The Metaphor of the Interior Cell for Jesus in Writings of Elizabeth Catez – St Elizabeth of the Trinity

Theology of spiritualit y Wrocławski Przegląd Teologiczny 28 (2020) 1, 177–194 Wrocław Theological Review Janusz Wilk Faculty of Theology of the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland ORCID: 0000-0002-6488-527X The Metaphor of the Interior Cell for Jesus in Writings of Elizabeth Catez – St Elizabeth of the Trinity Metafora wewnętrznej celi dla Jezusa w pismach Elżbiety Catez – św. Elżbiety od Trójcy Świętej Abstr act: The article addresses the “interior cell for Jesus” in the writings of St Elizabeth of Dijon. Her writings (poetry, Dairy, Spiritual Records, letters, Recent Retreats) in which the term cell (in the French original cellule) or cellar (in the French original cellier) is used about God’s dwelling (unification) in a man were examined chronologically. The metaphor of the “interior cell” in this Saint’s writings reflects her spirituality precisely: the intense experience of God’s presence in a man, simplicity towards Him, as well as a constant and zealous concern not to left Him alone in the human heart. Moreover, she recalls that this kind of union with God is not reserved exclusively for those endowed with the vocation to the consecrated life. God wants to dwell in every soul that opens its doors to Him. Keywords: Elizabeth of the Trinity, interior cell, unification, God’s dwelling Abstr akt: W artykule przeprowadzono studium zagadnienia „wewnętrznej celi dla Jezusa” w pismach św. Elżbiety z Dijon. Chronologicznie przebadano jej pisma (poezje, Dziennik, Zapiski duchowe, listy, Ostatnie rekolekcje), w których występuje termin cela (w francuskim oryginale cellule) lub piwnica (w francuskim oryginale cellier) w odniesieniu do zamieszkania (zjednoczenia) Boga w człowieku. Metafora „wewnętrznej celi” w pismach świętej bardzo dobrze odzwierciedla jej duchowość: intensywne doświadczenie obecności Boga w człowieku, prostotę wobec Niego, stałą i gorliwą troskę, aby nie pozostawał sam w ludzkim sercu. Przypomina również, że tego rodzaju zjednoczenie z Bogiem nie jest zarezerwowane wyłącznie dla osób obdarzonych powołaniem życia konsekrowanego. Bóg chce zamieszkać w każdej duszy, która otworzy mu swoje drzwi. Słowa kluczowe: Elżbieta od Trójcy Świętej, wewnętrzna cela, zjednoczenie, zamieszkanie przez Boga DOI: 10.34839/wpt.2020.28.1.177-194 © Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu 178 Janusz Wilk I offer You [Jesus] the cell of my heart; may it be Your little Bethany; come to rest there, I love You so much… St Elizabeth of the Trinity Spiritual Records, 5 A man who has been endowed with the grace of direct union with God often tries, by obedience or by the need of faith, to describe the experience that in theology is called “mystical experience” or more broadly “mysticism.”1 Faced with the difficulty of describing God’s affairs with the human language, mystics have repeatedly used a metaphor2 to express, by making them similar to commonly known and understandable images, what exceeds the possibilities of perception and transmission of the human intellect. The metaphor mobilises the recipient to “see double” a given term or entire expression.3 They first see and understands the semantic field of a lexeme or a set of lexemes (first glance) and then make an effort to interpret it, i.e., give an answer concerning the content, sense and message of the metaphor used (second glance). The metaphor encourages discovering, exploring and contemplating the object used, which is particularly crucial in statements about God.4 It also allows transferring about it all the richness of emotions and valuations accompanying the carrier.5 In the religious language (theology of mystical life), this 1 2 3 4 5 See: Mistyka chrześcijańska, J. Wilk (ed.), Katowice 2015 (Dni Duchowości 10); M. Chmielewski, Mistyka, [in:] Leksykon duchowości katolickiej, idem (ed.), Lublin–Kraków 2002, pp. 536–542. The term metaphor is a transcription of the Greek lexeme “metaphor” and means: “other use,” “change,” “figure of speech” – see: Słownik grecko-polski, term: “metafora,” Z. Abramowiczówna (ed.), Warsaw 1962, vol. 3, p. 130. Apart from metaphors, mystics also use comparisons. These terms, although close to each other, are not the same. In comparison (e.g., “dry as pepper”) all constituent expressions retain their literal sense, while in a metaphor at least some expressions acquire a new sense – cf. J. Breś, O przydatności substytucyjnej i interaktywcyjnej teorii metafora w analizie metaphorycznych wypowiedzi o Boga, “Zeszyty Naukowe KUL” 45 (2002), no. 3–4, p. 106. Cf. E. Balcerzan, Metafora a interpretacja, “Teksty. Teoria literatury. Krytyka. Interpretacja” 54 (1980), no. 6, p. 42. Cf. J. Breś, O przydatności substytucyjnej i interakcyjnej teorii metafory w analizie metaforycznych wypowiedzi o Bogu…, p. 108; idem, O semantycznej teorii metafory i możliwości jej stosowania w analizie języka religijnego, “Zeszyty Naukowe KUL” 45 (2002), no. 1–2, pp. 53–55. Cf. J. Breś, O przydatności substytucyjnej i interakcyjnej teorii…, op. cit., p. 110. The Metaphor of the Interior Cell for Jesus in Writings of Elizabeth Catez… 179 phenomenon makes it possible to identify oneself with the experience lived. It does not close a mystic within the framework of purely literary description. An example of a metaphor reflecting the union of God with man is the image of living in the soul (heart) of man, to which God comes to meet (be) its host (owner).6 The Scripture employs it (see: Jn 14:23; Rom 8:10-11; Eph 2:22 – a man as the dwelling place of God; 1 Cor 3:16-17; 2Cor 6:16; 1 Peter 2:5 – a man as the temple of God). It enables the introduction of various predictions relevant to the era in which the mystic lived or related to his/her lifestyle or recipients of his/her writings. For the sake of exemplification: St Gertrude the Great of Helfta (1256–1302) writes about the dwelling that Jesus7 creates in the soul of man. St Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) uses the image of a cell8 and a city.9 St Theresa of Jesus (1515–1582) describes it as an inn10 and an interior fortress.11 St John of the Cross (1542–1591) applies a whole range of expressions such as a shelter,12 a secluded and secret place,13 a compartment, a chamber14 or the most intense in terms – an interior cellar.15 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 He expresses God’s desire to be as close to man as possible. It means a mutual personal community between man and God – cf. J.K. Miczyński, Łaska niestworzona jako zaproszenie do modlitwy, “Homo Orans” 1 (2000), pp. 311–317, especially p. 312; J. Machniak, Zamieszkanie Trójcy Świętej, [in:] Encyklopedia katolicka, E. Gigilewicz (ed.), Lublin 2014, vol. 20, col. 1225; J.D. Szczurek, Tajemnica zamieszkania Trójcy Świętej w duszy, [in:] Niebo w mej duszy. Materiały z sympozjum poświęconego duchowości bł. Elżbiety od Trójcy Świętej (1880–1906) w stulecie jej śmierci, A. Ruszała (ed.), Krakow 2007, pp. 30–33. See the development of this thought from the first centuries of Christianity: W. Granat, Dog (...truncated)