On the Sunday after
Pentecost, we celebrate the central mystery of our Christian faith and life, the
Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. The Liturgical arrangement of this feast
explains the inner logic of our faith. The inmost Being (of God) as Holy
Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone …… before the
Incarnation of God's Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit (CCC 237). The
feast, therefore, comes in succession after the celebration of the Incarnation of
Christ (Christmas), the Paschal Mystery (Passion, Death, Resurrection and
Ascension of Christ) and Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit). The Gospel
readings (Jn: 14-17) in the last weeks of Eastertide have all been a prelude to
this feast.
Although
revealed, the human intellect being limited and furthermore, tainted by sin in
incapable of grasping the fullness of this mystery. We can, nevertheless, have
some understanding of this mystery, which is the effort of all theological
studies. This self-revelation of the Trinitarian nature of God, however, is not
an end in itself. Along with theology, the Fathers of the Church identified the
dimension of economy (oikonomia) which is the works by which God reveals
himself and communicates his life (CCC 236). God’s self-revelation is an
invitation to enter into the fullness of this economy which is union with God
(CCC 260). The greater purpose is not just to enlighten us but to draw us all
into encountering the very mystery of God.
Scripture
reveals that the fullness of this union can only be experienced at the beatific
vision when we will see God face to face (1 Jn3:2, I Cor 13:12). But Jesus has
still promised that ‘”Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will
love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (Jn 14:23). In
this present life we are all called to experience the indwelling presence of
the Holy Trinity. The mystics stand out as signs of the fulfillment of the
experience of this divine economy. Reproduced below is a prayer of St Elizabeth
of the Trinity called the Elevation to the Trinity.St. Elizabeth was a French
Discalced Carmelite Nun who died at the young age of 26 and was canonized by
Pope Francis in October last year.Msgr. Mariano Magrassi in a commentary on the
prayer noted, “we find many publications with prayers that seem more of
“literature”- i.e. written at the table. When these are placed before the
Prayer of St. Elizabeth we have to admit: in the moment she was praying, in the
moment she was writing, her heart was on fire. We cannot consider it a prayer
composed by the mind at the desk, but we have to accept it as a prayer that was
inspired, which speaks of her deep spiritual experience.”
In
mysticism, elevation of the spiritor joining with heavenly love is a stage just
short of union. St. Elizabeth’s prayer was thus composed prior to her
experience of complete union with God. Each paragraph of the prayer begins with
the exclamation “O” expressing the attitude of deep desire and petition of a
mystic overwhelmed by the blazing light of the mystery experienced. It
expresses her desire to lose herself completely in God andnever be separated
from Him even for a moment.While the prayer is an outcome of an encounter with
God, it still is an appeal; an earnest cry to be more conformed and more ready
for union with God. It reveals an acquired knowledge of the infiniteness of God.
Despite the intensity of the prayer, the words are a pale reflection of an ineffable
experience.
Although
St. Elizabeth is not known to have had any formal education in theology, the
prayer demonstrates a profound understanding of the Holy Trinity. It is Christological
in nature and falls under the realm of Mystical Theology,i.eknowledge of God
infused by God Himself. The plea to the Holy Spirit is to conform the soul more
and more to Christ with the ardent desire that the Father may see the very image
of His beloved Son in her because, as we pray in the Doxology at mass, it is
only through Christ, and with Christ and in Christ that we have access to the
Holy Trinity.
Finally,
a prayerful reflection and repetition of the prayer shows how truly mystical it
is. St. Elizabeth was burning with an almost consuming love when she composed
it and the prayer leaves a spark of that fire of love in any soul sincerely
seeking the face of the Beloved.
Elevation
to the Trinity composed by St Elizabeth of the 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 Jesus, 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.
Sr. Benedicta of the Holy Face
Cloistered
Carmel of God the Father.
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