Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity: Striving Toward Mysticism
"It is normal for all Christians to strive to become mystics." This is what I heard in a Community of St. John talk one evening four years ago that nearly knocked me off my chair. When we think of a mystic, we assume the saint or Blessed has extraordinary gifts, such as the stigmata or bi-location. Brother John Therese, (a priest with the Community ) however, was not referring to these extraordinary gifts, but was alluding to the mystic's unique prayer life of contemplation that all Christians should strive to emulate. He presented the example of Eizabeth of the Holy Trinity (Elizabeth Catez), a modern mystic whose feast we celebrate today. Elizabeth was born on July 18, 1880 in a military camp in the diocese of Bourges, France to Captain Joseph Catez and Marie Catez. Her father died when she was seven, leaving her mother to raise Elizabeth and her sister. Elizabeth was a strong-willed, exuberant, and popular young lady. She had a great reverence to God, and practiced a ...