The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity vol. 2

Book excerpt: Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity (Elizabeth Catez) is a mystic of our times, who entered Carmel in 1901 at the age of twenty-one, and died there five years later. Her biblical spirituality, based on the epistles of her "dear Saint Paul" and the mystery of the divine indwelling, has inspired countless Christians. This second of three volumes of her Complete Works contains all of Elizabeth's surviving letters from Carmel, along with 8 photos. In simple and tender language, writing to friends and family, Elizabeth returns again and again to the great themes of her spirituality: the indwelling Trinity, silence and solitude, living by love, becoming a "praise of glory" (laudem gloriae) by sharing in the dying and rising of Jesus Christ. Here too we find many of her best-known sayings, e.g., "I have found my heaven on earth, for heaven is God, and God is in my soul." In his introductions and careful notes, Father Conrad De Meester, O.C.D., explains the background of each of Elizabeth's letters from Carmel, most of which have never before appeared in English. Anne Englund Nash continues the style set in the first volume of the Complete Works, presenting a translation that reflects both the literary nuances and spirit of the original French texts.