
In this novena, we will ponder nine of her personal messages that reflect her last words: “I am going to light, to life, to love!”
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Novena 2021 – Introduction — Carmelite Quotes
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Novena 2021 – Introduction

We still heard her murmur in a kind of chant: I am going to light, to life, to love! These were her last intelligible words.
Mother Germaine of Jesus
Prioress, Carmel of Dijon
In the weeks and months preceding her holy death, Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity left many precious messages for her mother, her sister, her prioress and sisters in Carmel, and her closest friends. These were messages of encouragement, gratitude, and of spiritual accompaniment and direction.
Saint Elizabeth even carefully recorded the notes of two private retreats to leave as spiritual testaments for her sister and her prioress. The saint was selfless in pouring out the ponderings of her soul through her pen so that others might benefit spiritually.
In this novena, we will read and reflect on nine of her messages. Some of these messages come from her own writings; others are recounted by her prioress, Mother Germaine of Jesus. All of her messages could be considered meditations on her last words: they are messages of light, life, and love.
Join us every day or any day to plumb the depths and soar to the heights of the spiritual legacy of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity.
- Day 1 — I leave you my devotion for the Three
- Day 2 — Let yourself be loved
- Day 3 — Let us look at the Crucified
- Day 4 — Do not be discouraged, call me
- Day 5 — I leave you my faith
- Day 6 — I will pray especially for you
- Day 7 — We ought to pray for the dying
- Day 8 — Let us be praises of glory
- Day 9 — I am going to light, to life, to love
NOVENA PRAYER
O Saint Elizabeth!
In your great love of God,
You were always so close
to your friends’ needs.
Now, in Heaven,
Face to face with the Lord,
Do intervene near Him
for the needs we recommend to you.
(Make your request)
Teach us how to abide,
in Love and Faith,
with the Holy Trinity
in the utmost of our hearts.
Teach us how to radiate God’s Love
amongst men, in our everyday life
just as you did yourself,
so that we may be a praise of God’s glory.
Our Father…
(pray slowly, “be aware that you are with Him”)
Glory be…
(three times, in praise of the indwelling Trinity)
All scripture references in this novena are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.
Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. Edith Stein, and St. Joseph.
Let us unite in prayer
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- samo lucijaYour comment is awaiting moderation.Quote of the day, 9 November: St. John of the CrossThe reason some spiritual persons never entirely enter into the true joys of the spirit is that they never manage to renounce their desire for joy in these exterior and visible things. These persons should keep in mind that although the place dedicated and suited to prayer is the visible oratory or church and the motivating good is the image, these means should not be so used that the satisfaction and delight of the soul stems entirely from them, thereby causing one to forget to pray in the living temple, which is interior recollection of soul.To remind us of this, the Apostle said: Behold, your bodies are living temples of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within you [1 Cor. 3:16]. This thought brings to mind the affirmation of Christ that we quoted: The true adorers should adore in spirit and truth [Jn. 4:24]. God pays little attention to your oratories and places arranged for prayer if through your desire and the delight you take in them you become attached and, in consequence, have less interior nakedness, that is, spiritual poverty, in the renunciation of things that can be possessed.To purge the will of its desire and vain joy in these objects and direct it to God, you should strive in your prayer for a pure conscience, a will that is wholly with God, and a mind truly set on him.And, as I mentioned, [Ascent, III, 39:2] you ought to choose the most withdrawn and solitary place possible, convert all your joy of will into glorifying and invoking God. And you should pay no attention to these other little exterior satisfactions; you should rather seek to deny them. Should a soul become bound to the delight of sensory devotion, it will never succeed in passing on to the strength of spiritual delight, which is discovered through interior recollection in spiritual nakedness.Saint John of the Cross
The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book III, Chapter 40John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.ReplyLike