saint Thomas opposes to these objections the "right teaching" saying:

On the contrary, It is written (Jn. 6:44): “No man can come to Me except the Father, Who hath sent Me, draw him.” But if man could prepare himself, he would not need to be drawn by another. Hence man cannot prepare himself without the help of grace.

Saint Thomas develops the "right teaching":

I answer that, The preparation of the human will for good is twofold:

- the first, whereby it is prepared to operate rightly and to enjoy God; and this preparation of the will cannot take place without the habitual gift of grace, which is the principle of meritorious works, as stated above.

- There is a second way in which the human will may be taken to be prepared for the gift of habitual grace itself. Now in order that man prepare himself to receive this gift, it is not necessary to presuppose any further habitual gift in the soul, otherwise we should go on to infinity. But we must presuppose a gratuitous gift of God, Who moves the soul inwardly or inspires the good wish.

For in these two ways do we need the Divine assistance, as stated above. Now that we need the help of God to move us, is manifest. For since every agent acts for an end, every cause must direct is effect to its end, and hence since the order of ends is according to the order of agents or movers, man must be directed to the last end by the motion of the first mover, and to the proximate end by the motion of any of the subordinate movers; as the spirit of the soldier is bent towards seeking the victory by the motion of the leader of the army---and towards following the standard of a regiment by the motion of the standard-bearer. And thus since God is the First Mover, simply, it is by His motion that everything seeks to be likened to God in its own way. Hence Dionysius says (Div. Nom. iv) that “God turns all to Himself.” But He directs righteous men to Himself as to a special end, which they seek, and to which they wish to cling, according to Ps. 72:28, “it is good for Me to adhere to my God.” And that they are “turned” to God can only spring from God's having “turned” them. Now to prepare oneself for grace is, as it were, to be turned to God; just as, whoever has his eyes turned away from the light of the sun, prepares himself to receive the sun's light, by turning his eyes towards the sun. Hence it is clear that man cannot prepare himself to receive the light of grace except by the gratuitous help of God moving him inwardly.

He then addresses each of the first 4 objections int he light of the central teaching he just stated:

Reply to Objections

1: Man's turning to God is by free-will; and thus man is bidden to turn himself to God. But free-will can only be turned to God, when God turns it, according to Jer. 31:18: “Convert me and I shall be converted, for Thou art the Lord, my God”; and Lam. 5:21: “Convert us, O Lord, to Thee, and we shall be converted.”

2: Man can do nothing unless moved by God, according to Jn. 15:5: “Without Me, you can do nothing.” Hence when a man is said to do what is in him to do, this is said to be in his power according as he is moved by God.

3: This objection regards habitual grace, for which some preparation is required, since every form requires a disposition in that which is to be its subject. But in order that man should be moved by God, no further motion is presupposed since God is the First Mover. Hence we need not go to infinity.

4: It is the part of man to prepare his soul, since he does this by his free-will. And yet he does not do this without the help of God moving him, and drawing him to Himself, as was said above.

__________

Let us see in detail saint Thomas' answer: "I answer that, The preparation of the human will for good is twofold" He will then explain the two graces:

1- The main Grace, the infused one: one is the one we need and await in order to "enter in God" (merit eternal life). This is the particular help of the Grace of God that introduces us in Him.

2- and the other grace is the one that prepares us to it, that leads us to it, that helps our free will to choose God, go toward Him in order to receive his grace. This the "general help of the Grace of God", that leads us to the "border" or "meeting point", that "prepares us", makes us ready to receive the Main grace. As one can see, the second leads to the first one. One cannot separate the "prayer of recollection" and the "prayer of quiet". One is ordered to the other. Let us now re-read saint Thomas in his key passage:

the first, whereby it is prepared to operate rightly and to enjoy God; and this preparation of the will cannot take place without the habitual gift of grace, which is the principle of meritorious works, as stated above.

Without this Grace we cannot be introduced in God, drink God, "enjoy God" and "operate rightly" in Him. This is the Main Grace we need from God.

Now, how can we receive this grace? This is the central issue of this 6th article. Do we need to help from God to receive the Main infused supernatural Grace? This article is a key article. Because our spiritual life is about receiving "Grace upon Grace", and the question is: how can we receive the Grace? How can we prepare ourselves? Here comes saint Thomas reply:

There is a second way in which the human will may be taken to be prepared for the gift of habitual grace itself. Now in order that man prepare himself to receive this gift, it is not necessary to presuppose any further habitual gift in the soul, otherwise we should go on to infinity. But we must presuppose a gratuitous gift of God, Who moves the soul inwardly or inspires the good wish.

This is the key word: "a gratuitous gift of God". This gratuitous gift is constantly given, to everybody, it is the "general help of the grace of God" that saint Theresa of Avila mentions (see previous post). We can complete this with his reply to the 4th objection: "4: It is the part of man to prepare his soul, since he does this by his free-will. And yet he does not do this without the [general] help of God moving him, and drawing him to Himself, as was said above."

As we can see: it is our part to prepare ourselves in the sense of: "to go inwardly" as he stated, to get closer to the meeting point were we are supposed to receive the main grace (in the diagram below the meeting point is the surface of the water). Moving ourselves and offering ourselves to God is done by the "General help of the grace of God, represented by the arrow (1-) in the diagram below:

These are all together central and practical issues. They are not only the "theology of Grace", they are as well the "economy of Grace" (i.e. Spiritual Theology) and its application in our Spiritual Life. In this article we see how "theory" is the theory of a practical issue, we see how all the theory is invited to become flesh in us. These notions saint Thomas is teaching us are Pearls, Divine Seeds of the Word of God.

I hope this helps.

Jean

54: Prayer of the Heart #2: The Sacred Threshold of the Kingdom

If we read the Gospel of saint Matthew for instant, we'll rapidly notice the abundant use he makes of the word “kingdom”. In fact, Jesus speaks a lot about “entering the kingdom” and in doing so, He puts conditions. Like for instance: if you are rich you can't enter in the Kingdom, if you are not “like a child”, the same, you can't enter. What is the “Kingdom of God”, or the “Kingdom of heaven”? The Kingdom is the area of God, the “space” of His being, the “space” of His freedom, of His Life, the inner life of the Trinity.

In her writings, Saint Teresa of Avila mentions the "General help" and the "Particular help" of the Grace of God (see Life 14,6; 3 Mansions 1,2; 5 Mansions 2,3). We can understand the “Particular help of the Grace of God” as the fact of “entering in the Kingdom”. Or, if you prefer, the direct and personal Action of the Holy Spirit in you. The "Prayer of Recollection" uses the "general help" and the "Prayer of Quiet" uses the "particular help".  Saint Theresa of Avila calls the latter: "the supernatural" (see 4th Mansions chapter 1,1).

Between the “general help” and the “particular help” there is a red line, a “sacred threshold”. We are invited to cross that “Sacred Threshold” by using the “general help of the Grace of God”, offering ourselves to Him, asking for His Holy Spirit (His Love).

Saint Theresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Here is what saint Theresa of Avila says:

"For many purposes it is necessary to be learned; and it would be very useful to have some learning here, in order to explain what is meant by general or particular help (for there are many who do not know this) and how it is now the Lord's will that the soul should see this particular help (as they say) with its own eyes; and learning would also serve to explain many other things about which mistakes may be made." (Life 14,6)

She will then explain that in order to practice the "prayer of recollection" we need to use the "General help" of the Grace of God that is constantly given to us. We should use it, until the prayer of recollection becomes like a new acquired habit (see “Way of Perfection” chapters 28 and 29). To this act of “recollection” God replies with His Action (the Direct Action of the Holy Spirit). She calls this action: “Prayer of Quiet”. In the "Prayer of quiet", we are receiving the "Particular help" of the Grace of God that is supernatural (4Mansions 1,1) and infused.

These notions belong to the Theology of Grace that we learn while doing the basic 4 years of Theology. For instance, saint Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa T., I-II Q.109 a. 6, addresses this issue (see next post). He mentions two needs: one is the main need, which is to receive the Grace of God "and the second precedes it: to prepare ourselves to receive this first and main Grace". We need the second grace in order to receive the first and main grace. Since the grace that prepares us leads us to the main Grace, "knowing the existence of this preparative grace, and learning how to use it" are decisive and vital for all our spiritual life, worship and Christian life.

This preparative grace is "the general help of the Grace of God" (that help us move in the water from the bottom of the sea to the surface), that we use in the Prayer of recollection, to get closer to God, offering ourselves to Him, putting ourselves in the Hands of God.

The Main grace is when He comes, takes us and put us in Him: this is the particular help of His grace, the main action of the Holy Spirit that put us in a direct and personal relationship with the Risen Lord.

When Jesus says: “ask and you shall receive” He is just explaining the relationship between the “general help” (ask) and the “particular help” (you will receive) and the sacred threshold between them, this “red line” that defines the meeting point of the two freedoms: God's freedom (the kingdom) and our freedom (using the general help in order to show our choice, ask, beg, knock, ...)

Let us cross that “sacred threshold”, this is our vocation, our call. We need first to learn about it, and second: put it into practice, in order to receive the Action of God in our heart (the Prayer of the Heart).

53: Prayer of the Heart #1: How to Meditate

The Movement of the Prayer of the heart

The line of the surface of the water is the "sacred threshold". See next post, on the "Sacred Threshold".

To meditate is to be introduced in Jesus' Heart, Furnace of Love.

The Priest in the Mass says: "Lift up your hearts..."

"Meditation" is one, but has two parts:

45: The Foundations of the Sacrament of Marriage

Marriage is the “incarnation” of something greater and more secure than itself. This is why for us Catholics, marriage is indissoluble (there is no divorce).

Marriage is not an end in itself, it is based on something else: based on the relationship between Christ and his Church, his Bride. We don’t pride ourselves in believing in the “indissolubility” of Marriage. No, we pride ourselves in accepting that we are weak and that God offered us a very powerful help (the Sacrament), and that He is the foundation of our Marriage. We rely on Him, on that “thing” that is greater than us. What is it?

Let us come back to a fundamental teaching we find in the New Testament: the “Total Christ”. What is the “Total Christ”? The Total Christ is like a huge mystical person. He is one big Person. This person is composed by: the Head and the Body, one Total Christ.

The "Head of the Body", and the "Body of the Body".

We believe that “the Head” and “the Body” are united and can’t be separated. We also that they communicate  with each other in a totally transparent and powerful way.

We know that Christ, “the head of the Church” is “seated at the right hand of the Father”.

We know that “the Body of the Church” is here on earth (of course, it goes without saying that we do not exclude the dead and the Saints).

Our belief in “marriage” is based on another belief that precedes it; the profound and indissoluble link and the union  which exists between Jesus, up there, at the right hand of the Father, and His body, here on earth.

What does it mean?

It means that if you can’t “see”, explain, and contemplate the “link” between the Head and the Body, then you can’t really let the Grace of the Sacrament of Marriage flow, grow in you (both of you).

One tends to think that the Sacrament is received the day we get married and is there, like a static element in our life. On the contrary, the Sacrament is dynamic, the Sacrament is a fountain made available to the couple, and set in the reach of their hands so they can drink from it, get strength, light and inspiration from it.

But in order to get something from that “fountain”, we need to “see” it, to be familiarised with it, and learn to draw from it. 

So let us understand the foundations of Marriage, i.e. the real Big Marriage that precedes all marriages, the Marriage between the Head and the Body, and let us contemplate the powerful and indestructible link that exists between them. 

In order to do so, we need to “lift up our hearts”, lift them up to where Christ is, “seated at the right hand of the Father”. He is the Head of the Body. The Body is all of us humans, who lived in the past, live today and will live tomorrow, all of us loved by Jesus, the Only Begotten Son, who died out of love for each one of us in order to give him/her Divine Life.

Would you doubt that Jesus loves you? That Jesus is “for you”? That Jesus can’t fail you? How faithful Jesus is to you? The extent to which He would remain faithful to you? And what are the reasons that will “push” Him to remain faithful to you? The answers to these questions are the real foundations of the Sacrament of Marriage and of Jesus’ call to the couple to follow Him, hand in hand, and draw from Him their strength and their growth.

Lifting up your heart to Jesus, do you see Him seated at the right hand of the Father?

Lifting up your heart to Jesus, do you see Him present here on earth, suffering in each one of us, struggling to grow and reach His fullness in us?

Do you see what happened in your Baptism? Do you see what Jesus made for you, and how He actualised it for you in the Sacrament of Baptism?

For our Baptism, Jesus “married” each one of us, concretising what He made on the Cross.

Let us contemplate the powerful love of Jesus for each one of us. This love is a powerful river, that provides us with Divine Water. This Love is indestructible, it is the most solid union that exists after the Union/Unity between the Three August Persons of the Trinity, and the Union in Jesus between His Divine Nature and His Human Nature, in the unity of the One Person of the Second Person of the Trinity. Immediately, after these Unions, we have the Union between the Head and the Body of Jesus. This is the result of the Love of Jesus, the result of the Salvation that He realised for us in His Human Nature, fighting for us and loving us.

This love is offered not only in a personal way (like Baptism), it is offered to the Couple, so that both and each one of them can benefit from it “as a couple”, as a family.

The Trinity is like a family.

The Nazareth Family is one.

The Head and the Body of Christ are a “family”: the Head, the Body, and the Love/Link between them.

The day the couple receives the Sacrament of Marriage, they surrender their whole life into the Hands of Love; author of their lives, their call, their journey and their union. They allow God be first, in everything, and they promise they’ll work on maintaining that. This is why prayer, and praying together is fundamental for Christian Marriage. The day the couple receives the Sacrament of Marriage God sets a second Fountain, in the reach of their hands, so not only can they draw from it individually (this is the Fountain of Baptism), but they can draw from it “as a couple”.

In a very symbolic way this Fountain says a lot about Marriage

The Prayer of a Couple/Family

The Tradition and experience of the Church says that the prayer of a community is much stronger than the prayer of an individual. Even the Saints whose prayers are great in the eyes of God, perfectly knew how to be united daily with others in order to pray. “When two or three are united in My Name, I am amongst them” and their prayer is answered, always, because they united, with the bond of Love. 

The new community, this new family, this man and this woman, married now, they compose the basic and most powerful community, and remember dear friends: the prayer of that community is SO powerful.

This is why it is a duty for the couple to be open to life around them and to the action of God not only in their family but in their parish, in their country and in the world. The couple’s doors have to be opened so the rest of the world can benefit from their most powerful prayer.

If they entrust their prayer to the Mother of God, they will be able to see miracles around them.

Their UNION is transformed and expressed by their common prayer, daily.

May they constantly let their care extend to the world around them and offer their prayer to the needs, and if they commit in the Church, for something more specific on top of their only marriage, may they extend, daily, their prayers to these realities.

Let us pray for each other.