MOUNT CARMEL
CLOISTERED CONVENT
ST. ELIZABETH OF THE HOLY TRINITY
AT HOME
Elizabeth of the Trinity, was one of those enlightened and heroic souls able to cling to one of the great truths, the mystery of the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in the depths of her soul. Elizabeth was born on July 18, 1880 at Bourges of France to Joseph Catez, an army officer and Mary Roland who also hailed from military background. The child was baptized on July 22, 1880, when she was only four days old. "She is a real devil; she is crawling and needs a fresh pair of pants everyday." She is also "a big chatterbox"! Such are earliest reports of the future saint. But there are some which have a more mystical quality. "She went up at the Offertory and kissed the Crucifix; she was throwing kisses to it before she got there." "She not only prays" for her sick grandmother "but she is teaching her doll how to pray; she has just very devoutly made her kneel." The Catez family moved to Dijon around November 1, 1882. There Marguerite, younger sister of Elizabeth was born on February 20, 1883. Elizabeth was affectionately called by her dear ones as "Sabeth" and her sister was named "Guite".
Guite recalled her sister's childhood: she was "very lively, even quick-tempered; she went into rages that were quite terrible; she was a real little devil." On January 24, 1887, Raymond Rolland, Elizabeth's grandfather who had skilled in the art of being a grandfather died. Eight months later Catez family suffered a new grief. On Sunday morning, October 2, M. Catez, who had already several heart attacks, died rather suddenly. After his death the mother and her two daughters moved to the other side of the town, from where Elizabeth could see an unfamiliar building in a garden: Carmel.
Elizabeth was intelligent and she became accomplished in the fine Arts, especially music and dance and made use of them for the glory of God and for the service of others. The more intelligent and more dedicated one is, specially in artistic talents, the more sensitive, one is likely to become, and Elizabeth was not an exception to this.
Around the age of seven, Elizabeth received her first private lessons in French. Probably in order to prepare her for a career as a piano teacher, her mother enrolled her in the Conservatory of Dijon when she was eight. There usual subjects were studied at infrequent intervals, but music held by far the first place. First holy communion made a profound effect on her soul. Witnesses say that her first confession, at the age of seven, visibly engaged her in the stryggle against her anger. She writes around nine-and-a-half of age: "...since I hope taht I will soon have the happiness of making my first holy communion, I will be even better behaved for I will pray to God to make me better still". On the day of her first holy communion, during Mass and thanksgiving tears of joy flowed down her cheeks. As she left the Church, she said to her friend; "I am not hungry; Jesus has fed me...."
On the evening, in her beautiful white dress, she went to visit the Mother Priorss of Carmel. Marie of Jesus explained to her the significance of her Hebrew name: Elizabeth, that is, the "House of God." The little girl was deeply impressed by it. That morning she had felt so strongly that God dwelt within her! On June 8, 1891, she was confirmed in the Church of Notre Dame. Elzabeth made a noticeable progress in virtue after her first communion. With all her energy she learned to forget herself for Jesus, for others. She felt won over by Jesus.
At the age of thirteen she won her first prize at piano. One report in news paper reads : "... It was a pleasure to see this young child scarcly thirteen years old come to the piano; she is already a distinguished pianist with an excellent touch, and a real music feeling."
Elizabeth made a private vow of virginity at the age of fourteen, but when her mother refused permission for her entrance into Carmel, Elizabeth took an active part in the social life of her circle and greatly enjoyed the vacation trips during the summer holidays. Amid all this activity, however, Elizabeth yearned for the Carmelite life and her friends were amazed at her ability to be so deeply recollected in prayer when the occasion offered. Her greatest challenge during this period was to control her violent outbursts of temper and to do so she practiced immediate and total obedience to her mother. At the time she was reading St. Teresa's Way of Perfection and was able to verify certain divine touches that she had been experiencing. It was at that time also that she met the Dominican, Iréné Vallée, who frequently preached and gave conferences to the Carmelites of Dijon. On asking him about her spiritual experiences, he acquainted her with the doctrine of the indwelling of the Trinity in the soul through grace. Elizabeth at that moment discovered the secret of her own spiritual life and henceforth the indwelling of the Trinity was the foundation of her interior life.
AT THE SHORE OF CARMEL
Time passed quickly; her twenty-first birthday and her entrance into Carmel draw near. Her mother and sister counted the days they had left with their Sabeth. On August 2, 1901 she left home for Carmel. Before leaving the house , she knelt before the portrait of her father and asked him for a last blessing. She wrote that very morning to Canon angles: " I feel that I am wholly His, that I am keeping back nothing. I throw myself into His arms like a little child."
At the entrance of the cloister, the Sub-Prioress, Germaine of Jesus, and several Sistrs greeted the young girl who was entering Carmel. She went up to her cell and put on her postulant's dress with the cape and black veil. Three days later some group photos have taken. The next day, Sister Therese of Jesus sent several photographs to the Carmel of Lisieux (to Sr. Genevieve, St. Therese's sister), and in her long commentary, we come across this astounding phrase: "a postulant of three days but one who has desired Carmel since the age of seven, Sr. Elizabeth of the Trinity, who will turn out to be a saint, for she already has remarkable dispositions for that."
Novitiate
After barely four months of postulancy, Elizabeth was allowed to receive the habit on Sunday, December 8, 1901, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. If the four months of her postulancy were spent in joy and light, the year of novitiate was all the more hard and painful. Prayer became dry; for the second time, Elizabeth was regularly afflicted by scruples, partly because of her desire to do everything to perfection; her health declined; her over sensitivity stirred painfully. But no one knew of this except her two Superiors. On the eve of her profession she was overwhelmed with anguish and it was necessary to call P. Vergne in order to restore her peace of soul. On January 11, 1903, the feast of the Epiphany, after thirteen months of novitiate, Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, unanimously accepted by her community, was consecrated to God for eternity through her profession. After hours of great distress, she pronounced her perpetual vows in pure faith. The public veiling ceremony took place on January 21.
AFTER PROFESSION
Very quickly after her final commitment, peace returned entirely to her soul. She wrote: "During the night prceding the great day, while I was in choir awaiting the Bridegroom, I understood that my Heaven was beginning on earth, Heaven in faith, with suffering and immolation for Him whom I love!" Her health was holding out. Her happiness acquired a new dimension with the birth of Guite's first child, Elizabeth, on March 11, 1904.
At the end of the community retreat of that year, on the day of the renewal of vows, Elizabeth composed her celebrated prayer, which was not simply a prayer but also a true offering of herself, marking a new stage
O my God, Trinity whom I adore! Help me to become utterly forgetful of self, that I may bury myself in thee, as changeless and as calm as though my soul were already in eternity. May nothing disturb my peace or draw me out of thee, O my immutable Lord! but may I at every moment penetrate more deeply into the depths of thy mystery!
Give peace to my soul; make it thy heaven, thy cherished dwelling place, thy home of rest. Let me never leave thee there alone, but keep me there, all absorbed in thee, in living faith, adoring thee and wholly yielded up to thy creative action!
O my Christ, whom I love, crucified by love, fain would I be the bride of thy Heart; fain would I cover thee with glory and love thee..... until I die of very love. Yet I realize my weakness and beseech thee to clothe me with thyself, to identify my soul with all the movements of thy own. Immerse me in thyself; possess me wholly; substitute myself for thee, that my life may be but a radiance of thy own. Enter my soul as Adorer, as Restorer, as Savior!
O Eternal Word, Utterance of my God! I long to pass my life in listening to thee, to become docile, that I may learn all from thee. Through all darkness, all privations, all helplessness, I crave to keep thee ever with me and to dwell beneath thy lustrous beams. O my beloved Star! so hold me that I cannot wander from thy light!
O consuming Fire! Spirit of Love! descend within me and reproduce in me, as it were, an incarnation of the Word; that I may be to him another humanity wherein he renews his mystery!
And thou, O Father, bend down toward thy poor little creature and overshadow her, beholding in her none other than thy Beloved Son in whom thou hast set all thy pleasure.
O my "Three," my All, my Beatitude, Infinite Solitude, Immensity wherein I love myself! I yield myself to thee as thy prey. Bury thyself in me that I may be buried in thee, until I depart to contemplate in thy light the abyss of thy greatness!
After having offered herself "as a prey" to the Trinity, Elizabeth immersed herself still deeper into her contemplative ideal, seeking God in interior silence and in the self-forgetfulness that she also lived by giving herself to others. The year 1905 began. She wrote:" May this be a year of love all for the glory of God". St. Paul was now her great nourishment. Elizabeth wished to become more and more a "praise" of the glory of God of love and to arrive at the heights we are called to.
In silence of her Carmelite life she was attentive to others. She shared in Guite's joy when her second daughter was born and in that of Andre Chevignard, who was ordained a priest on June 29 and celebrated his first Mass the following day at the Carmel. Without anyone in Carmel noticing, Elizabeth's health deterioted greatly during this period. Fatihue began to overwhelm her. In he spring of 1905, she was granted some exceptions to the observance of the Rule. In mid August she was dispensed from her office of second portress.
At Christmas 1905, while preparing the creche, a sister heard her say: "Well! my little King of love, next year we shall have a closer look at each other." On January 1, 1906, the Carmelites drew a patron for the new year; St. Joseph fell to Elizabeth; she racted in front of the community: "Saint Joseph is the patron of a happy death, he will come to lead e to the Father." Elizabeth should have left the novitiate at the beginning of 1906. She was kept there a little longer to help the three young ones who had entered during that period.
"I AM GOING TO LIGHT.."
Because of her great courage, they had not noticed the seriousness of her condition, which she minimized when anyone spoke of it. On February 28, 1906, Lent began. In the middle of Lent, 1906, Sister Elizabeth was transferred to the infirmary, although until shortly before her death she kept all the observances of the Carmelite life. She ate with more and more difficuly. Diagnosed as suffering from an incurable disease, Elizabeth obtained permission to make a final retreat in preparation for her passage to eternal life. She called this retreat as a "novitiate for Heaven". It was during that time that she composed her Last Retreat of Laudem Gloriae (the name she had taken for herself). Two other documents came from her hand: in the summer of 1906 she compiled retreat notes entitled Heaven on Earth for Guite, and a few weeks before her death she sent a lengthy letter to her lifelong friend, Marguerite, entitled Last Spiritual Counsels.
Probably following tuberculosis, Elizabeth was attacked by Addison's disease, a then-incurable chronic disease of the adrenal glands, which no longer produce the substance necessary for metabolism. TThe last eight days, she ate and drank absolutely nothing. One day she said to her prioress: "My Mother, it is very bad, but I believe the first thing I will do when I get Heaven is drink."A few days before her death Sister Elizabeth wrote with failing hand to one of the nuns: "It seems to me that in heaven my mission will be to draw souls, by helping them to go out of themselves in order to adhere to God by a very simple, wholly loving movement imprint himself on them and to transform them into himself."
On October 30, 1906, Elizabeth pressed her profession crucifix to her heart and said, "We have loved each other so much." Her exhausted body resisted no longer. She was permanently confined to her bed. The next day she received Extreme Unction and Viaticum. On the 7th and 8th of November, she kept almost constant silence. Yet these words could still be heard: "I am going to Light, to Love, to Life!. . . "On 9th morning alternation of her features showed she was on the point of dying, with eyes wide open and luminous, almost without anyone noticing, she stopped breathing.
St. Elizabeth was beatified by pope John Paul II on 25 November 1984 and canonized by Pope Francis on 16 October 2016. St. Elizabeth of the Trinity is a patron against illness, of sick people, and of the loss of parents.
Little Sabeth
Little Sabeth