“The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel drew near. Then was shown what a great, what a good and merciful Mother we have in Mary. She promised her protection and down to this day has kept her promise, although given to a person often sinful. During the octave of the feast there occurred on July 20, the anniversary of the death of the glorious St. Joseph, a day on which I was led in a special manner about six years ago to a life of renunciation and zeal, and at the same time, to Carmel. Somewhat later, I discovered that the anniversary of the death of my favorite saint had awakened me to the spiritual life, and now, arrived in Carmel, I observed also that this July 20, the first day of my vocation to the heights of Carmel, was the feast of the patriarch of this Order. Without really wanting to, I entered into a spiritual union with this saint. However, it is entirely up to your better judgment, my Reverend Father, to reject this and everything else as nothing. St. Elias was spiritually close to me. He expressed his joy that I was his daughter and asked me to accept him. I was greatly embarrassed. I did not know how I could bring this about. Then light came to me, and I heard the words, "Of course you can accept him. Your other patrons, indeed, you have also accepted interiorly." I had the feeling then of having accepted St. Elias interiorly, and the words of Scripture came to my mind: ‘Who receives a prophet will have a prophet's reward’”.

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Among other things I recall about this event, and which made a deep impression on my soul, is this, "Ask for nothing but humility and the rest will be given to you when you need it.” And it is true. When I am severely tempted against a virtue or a person, after a single Holy Communion received with this intention, I am often entirely freed from the temptation. Or, because I fought against the temptation only superficially so that it led to a fault, a sin--as recent times saw happen in your regard, my Father.  As soon as I perceive my fault, repent it, humble myself because of it, and confidently receive the Body of the Lord, I feel that the last fiber of this fault or temptation is lost in the presence of the sacramental God.

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Before the feast of St. John the Baptist drew near in the same year, I was urged to choose this saint also as my special patron. I was not very favorable to the suggestion, and this probably prompted the question, "Why should I do this?" 
Then I seemed to hear the answer, "to prepare the ways of the Lord".

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Probably, this saint was to instruct me in this, he who understood so well how to prepare ways for the Lord. The father confessor, who knew nothing of this fact, shortly afterwards, in an exhortation, extolled the great holiness of St John the Baptist. Now I could be doubly satisfied.

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Now I return to the feast of St. Elias. Shortly after, there occurred that special relationship with holy Father Francis, without its having been fostered by anything except, perhaps, my love of poverty, which my pious mistress observed in me to her consolation. The rest was referred by Father Bonaventure. A few days later I was praying in the choir in the forenoon and saw something, to me very strange. In spirit I beheld two mountains rise. These two mountains, about the ordinary width of a street, stood in line with each other. The mountain rising on the right was higher than the other and had some sort of gradations. On its summit I believe I saw St. Elijah in rather indistinct form; farther down I also saw St. Teresa. The other mountain was not so high, probably because it was not so old. In the one I recognized Carmel; in the other, La Verna, on which St. Francis was standing holding a cross in his hand. Both mountains arched themselves into one, the higher mountain arching and inclining toward the other from about the place where St. Teresa stood. I had the feeling within me that the two saints wished to draw me up to the center of this mountain, to be as it were the keystone of the arch. I resisted, for in such a thing I was seized with so great a fear of being the plaything of hellish delusions that more than once the confessor had difficulty quieting me on this point. The call which I received before or after this vision, and which came to me because I would not comprehend why the Lord wished to lead me out of Carmel again, sounded like this, "To unite the active life with the contemplative”. Perhaps this will shed light on that which was seen. Carmel may represent prayer; La Verna, activity. Both prayer and work have received new sprouts in the course of centuries, which have frequently misrepresented the sublimity of the one and the necessity of the other. In the one Order one often fails to understand the prayer of work; in the other, the work of prayer. Prayer and work must go hand in hand and like twin sisters, strive to remedy the spiritual and social misery of mankind, teaching it again what it means to pray and work.

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My Reverend Father, if St. Elias on the one height or also St. Teresa, if the latter were sent once more by the Lord to carry out a reform, she would teach her spiritual daughters in the first place the prayer of work, perhaps also how to pray and work, which would be easily reconciled with enclosure and silence. On the other height there would be St. Francis, permeating your work. Would you not have holy, solid ground, a rock of foundation and height of virtue, a lofty bulwark?

Mother Frances Streitel to Fr. Jordan, Letter 39