Letters and Spiritual Writings
It is with great joy that I present the publication of this volume of letters of Blessed Elisabetta Renzi, Foundress of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows and our spiritual Mother.
These letters, written by a woman who was deeply contemplative, reveal to us how attentive she was to the practical aspects of life. What Mother Elisabetta continues to teach, especially to the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows, to the members of the Lay Movement, and to all who will come to know her through reading her letters, is how to live that joy of spirit which comes from an awareness that we are always “under the great vision of God.” It is a joy of spirit that can uphold our hearts even in times of suffering and difficulty, because we are certain that “the Alleluia dwells beyond Calvary.” This is what Blessed Elisabetta lived, aware of her nothingness, and yet, certain that the hand of God would be made evident through her littleness.
By the way our Mother Elisabetta lived humility and evangelical simplicity, we learn how to abandon ourselves to God with the peaceful security of a “little creature in the arms of the Father.”
Let us be filled with the spirit that comes through these letters, remaining close to Mother Elisabetta with filial love, so that she may instruct us and guide us on the way to holiness. Strengthened by the grace of our baptism, we will bear witness to our faith by following Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen.
Mother Lina Rossi
Superior General
Rome, June 18, 2005
XVI Anniversary of the Beatification
 |
Elisabetta entrusted herself to the promise of Jesus. In faith she understood that to welcome the Word of Christ meant to be dedicated to a prophetic witness to the signs of the time, precisely to the invitation that came from event and conditions in society. That was the place where the grain of wheat had to be scattered and hidden in order for the little seed to grow into a plant.
Blessed John Paul II |
 |
