“O my God, Trinity whom I adore,
let me entirely forget myself
that I may abide in you, still and peaceful
as if my soul were already in eternity;
let nothing disturb my peace nor separate me from you,
O my unchanging God,
but that each moment may take me further
into the depths of your mystery !
Pacify my soul!
Make it your heaven,
your beloved home and place of your repose;
let me never leave you there alone,
but may I be ever attentive, ever alert in my faith,
ever adoring and all given up to your creative action.
O my beloved Christ, crucified for love,
would that I might be for you a spouse of your heart!
I would anoint you with glory,
I would love you – even unto death!
Yet I sense my frailty and ask you to adorn me with yourself;
identify my soul with all the movements of your soul,
submerge me, overwhelm me, substitute yourself in me
that my life may become but a reflection of your life.
Come into me as Adorer, Redeemer and Savior.
O Eternal Word, Word of my God,
would that I might spend my life listening to you,
would that I might be fully receptive to learn all from you;
in all darkness, all loneliness, all weakness,
may I ever keep my eyes fixed on you
and abide under your great light;
O my Beloved Star, fascinate me so that
I may never be able to leave your radiance.
O Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love,
descend into my soul and make all in me
as an incarnation of the Word,
that I may be to him a super-added humanity
wherein he renews his mystery;
and you O Father, bestow yourself
and bend down to your little creature,
seeing in her only your beloved Son
in whom you are well pleased.
O my `Three’, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude,
Immensity in whom I lose myself,
I give myself to you as a prey to be consumed;
enclose yourself in me
that I may be absorbed in you
so as to contemplate in your light
the abyss of your Splendor!”
(excerpt from Drink of the Stream: Prayers of Carmelites compiled by Penny Hickey)
Saint Elisabeth of the Trinity, carmelite (1880-1906)
