Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity
L 103 To her mother [December 25, 1901]1
J. M. + J. T. December
My darling little Mama,
God has not separated us. Nothing has changed, and your little Sabeth comes as always to be cuddled and to tell you with a big kiss that she loves you very much, very much! So no sadness today, if you knew how close I am to you! It is so good to meet again close to God, it seems to me there is no more separation there, no more distance, "in Him, we have all." 2 O darling Mama, if you knew how the Master loves you, how He blesses your sacrifice.... He has said that "Whoever does the will of my Father is my father, my mother, my sister." 3 It seems to me that it is to you He is addressing these words; the little Jesus in the manger holds out His arms to you with love and calls you His "mother." You have given Him your daughter to be His little bride, and now He has become your beloved child. You see, He has taken me in order to give Himself more to you. Listen to Him, be very quiet, He will deliver all my messages to you. It is to this Christ, my adored Fiancé, that I entrust my wishes, my affection, my thanks for my dear Mama and my little Guite whom I love with all my heart.
Elizabeth of the Trinity,4
very happy in her Carmel.
1 This letter of "December" (1901, judging from the handwriting) was written at Christmas (after the long silence of Advent), as the particular of this "today," the wishes, and "the little Jesus in the manger holding out His arms" suggest.
2 The quotation marks that Elizabeth places at the end (but not at the beginning) indicate a quotation, perhaps Rom 11:36 or the "Prayer of a Soul Taken with Love," by St. John of the Cross (Oeuvres, t. I, 1894 ed., p. 477 [K-RJ 668-69]): "Yours is all of this, and all is for you...." This prayer is very well known in Carmel. The passage is quoted in HA 308.
3 Mt 12:50. Elizabeth writes "father" instead of "brother" as used in the Gospel text. Cf. L 143, note 4.
4 This is the first time Elizabeth signs a letter to her mother with her
religious name.
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