Today, November 14, is the Feast of All Carmelite Saints. Our newest Carmelite Saint is St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, canonized on October 16, 2016. In her honor and for all the Carmelite Saints who have continued to build the Order based upon the foundations established by Sts. Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross, we offer St. Elizabeth’s Prayer to the Holy Trinity:

O My God, Trinity whom I adore! Help me to become wholly forgetful of self, that I may be immovably rooted in You, as changeless and calm as though my soul were already in eternity. May nothing disturb my peace or draw me forth from You, but may I, at every moment, penetrate more deeply into the depths of Your mystery!

Establish my soul in peace, make it Your heaven, Your cherished abode, and the place of Your rest. Let me never leave You alone, but remain wholly absorbed in You, in living faith, plunged in adoration, and wholly yielded up to Your creative action!

O my Christ whom, I love! Crucified for love! Would that I might be the bride of Your Heart! Would that I might cover You with glory and love You even until I die of love! Yet I realize my weakness and beseech You to clothe me with Yourself, possess me wholly; substitute Yourself for me, that my life may be but a radiance of Your life. Enter my soul as Adorer, as Restorer, as Savior!

O eternal Word, Utterance of my God! I long to spend my life in listening to You; to become wholly teachable, that I may learn all from You! Through all darkness, all privations, all helplessness, I yearn to keep my eyes ever upon You, and to dwell beneath Your great light, O my beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may be unable to withdraw myself from Your rays!

O Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love! Come down into me and reproduce in me, as it were, an incarnation of the Word, that I may be to Him a superadded humanity, wherein He may renew all His Mystery!

And You, O Father, bend down towards Your poor little creature and overshadow her, beholding in her none other than Your beloved Son in whom You are well pleased.

O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity wherein I lose myself! I yield myself to You as Your prey. Immerse Yourself in me that I may be immersed in You, until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness!

In the Carmelite Proper Liturgy of the Hours, the second reading in the Office of Readings for this feast is taken from the writings of St. Teresa of Jesus. She reminds us that the Carmelite vocation is one of prayer and contemplation. “For this we were founded,” she says. Prayerful and contemplative reading of St. Elizabeth’s Prayer to the Holy Trinity is an excellent means of fulfilling this vocation.