Quote of the day 19 April: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Dear little mother, it is with pleasure that I see the new year arrive in order to renew my wishes for a happy new year. I wish you everything you could possibly desire, and now that I’m older I’m going to be a sweet, patient, obedient, diligent little girl who never gets angry.

First of all, since I am the elder, I must set an example for my little sister; I will not upset her anymore.

Finally, I will be a little role model and you will be able to say that you are the happiest of mothers, and since I hope that I will soon have the happiness of making my First Communion, I will be even more well-behaved because I will pray to God to make me even better.

I leave you, my dear little mother, with a heartfelt kiss.

Elisabeth Catez
Dijon, 31 December 1889

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Letter 5

Note: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity made her First Holy Communion on the Third Sunday after Easter, 19 April 1891 in St. Michael Parish, Dijon

Elizabeth was very violent, with a very fiery temperament. From the time of her First Communion catechism, I noticed a total change, a radiant gentleness, self-effacing, putting others first.

I remember a story that I witnessed during a catechism class. One day, Elisabeth and my sister got out of hand and attracted the attention of the vicar who was teaching catechism; he made them kneel in the middle of the aisle. Mrs. Catez obliged her daughter to go and apologize to the priest.

Berthe de Mordant de Massiac

A fellow first communicant and witness at the Ordinary Process

Act of Love
My beloved Jesus, I love you with all my heart and infinitely more than all the goods of the world.

Act of Desire
Divine Jesus, come into my heart, make yourself its master, and reign there through time and eternity.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Prayers before Holy Communion
From Elizabeth’s catechism book

de Meester, C 2017, Rien moins que Dieu: sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.

Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 1984, Je te cherche dès l’aurore : évocation d’un visage et d’un coeur, produced by C. de Meester and the Carmel of Dijon, Carmel de Dijon, Flavignerot.