Saint Elisabeth of the Trinity

Today Pope Francis proclaimed the Carmelite sister Elisabeth of

the Trinity as a saint.

Elisabeth Catez was born July 18, 1880 in the military camp of

Avor, France; her father was a captain in the army. A year later the

family moved to Dijon and a short while after her sister

‘Guite’ (Marguerite) was born. When Elizabeth was only 7 years

old her father died from a heart attack. This death had its impact on

the little child.

Life in the family continued on; Mme Catez without being rich was

well-off to give the children a good education. Elisabeth would ex-

cel especially in music, and was enrolled in piano lessons at the

conservatory of Dijon when she was eight. At the age of 13 she

won a first prize in piano. Elisabeth’s first communion and confir-

mation was in 1891, she was 11 years old. At the age of 18 she

studied English and also enjoyed sewing lessons. In 1901 Elisabeth

entered the Carmel of Dijon at the age of 21. She lived only 5 years

in Carmel; she died from Addison disease on November 9, 1906.

John Paul II beatified Elisabeth in Rome in 1984.

At the age of one, Elisabeth’s passionate and choleric temperament

was showing itself and kept growing stronger. Guite’s remem-

brances of her sister’s childhood: She was very lively, even quick-

tempered. She went into rages that were quite terrible; she was a

real devil. Her ardor and her sensitivity did not yet know how to

orientate themselves. Elisabeth’s rages were sometimes so violent

that they threatened to send her as a boarder to the Good Shepherd

(a house of correction that was nearby) and they prepared her little

bag.

Her Mother recalls: She is a real devil; she’s crawling and needs a

fresh pair of pants everyday. She is also a chatterbox. Later, on a

more mystical note, Elizabeth is described as going up at the Offer-

tory to kiss the Crucifix. She was throwing kisses to it before she

got there. She not only prays for her sick grandmother, but she is

also teaching her doll how to pray.

Sabeth, her nickname, was also upright, and when she realized that

one must not be a burden to others she quickly took herself in hand.

Witnesses say that her first confession at the age of seven visibly

engaged her in the struggle against her caprices. There were, al-

so, many beautiful qualities in this loving, generous and straight-

forward heart! As a little girl of nine and a half she wrote, “Since

I hope that I will soon have the happiness of making my first

communion, I will be even better behaved for I will pray to God

to make me better still.” (L5)

Elizabeth understood since her childhood that God dwells in us.

We all know that God is present in us, for her it was more a gift

and a deep understanding; she lived by it and was faithful to it.

“Here is a quote from her writings: “I had such a love for prayer

and for God, that even before my first communion, I was deter-

mined to love only Him and to live for Him.” She was fascinated

by this presence of God in her soul; she would express it in all her

writings in a simple, clear, truthful way, coming from a heart full

of love for God and for others, She radiated on the outside her

inner peacefulness that came from her union with God in prayer.

With this interior life of spirit that she possessed Elisabeth contin-

ued to live the ordinary; she would join in family entertainments,

travels, summer vacations, parties. She wanted to be always well

dressed and look beautiful. She would entertain her family, rela-

tives or friends with her musical talent, playing the piano. She

also had the opportunity to play sports; she mentions in one of her

letters about playing ‘tennis’. In all that, we see a balance of a

good Christian life. Elisabeth lived a life of sacrifice and joy: love

for God and for others. Her mother had objected her entrance into

Carmel and asked her to wait till the age of 21, Elisabeth accept-

ed. She loved her mother so much, but was happy when her moth-

er finally let her go…

Quotes from her writings and some remarks from those who

knew her: “It was just before my 14th birthday when one day dur-

ing my thanksgiving I felt irresistibly impelled to choose Jesus as

my only spouse, and without delay I bound myself to Him by a

vow of virginity. We didn’t say anything to each other but we

gave ourselves to each other with such an intense love that the

determination to be wholly His became for me more final.”

From a person who knew her well: “During a party while she was

dancing and having a good time her wholly luminous gaze was

completely filled with the Beyond.” Another person: she had a

happy disposition, very playful… she liked to look nice with even

a touch of coquetry… she carefully arranged her hair… perfect…

we couldn’t help loving her.

Elisabeth lived in Carmel only five years, she had a nice commu-

nity and a very understanding prioress who encouraged her and

helped her. She lived faithfully her religious Carmelite life of

prayer, silence, solitude and community. It is from that period of

her life that we have most of her writings, letters to relatives and

friends; her retreats and also letters to the sisters in her communi-

ty. She was devoted to the mystery of the Holy Trinity; we have

her famous prayer to the Trinity.

In the last year of her life Elisabeth suffered a lot from her illness;

ulcers ravaged her intestines and caused great sufferings. She kept

her peace and a smile. She didn’t even lose her sense of humor.

She continued her correspondence, always encouraging others

about her coming death. Her last words were:

“I am going TO LIGHT, TO LOVE AND TO LIFE”.

Her mission: this is what she wrote eleven days before her

death: “I think that in heaven my mission will be to draw souls by

helping them to go out of themselves in order to cling to God by a

wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this

great silence within, which will allow God to communicate Him-

self to them and to transform them into Himself.”

Let us pray God through her intercession to strengthen our faith,

our love for others and for hope until one day we join her and our

loved ones in LIGHT, LOVE AND LIFE.

Elisabeth’s feast day is November 8

Carmelite Monastery

25 Watson Ave

Barrington, RI 02806

Elisabeth Catez

At the age of 16 Sr. Elisabeth of the Trinity

Canonization of Sr. Elisabeth of the Trinity, (Elisabeth Catez)

of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites

Rome, October 16, 2016