The Retreats and Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity with Dr. Anthony Lilles - Beginning to Pray podcast

Letter 162 - The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity - Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, we discuss letter 162, with a special focus on the power of the liturgy and the grace that comes by living by faith as described below: The post BTP- L4 – Letter 162 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode we discuss letter 335.  In this special letter, shortly before her death, Elizabeth sends this letter to a friend Sister Marie-Odile.  This is a very poignant letter and conversation. The post BTP- L14 – Letter 335 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode we discuss letter 269.  In this special letter, only months before her death, Elizabeth sends this letter to her sister Marguerite: L 269 To her sister [a toward the end of April 1906] “Having loved those who ... Read more The post BTP- L13 – Letter 269 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode we discuss letter 224, with a special focus on Elizabeth’s insights on  fear, death, hope and renunciation: L 224 To Madame Angels [a little before March 8, 1905] J. M. + J. T. “Abandonment is the delicious ... Read more The post BTP- L12 – Letter 224- The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode is part 2 of our conversation on letter 214, with a special focus on suffering and humility united to Christ in our prayer: The post BTP- L11 – Letter 214 pt. 2 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, we continue our conversation on letter 214, with a special focus on Heaven as a spiritual reality: L 214 To Abbé Chevignard [November 29, 1904] J. M. + J. T. “Providebam Dominum in conspectu meo semper; quoniam ... Read more The post BTP- L10 – Letter 214 pt. 1 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, our conversation reflects on letter 184, with a special focus on Heaven, the Saints, and spiritual friendship as a spiritual reality.: L184 [November 24, 1903] Dijon Carmel, November 24 J. M. +J. T. “My Beloved is all ... Read more The post BTP- L8 – Letter 184 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, we continue our conversation on letter 169, with a special focus on Heaven as a spiritual reality: L 169 To Canon Angles [ July 15, 1903] Dijon Carmel, J. M. + J. T. Monsieur le Chanoine, My ... Read more The post BTP- L7 – Letter 169 pt. 2 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, we discuss letter 169, with a special focus on Heaven as a spiritual reality.: L 169 To Canon Angles [ July 15, 1903] Dijon Carmel, J. M. + J. T. Monsieur le Chanoine, My dear Mama, whom ... Read more The post BTP- L6 – Letter 169 pt. 1 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, we discuss letter 165, with a special focus on the power of the Eucharist and meets us in our suffering: The post BTP- L5 – Letter 165 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, we discuss letter 158, with a special focus on the nature of mystical and contemplative prayer The post BTP- L3 – Letter 158 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Lilles begins the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity.  In this episode we discuss letter 111 as described below: [April 7, 1902]1 Dijon Carmel, April 7 J. M. + J. T. Dear Monsieur le Chanoine, If you only knew how good it is to spend Lent, Holy Week, and ... Read more The post BTP- L1 – Letter 111 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Last Retreat Day 1" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 1. “Nescivi.” 1 “I no longer knew anything.” This is what the “bride of the Canticles ” sings after having been brought into the “inner cellar.” 2 It seems to me that this must also be the refrain of a praise of glory on this first day of retreat in which the Master makes her penetrate the depths of the bottomless abyss so that He may teach her to fulfill the work which will be hers for eternity and which she must already perform in time, which is eternity begun and still in progress. 3 “Nescivi”! I no longer know anything, I do not want to know anything except “to know Him, to share in His sufferings, to become like Him in His death.” 4 “Those whom God has foreknown He has also predestined to become confirmed to the image of His divine Son,” 5 the One crucified by love. When I am wholly identified with this divine Exemplar, 6 when I have wholly passed into Him and He into me, then I will fulfill my eternal vocation: the one for which God has “chosen me in Him ” 7 “in principio,” the one I will continue “in aeternum” when, immersed in the bosom of my Trinity, I will be the unceasing praise of His glory, Laudem gloriae ejus. The post BTP-LR1 The “Last Retreat” Day 1 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity- Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Last Retreat Day 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 5. It is the same for the soul that has entered into the “fortress of holy recollection”: the eye of its soul, opened in the light of faith, discovers its God present, living within it; in turn it remains so present to Him, in beautiful simplicity, that He guards it with a jealous care. Then disturbances from without and tempests from within may arise; its self-esteem may be wounded: “Nescivi”! God may hide Himself, withdraw His sensible grace: “Nescivi .” Or, as St. Paul writes: “For love of Him I have forfeited everything.” Then the Master is free, free to flow into the soul, to give Himself “according to His measure.” And the soul thus simplified, unified, becomes the throne of the Unchanging One, since “unity is the throne of the Holy Trinity.” The post BTP-LR2 The “Last Retreat” Day 2 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity- Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 3 ” The “simplicity of the gaze” From “Last Retreat Day 3” found in The Complete Works vol 1: The soul, by the simplicity of the gaze which it fixes on its divine object, finds itself set apart  from all that surrounds it, set apart also and ... Read more The post BTP-LR3 The “Last Retreat” Day 3 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 4 ” The “simplicity of the gaze” From “Last Retreat Day 4” found in The Complete Works vol 1: 10. Here faith, the beautiful light of faith appears. It alone should light my way as I go to meet the Bridegroom. The psalmist sings that He “hides ... Read more The post BTP-LR4 The “Last Retreat” Day 4 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 5 ” – “I saw a great multitude which no man could number. . . ” From “Last Retreat Day 5” found in The Complete Works vol 1: 12. “I saw a great multitude which no man could number. . . . These are they who have ... Read more The post BTP-LR5 The “Last Retreat” Day 5 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 6 ” – “That is the condition: we must be dead! ” From “Last Retreat Day 6” found in The Complete Works vol 1: 16. What a going out from self that implies! What a death! Let us say with St. Paul, “Quotidie morior.” 95 The great ... Read more The post BTP-LR6 The “Last Retreat” Day 6 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 7 pt 1 ” – “That is the condition: we must be dead! ” From “Last Retreat Day 7 pt 1” found in The Complete Works vol 1: 17. “Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei.” 101 This is what the heavens are telling: the glory of God. Since my ... Read more The post BTP-LR7 The “Last Retreat” Day 7 pt. 1 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 7 pt 2 ” – “Then my suffering is “a message which passes on the glory” of the Eternal” From “Last Retreat Day 7 pt 2” found in The Complete Works vol 1: 18. “Night to night announces it.” 106 How very consoling that is! My weaknesses, ... Read more The post BTP-LR8 The “Last Retreat” Day 7 pt. 2 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 8 pt 1 ” – “To be rooted and grounded in love” From “Last Retreat Day 8 pt 1” found in The Complete Works vol 1: 20. “And they do not rest day and night, saying, Holy holy , holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, ... Read more The post BTP-LR9 The “Last Retreat” Day 8 pt. 1 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 8 pt 2 ” – “Adoration, ah! That is a word from Heaven!” From “Last Retreat Day 8 pt 2” found in The Complete Works vol 1: 21. “They fall down and adore, they cast down their crowns. . . .” First of all the soul should ... Read more The post BTP-LR10 The “Last Retreat” Day 8 pt. 2 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 9 pt 1 ” – “Adoration, ah! That is a word from Heaven!” From “Last Retreat Day 9 pt 1” found in The Complete Works vol 1: 22. “Be holy for I am holy.” 126 Who then is this who can give such a command? . . . He Himself ... Read more The post BTP-LR11 The “Last Retreat” Day 9 pt. 1 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Last Retreat Day 9 pt 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 23. Speaking to Abraham God said: “Walk in My presence and be perfect.” 134 This then is the way to achieve this perfection that our Heavenly Father asks of us! St. Paul, after having immersed himself in the divine counsels, 135 revealed exactly this to us when he wrote “God has chosen us in Him before the creation of the world, that we might be holy and immaculate in His presence in love.” 136 It is also by the light of this same saint that I will be enlightened so that I might walk without deviating from this magnificent road of the presence of God on which the soul journeys “alone with the Alone,” 137 led by the “strength of His right arm,” 138 “under the protection of His wings, without fearing the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the evil that stalks in darkness, nor the attacks of the noonday devil. 139 24. “Strip off the old man in whom you lived your former life, “ he tells me, “and put on the new man, who has been created according to God in justice and holiness.” 140 This is the way set forth; we have only to strip off self to follow it as God wills! To strip off self, to die to self, to lose sight of self. It seems to me the Master meant this when He said: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him take up his cross and deny himself.” 141 “If you live according to the flesh,” the Apostle also says, “you will die, but if you put to death in the spirit the works of the flesh, you will live.” 142 This is the death that God asks for and of which it is said: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 143 “O death,” says the Lord, “I will be your death”; 144 that is: O soul, my adopted daughter, look at Me and you will forget yourself; flow entirely into My Being, come die in Me that I may live in you! The post BTP-LR12 The “Last Retreat” Day 9 pt. 2 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

25. “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 145 When my Master makes me understand these words in the depths of my soul, it seems to me that He is asking me to live like the Father “in an eternal present,” “with no before, no after,” but wholly in the unity of my being in this “eternal now.” 146 What is this present? This is what David tells me: “They will adore Him always because of Himself.” 147 This is the eternal present in which Laudem Gloriae must be established. But for her to be truly in this attitude of adoration, so that she can sing, “I will awake the dawn,” 148 she must also be able to say with St. Paul, “For love of Him I have forfeited everything”; 149 that is: because of Him, that I may adore Him always, I am “alone, set apart, stripped” of all things, both with regard to the natural as well as the supernatural gifts of God. For a soul that is not thus “destroyed and freed” 150 from self will of necessity be trivial and natural at certain moments, and that is not worthy of a daughter of God, a spouse of Christ, a temple of the Holy Spirit. To guard against this natural life the soul must be wholly vigilant in her faith151 with her gaze turned towards the Master. Then she “can walk,” as the royal prophet sings, “in the integrity of her heart within her house.” 152 Then she “will adore her God always because of Himself” and will live, like Him, in that eternal present where He lives. . . . The post BTP-LR13 The “Last Retreat” Day 10 pt. 1 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Last Retreat Day 10 pt 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 26. “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” “God,” says St. Dionysius, “is the great solitary.” 153 My Master asks me to imitate this perfection, to pay Him homage by being a great solitary. The divine Being lives in an eternal, immense solitude. He never leaves it, though concerning Himself with the needs of His creatures, for He never leaves Himself; and this solitude is nothing else than His divinity. So that nothing may draw me out of this beautiful silence within, I must always maintain the same dispositions, the same solitude, the same withdrawal, the same stripping of self! If my desires, my fears, my joys or my sorrows, if all the movements proceeding from these “four passions” 154 are not perfectly directed to God, I will not be solitary: there will be noise within me. There must be peace, “sleep of the powers,” 155 the unity of being. “Listen, my daughter, lend your ear, forget your people and your father's house, and the King will become enamoured of your beauty.” 156 It seems to me that this call is an invitation to silence: listen . . . lend your ear. . . . But to listen we must forget “our father's house,” that is, everything that pertains to the natural life, this life to which the Apostle refers when he says: “If you live according to the flesh, you will die.” 157 To forget “your people” is more difficult, I think, for this people is everything which is, so to speak, part of us: our feelings, our memories, our impressions, etc., the self, in a word! We must forget it, abandon it, and when the soul has made this break, when it is free from all that, the King is enamored of its beauty. For beauty is unity, at least it is the unity of God! The post BTP-LR14 The “Last Retreat” Day 10 pt. 2 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Last Retreat Day 11 pt 1" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 27. “The Lord brought me into a spacious place, because He was gracious toward me. . . .” 159 The Creator, seeing the beautiful silence which reigns in His creature, and gazing on her wholly recollected in her interior solitude, is enamored of her beauty and leads her into this immense, infinite solitude, into this “spacious place” sung of by the prophet, which is nothing else but Himself: “I will enter into the depths of the power of God.” 160 Speaking through his prophet, the Lord said: “I will lead her into solitude and speak to her heart.” 161 The soul has entered into this vast solitude in which God will make Himself heard! “His word,” St. Paul says, “is living and active, and more penetrating than a two edged sword: extending even to the division of soul and spirit, even of joints and marrow.” 162 It is His word then that will directly achieve the work of stripping in the soul; for it has this particular characteristic, that it effects and creates what it intends, 163 provided however that the soul consents to let this be done. The post BTP-LR15 The “Last Retreat” Day 11 pt. 1 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity- Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: "The Last Retreat - Day 11 pt 2 " - “It is the whole Trinity who dwells in the soul that loves them in truth, that is, by keeping their word! From "Last Retreat Day 11 pt 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 28. But it is not enough just to listen to this word, we must keep it! 164 And it is in keeping it that the soul will be “sanctified in the truth,” and that is the desire of the Master: “Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.” 165 To the one who keeps His word has He not made this promise: “My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home in him”? 166 It is the whole Trinity who dwells in the soul that loves them in truth, that is, by keeping their word! And when this soul has realized its riches, all the natural or supernatural joys that can come to it from creatures or from God Himself are only an invitation to reenter into itself in order to enjoy the substantial Good that it possesses, which is nothing else than God Himself. And thus it has, St. John of the Cross says, a certain resemblance to the divine Being. 167 “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” St. Paul tells me “that He works all things according to the counsel of His will,” 168 and my Master asks me also to pay Him homage in this regard: “to do all things according to the counsel of His will.” Never to let myself be ruled by impressions, by the first impulses of nature, but to let the will gain self-mastery. . . . And for this will to be free, it must be, in the expression of a pious writer, “enclosed in God's will.” 169 Then I will be “moved by His Spirit,” 170 as St. Paul says. I will do only what is divine, only what is eternal, and, like my Unchanging One, I will live even here below in an eternal present. The post BTP-LR16 The “Last Retreat” Day 11 pt. 2 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: "The Last Retreat - Day 12 " - “God has said: “Be holy, for I am holy.” 31. This is Christ's work in every soul of good185 will and it is the work that His immense love, His “exceeding love,” 186 is eager to do in me. He wants to be my peace so that nothing can distract me or draw me out of “the invincible fortress of holy recolletion.” 187 It is there that He will give me “access to the Father” and will keep me as still and as peaceful in His presence as if my soul were already in eternity. 188 It is by the Blood of His Cross that He will make peace in my little heaven, so that it may truly be the repose of the Three. He will fill me with Himself; He will bury me with Him; He will make me live again with Him, by His life: “Mihi vivere Christus est!” 189 And if I fall at every moment, 190 in a wholly confident faith I will be helped up by Him. I know that He will forgive me, that He will cancel out everything with a jealous care, and even more, He will “despoil” me, He will “free” 191 me from all my miseries, from everything that is an obstacle to the divine action. “He will lead away all my powers,” 192 making them His captives, triumphing over them in Himself. Then I will have wholly passed into Him and can say: “I no longer live. My Master lives in me!” 193 And I will be “holy, pure, without reproach” in the Father's eyes. The post BTP-LR17 The “Last Retreat” Day 12 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Last Retreat Day 13" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 32. “Instaurare omnia in Christo.” 194 Again it is St. Paul who instructs me, St. Paul who has just immersed himself in the great counsel of God195 and who tells me “that He has resolved in Himself to restore all things in Christ.” So that I may personally realize this divine plan, it is again St. Paul who comes to my aid and who will himself draw up a rule of life for me. “Walk in Jesus Christ,” he tells me, “be rooted in Him, built up in Him, strengthened in faith, growing more and more in Him through thanksgiving.” 196 33. To walk in Jesus Christ seems to me to mean to leave self, lose sight of self, give up self, in order to enter more deeply into Him with every passing moment, 197 so deeply that one is rooted there; and to every event, to every circumstance we can fling this beautiful challenge: “Who will separate me from the love of Jesus Christ?” 198 When the soul is established in Him at such depths that its roots are also deeply thrust in, then the divine sap streams into it199 and all this imperfect, commonplace, natural life is destroyed. Then, in the language of the Apostle, “that which is mortal is swallowed up by life.” 200 The soul thus “stripped” of self and “clothed” 201 in Jesus Christ has nothing more to fear from exterior encounters or from interior difficulties, for these things, far from being an obstacle, serve only “to root it more deeply in the love” 202 of its Master. Through everything, despite everything, the soul can “adore Him always because of Himself.” 203 For it is free, rid of self and everything else; it can sing with the psalmist: “Though an army encamp against me, I will not fear; though war be waged upon me I will trust in spite of everything; for Yahweh will hide me in the secrecy of His tent” 204 and this tent is nothing else but Himself. I think that is what St. Paul means when he says: “be rooted in Jesus Christ.” The post BTP-LR18 The “Last Retreat” Day 13 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Last Retreat Day 14" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 36. “It seems to me that all is loss since I have known the excelling knowledge of my Lord, Jesus Christ. For love of Him I have forfeited everything; I have accounted all else rubbish that I may gain Christ, so as to be found in Him, not with my own justice but with the justice that comes from God through faith. What I want is to know Him, to share in His sufferings, to become like Him in His death. I pursue my course, striving to attain to what Christ has destined me for by taking hold of me; my whole concern is to forget what is behind and to strain forward constantly to what is ahead; I run straight to the goal . . . , to the prize of the heavenly vocation to which God has called me in Christ Jesus.” 212 The Apostle has often revealed the greatness of this vocation: “God,” he says, “has chosen us in Him before the creation of the world that we might be holy and immaculate in His presence in love. . . . We have been predestined by the decree of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we may be the praise of His glory.” 213 37. But how do we respond to the dignity of this vocation? This is the secret: “Mihi vivere Christus est! . . . Vivo enim, jam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus. . . .” 214 We must be transformed into Jesus Christ; again it is St. Paul who teaches me this: “Those whom God has foreknown, He has predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” 215 It is important then that I study this divine Model so as to identify myself so closely with Him that I may unceasingly reveal Him to the eyes of the Father. First of all, what did He say when He came into the world? “Here I am, O God, I come to do your will.” 216 I think that this prayer should be like the bride's heartbeat: 217 “Here we are, O Father, we come to do your will!” The post BTP-LR20 The “Last Retreat” Day 14 pt. 1 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Beginning to Pray: “The Last Retreat – Day 14 ” pt 2 – “My food…is to do the will of Him who sent Me.” From “Last Retreat Day 14” found in The Complete Works vol 1: 38. The Master was truth itself in this first oblation! His life was as it were but the consequence ... Read more The post BTP-LR21 The “Last Retreat” Day 14 pt. 2 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 1 Beginning to Pray: "Heaven in Faith" Day 1 Prayer 1 - "Remain in Me" The post BTP#1 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 1 Prayer 1 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 2 Beginning to Pray: "Heaven in Faith" Day 1 Prayer 2 - "Abyss calls to Abyss" From "Beginning to Pray: Your Life Hidden in Christ": Elisabeth of the Trinity says that the journey to contemplative prayer (which she refers to as the pathway of the abyss), requires that we die to trying to live merely by natural lights. Instead we must seek to live hidden with Christ in God. She taught this because she understood the peace and strength such a life provides - she herself thrived in it. Christ is the supernatural Light, the inexhaustible source of loving knowledge of God in our hearts. If we live by the loving knowledge that Christ alone provides we discover that we are invincible to things which "pass away", for our hearts transcend them, "seeking God alone." (Heaven in Faith, #11). The post BTP#2 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 1 Prayer 2 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 3 Beginning to Pray: "Heaven in Faith" Day 2 Prayer 1 - "The Kingdom of God is Within You" From "Heaven in Faith: Day 2 Prayer 1" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 6. The same saint also says that "God is the center of the soul. So when the soul with all" its "strength will know God perfectly, love and enjoy Him fully, then it will have reached the deepest center that can be attained in Him." Before attaining this, the soul is already "in God who is its center," "but it is not yet in its deepest center, for it can still go further. Since love is what unites us to God, the more intense this love is, the more deeply the soul enters into God and the more it is centered in Him. When it "possess even one degree of love it is already in its center"; but when this love has attained its perfection, the soul will have penetrated into its deepest enter. There it will be transformed to the point of becoming very like God." The post BTP#3 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 2 Prayer 1 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 4 Beginning to Pray: "Heaven in Faith" Day 2 Prayer 2 - "Hurry and Come Down" 8. "As long as our will has fancies that are foreign to divine union, whims that are now yes, now no, we are like children: we do not advance with giant steps in love for fire has not yet burnt up all the alloy; the gold is not pure; we are still seeking ourselves; God has not consumed" all our hostility to Him. But when the boiling cauldron has consumed "every imperfect love, every imperfect sorrow, every imperfect fear," "then love is perfect and the golden ring of our alliance is larger than Heaven and earth. The is the secret cellar in which love places his elect," this "love leads us by ways and paths known to him alone and he leads us with no turning back, for we will not retrace our steps." The post BTP#4 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 2 Prayer 2 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 5 Beginning to Pray: "Heaven in Faith" Day 3 Prayer 1 - "We will come to him and make our home in him" From "Heaven in Faith: Day 3 Prayer 1" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 8. ... "Each incident, each event, each suffering, as well as each joy, is a sacrament which gives God to it; so it no longer makes a distinction between these things; it surmounts them, goes beyond them to rest in its Master, above all things. It "exalts" Him high on the "mountain of its heart," yes, "higher than His gifts, His consolation, higher than the sweetness that descends from Him." "The property of love is never to seek self, to keep back nothing, but to give everything to the one it loves." "Blessed the soul that loves" in truth; "the Lord has become its captive through love"! The post BTP#5 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 3 Prayer 1 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

11. "You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" St. Paul comes to bring us a light to guide us on the pathway of the abyss. "You have died"! What does that mean but that the soul that aspires to live close to God "in the invincible fortress of holy recollection" must be "set apart, stripped, and withdrawn from all things" (in spirit). This soul "finds within itself a simple ascending movement of love to God, whatever creatures may do; it is invincible to things which" pass away, "for it transcends them, seeking God alone." The post BTP#6 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 3 Prayer 2 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 7 Beginning to Pray: "Heaven in Faith" Day 4 Prayer 1 - "Our God, wrote St. Paul, is a consuming Fire" From "Heaven in Faith: Day 4 Prayer 1" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 13. "Dues ignis consumens," Our God, wrote St. Paul, is a consuming Fire, that is a "a fire of love" which destroys, which "transforms into itself everything that it touches." "The delights of the divine enkindling are renewed in our depths by an unremitting activity: the enkindling of love in a mutual and eternal satisfaction. It is a renewal that takes place at every moment in there eternally, and this is the silence in which, somehow, they have lost themselves." "Freed from their prison, they sail on the Ocean of Divinity without any creature being an obstacle or hindrance to them." The post BTP#7 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 4 Prayer 1 by Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

16. But to attain to this love the soul must first be "entirely surrendered, its "will must be calmly lost in God's will; so that its "inclinations," "its faculties" "move only in this love and for the sake of this love. I do every with love, I suffer everything with love: this is what David meant when he sang, 'I will keep all my strength for You.'" The post BTP#8 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 4 Prayer 2 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Heaven in Faith: Day 5 Prayer 1" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 17. Behold, I stand at the door and knock, If any man listens to My voice and opens the door to Me, I ell come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me." Blessed the ears of the soul alert enough, recollected enough to hear the voice of the Word of God; blessed also the eyes of this soul which in the light of a deep and living faith can witness the "coming of the Master into His intimate sanctuary.'" The post BTP#9 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 5 Prayer 1 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

"Heaven in Faith" Day 5 Prayer 2 - "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood, remains in Me and I in him." 18. ...."The first sign of love is this: that Jesus has given us His flesh to eat and His blood to drink." "The property of love is to be always giving and always receiving. Now this love " of Christ is "generous. All that He has, all that He is, He gives; all that we have , all that we are, He takes away. He asks for more than we of our ourselves are capable of giving." The post BTP#10 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 5 Prayer 2 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 11 Beginning to Pray: "Heaven in Faith" Day 6 Prayer 1 - "To approach God we must believe" 19. "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us." That is our great act of faith, the way to repay our God love for love; it is "the mystery hidden" in the Father's heart, of which St. Paul speaks, which, at last, we penetrate and our whole soul thrills!" The post BTP#11 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 6 Prayer 1 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Heaven in Faith: Day 6 Prayer 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 19. ...What is this single eye of which the Master speaks but this "simplicity of intention" which "gathers into unity all the scattered forces of the soul and unites the spirit itself to God. It is simplicity which gives God honor and praise; it is simplicity which presents and offers the virtues to Him. Then, penetrating and permeating itself, permeating and penetrating all creatures, it finds God in its depths. The post BTP#12 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 6 Prayer 2 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 13 Beginning to Pray: "Heaven in Faith" Day 7 Prayer 1 - "God chose us in Him before creation, that we should be holy and immaculate in His presence, in love. 22. "Our created essence asks to be rejoined with its principle", The Word, "the Splendor of the Father, is the eternal archtype after which creatures are designed on the day of their creation." This is 'why God wills that, freed from ourselves, we should stretch out our arms towards our exemplar and possess it," "rising" above all things "towards our model." "This contemplation opens" The soul "to unexpected horizons." The post BTP#13 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 7 Prayer 1 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Heaven in Faith: Day 7 Prayer 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 24..."When God sees that we are prepared to receive His grace, His generous goodness is ready to give us the gift that will give us His likeness. Our aptitude for receiving His grace depends on the inner integrity with which we move towards Him." And then God, "bringing us His gifts," can "give Himself, imprint on us His likeness, forgive, and free us." The post BTP#14 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 7 Prayer 2 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Heaven in Faith: Day 8 Prayer 1" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 26. This is how the mystery of predestination, the mystery of divine election appeared to the enlightened gaze of the Apostle. "Those whom He has foreknown" Are not we of that number? Cannot God say to our soul what he once said through the voice of His prophet: "I passed by you and saw you. I saw that the time had come for you to be loved. I spread my garment over you. I swore to you to protect you, and I made a covenant with you, and you became mine." The post BTP#15 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 8 Prayer 1 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 16 Beginning to Pray: "Heaven in Faith" Day 8 Prayer 2- "It seems to me that all is loss since I have known the excelling knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ..." From "Heaven in Faith: Day 8 Prayer 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 30. Let us lovingly eat this bread of the will of God. If sometimes His will is more crucifying, we can doubtless say with our adored Master: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by," but we will add immediately: "Yet not as I will, but as You will"; and in strength and serenity, with the divine Crucified, we will also climb our calvary singing in the depths of our hearts and raising a hymn of thanksgiving to the Father. The post BTP#16 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 8 Prayer 2 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Heaven in Faith: Day 8 Prayer 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 32. "See," says St. John, "what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God' and such we are....Now we are the children of God, and we have not yet seen what we shall be. We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him makes himself holy, just as He Himself is holy." The post BTP#17 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 9 Prayer 1 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Heaven in Faith: Day 9 Prayer 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 37. "If anyone should affirm to me that to find the bottom of the abyss is to be immersed in humility, I would not contradict him. However, it seems to me that to be plunged into humility is to be plunged into God, for God is the bottom of the abyss. This is why humility, like charity, is always capable of increasing." The post BTP#18 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 9 Prayer 2 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Heaven in Faith: Day 10 Prayer 1" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 40. "It seems to me that the attitude of the Virgin during the months that elapsed between the Annunciation and the Nativity is the model for interior souls, those whom God has chosen to live within, in the depths of the bottomless abyss. In what peace, in what recollection Mary lent herself to everything she did! How even the most trivial things were divinized by her! For through it all the Virgin remained the adorer of the gift of God! This did not prevent her from spending herself outwardly when it was a matter of charity" The post BTP#19 Beginning to Pray w/ Dr. Anthony Lilles: Heaven In Faith Day 10 Prayer 1 by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.