Winter 2004 On occasion members of the reading public ask us which book of all we have produced on Carmelite topics is the proven best seller. If we were to run a contest asking you to guess the leader, we think you might be surprised. This is so, because several individuals indicate they think either Saint Teresa of Avila or Saint John of the Cross would lead the pack almost hands down. That is not the case. The true best seller for ICS Publications is Story of a Soul and Saint Thérèse is by far the most popular author we distribute. Publishers prudently  do not brandish sales figures and this is not the place to do so. However, we consider ourselves blessed for the fact we have sold more than a quarter million copies of Story of a Soul since it first came out in 1975. After The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross launched our publication history (see News, Spring 2003), the biography of Thérèse became our second modest step into the publications field, long before we would develop into a small publishing house of Carmelite classics. The third woman Doctor of the Church, St. Thérèse, has been good to us over the years as we have strived to make her writings better known in the English-speaking world. We hope to have ready in the New Year a study-guide edition of Story of a Soul, prepared by Marc Foley, OCD. Ordering information will be available here on the website as soon as it is ready for sale. Once into 2005, the Carmelites will be entering the year that leads to the Centenary of the death of Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity (it occurred on Nov. 9, 1906). The attention paid to this French mystic of our tradition will bring back into focus her writings on the indwelling presence of the Trinity in us all. She was previously well-known for her beautiful “Elevation to the Trinity”: a famous professor of Patrology at Catholic University, Fr. John Quasten, often reminded us he frequently prayed it out of devotion.  It contains the famous line about being “a kind of incarnation of the Word” with its evocation of the Christmas mystery and how it can continue on in Christians’ lives. We have not yet reproduced an actual prayer from our publications on this website, so we offer it now to wish our readers a hope-filled Christmastide and a New Year rich in the graces of Christ Our Lord. O my God, Trinity whom I adore; help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my Unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into the depths of Your mystery. Give peace to my soul; make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling and Your resting place. May I never leave You there alone but be wholly present, my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to Your creative Action.  O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I wish to be a bride for Your Heart; I wish to cover You with glory; I wish to love You...even unto death! But I feel my weakness, and I ask You to "clothe me with Yourself," to identify my soul with all the movements of Your Soul, to overwhelm me, to possess me, to substitute yourself for me that my life may be but a radiance of Your Life. Come into me as Adorer, as Restorer, as Savior. O Eternal Word, Word of my God, I want to spend my life in listening to You, to become wholly teachable that I may learn all from You. Then, through all nights, all voids, all helplessness, I want to gaze on You always and remain in Your great light. O my beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may not withdraw from Your radiance. O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, "come upon me," and create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humanity for Him in which He can renew His whole Mystery. And You, O Father, bend lovingly over Your poor little creature; "cover her with Your shadow," seeing in her only the "Beloved in whom You are well pleased." O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself to You as Your prey. Bury Yourself in me that I may bury myself in You until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness. (21 Nov. 1904) Fr. Denis Read, OCD has gone home to God. A cerebral stroke in October could not be treated adequately because Father Denis had already been taking anti-coagulants for heart problems. He now rests in our Province cemetery at Holy Hill, Wisconsin. His tape “St. John of the Cross for Carpenters” has proved to be a much sought-after item in our Tapes/CDRom catalogue. Please include him, and the remaining members of the Institute of Carmelite Studies, in your prayers. R.I.P.